Who’s In Your Corner

Who's in your corner? Not in an abstract way, but in a very real, very practical one.

There's a version of this question that sends people into comparison mode. Who do other leaders have around them? What rooms are they in? What networks, what peer groups, what industry dinners? And I think for a lot of senior leaders, particularly in hospitality and retail, where there's a very particular culture around who knows who and who's in what room, and that version of the question can quietly become corrosive. You end up measuring yourself against a version of connection that may not even be right for you.

I'll be honest with you. I'm not naturally a group network person. I never really have been. And for a long time, as a senior leader and in some respects as a leadership coach, I think I told myself that was a gap, something I should fix, a version of success I hadn't quite reached yet.

But what I've come to understand is that so much of that comparison comes from looking outward for something that already exists if you look more honestly at what's around you. The colleague who always tells you the truth. The friend who asks the right questions. The mentor who sees something in you that you can't quite see yourself. The partner who listens properly. The peer who gets it because they're living it too. The genuine and meaningful connections you have built.

That's your corner. It doesn't have to be formal. It doesn't have to have a name or a membership or a monthly dinner. It just has to be real.

And what I've been watching happen inside the Growth Collective, a group coaching programme I run, has reminded me of this more than anything else recently. People who came in looking for structure and left finding something they didn't expect; genuine connection with people who understand the specific pressures of leading in hospitality and retail. Accountability calls that nobody asked for but everyone needed. New business friendships that feel less like networking and more like finally finding your people.

Nobody designed that. It just grew because the conditions were right and the people were honest with each other.

So if you're looking around at what you don't have - the group you're not in, the network that doesn't quite feel like yours, the room you haven't been invited into - I'd gently ask you to look the other way instead.

Who is already in your corner? And if the honest answer is that you're not sure, that's not a failure. That's just data. And it's always something you can build yourself.

I'm Sarah Clark, an executive and leadership coach for hospitality and retail leaders. If this resonated with you, I'd love to have a conversation. Book a free consultation at nineyardscoaching.co.uk