Leadership from a different perspective – Simon Gerhardt

Naked Leader Week – 87 (w/c Monday 17 January 2004)

Leadership from a different perspective – Simon Gerhardt

Simon (IM Services Global Delivery Manager for BOC) shared with me his personal success story that shows the power of the mind and what can be achieved when focusing on a positive result, followed by one of the motivators for making him make that true decision…

I had been suffering with back pain for over six months following a slipped disc. Endless physio and exercises had helped improve the situation initially, but I had reached a point where I did not seem to be able to clear the problem and “get back to normal”.

 After attending a leadership event, I made a true decision to fix my back, and as I was using the structured relaxation it struck me that I should be focusing my mind on a pain free back and how that would feel. I used this technique with the relaxation and in under a week (literally 3 or 4 sessions) my back had dramatically improved, to the point where my physio was amazed and is considering signing me off as fixed with no further treatment required! I had not changed any other aspect of my routine and can only attribute the results to focusing my mind on what I needed to achieve.

 Just think what we could be achieved if the power of the mind was focused on doing good in this World. It has certainly made me think….

 Long PS – I am glad I did this, as my back-pain caused me to miss…well…here is the story – written jointly by me and  my wife Averil (mummy) – it starts when Averil is about to go to the hospital to give birth to a girl (Chloe)

 The 25^th May 2004 was a day not to be forgotten in a hurry…

Granny and Grampy came up to Chestnut End to look after Byron while Mummy had Chloe in hospital. We thought it would be a good idea to have a photo taken with Byron before we left, the last time it would be just the three of us. Simon picked up Byron and felt a slight twinge in his back. We then said goodbye to Byron, Granny and Grampy and got in the car for the trip to the hospital. We hadn’t been in the car for more than 10 minutes when it became obvious Simon was in too much pain to carry on driving. We had to swap over, and Averil had to carry on with the drive to the hospital! By the time we got there, Simon was squirming in pain, and had the front seat laid flat trying to find a position that didn’t hurt. Averil pulled up outside Accident and Emergency and struggled into the hospital to find a wheel chair. The porters gave her sympathy and told her to sit down and relax. They couldn’t believe it when she said it was for me in the car and not for her! Simon ended up in Casualty with Averil being 2 floors up in the Maternity suite! We had to ask Granny and Grampy to come to the hospital to help look after us, so they called Mandy to come up from Portsmouth to look after Byron and Muffin (Granny’s dog). Simon ends up having 3 separate lots of pain killers before they injected Pethidine in his leg to stop the pain. Averil meanwhile is upstairs with Granny delivering Chloe Laura, 8lbs 14oz born at 13:00. Simon then has an MRI scan and finds out he has a herniated disc that has moved out from his spine and trapped the sciatic nerve for his left leg. He is then released with a bucket of pain killers and an appointment with the consultant for a few days time! Averil has to stay in hospital on her own with Chloe. Not quite what we had planned…. Simon then gets home to find out that a drama had been unfolding at home too! Mandy had managed to get locked out of the house with Byron, Kasey and Muffin trapped inside. Byron refused to come to open the door as he was having his lunch and has been taught not to get down till he had finished! Mandy had to knock on doors down the street until someone answered! Jackie at number 1 was a saviour and called the fire brigade. The problem was reported as children trapped in a house so they came rushing with full sirens and lights flashing. Fortunately they managed to get into the house through an upstairs window. Byron thought it was really exciting when a fireman comes marching down his stairs! Unfortunately the fireman opened the door and Muffin ran out and away. It then took Mandy, Jackie and the firemen 15 minutes to catch her. This was even more exciting as Byron got to sit in the fire engine while they caught the dog.

Simon is convinced that the events of the day were all because Chloe is a girl and needed to cause a big stir to mark her arrival into the World!!

Wonderful story Simon, and one you can share with Chloe and your family for years, or rather, will be shared and repeated by your family, for years…

With love to you all

David

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