Today marks international women’s day globally when we recognise and salute women everywhere.
In this week’s post, I want to share an inspiring story from a female leader who demonstrates several traits we can all learn from.
Lesley Patterson World Champion Triathlete and Scriptwriter
A couple of weeks ago, the BAFTA film awards took place in London, and one film shocked many people by almost winning everything. The same movie is up for nine potential academy awards at the Oscars happening at the weekend.
The surprise?
Winning wasn’t really expected, except by one person.
That one person was Lesley Patterson, who won a BAFTA for best-adapted screenplay for her Netflix adaptation of All Quiet on The Western Front.
Lesley is a retired five times world champion triathlete who was at the peak of her athletic career over twenty years ago before she re-invented herself and became an Xterra triathlon competitor, which has a focus on running and cycling on rough terrain.
And now, she is an award-winning scriptwriter.
Amazing, especially when you discover her story.
I am a keen runner and have been known to cycle, though never back to back and in two hours without a break!
That takes determination, focus, exceptional drive, and a never give up attitude, which Lesley has by the bucket load, confirmed by her tenacious approach to take her film ‘project’ to the big screen.
According to several different articles I read when she retired as an elite sportswoman, a reporter asked, “What’s next?” she replied, “I am going to move halfway across the world from my home in Scotland, become a scriptwriter and win an Oscar”.
Now there is having goals and having goals- this one was pretty dramatic as Lesley was not an experienced writer, nor did she have any connections in the film industry.
More than 16 years ago, she landed in L.A. and set out to make a new version of the silent movie, All Quiet On The Western Front.
She bought the rights from the estate of the writer Erich Maria Remarque who wrote the best-selling book in 1928 that was made into an Oscar-winning film. For 16 years, she pitched her film idea to anyone who would listen.
And people did, though no one was interested in a German language film about World War 1 without a star after Daniel Radcliffe pulled out.
Lesley used all he savings and remortgaged her house to keep her dream alive, as each year, she needed to renew the rights to the film.
One particular year finances were incredibly low, so she competed in a triathlon with a broken shoulder to win prize money that kept her dream alive.
Eventually, in 2020 Netflix took an option on the film. It was made in German and came out last year, eerily at the same time as the Ukraine war, which Lesley feels helped the film connect with people on many levels.
Though I am not sure I would recommend running, swimming and cycling with a broken shoulder to demonstrate your leadership capability, we can all learn from several traits Lesley demonstrated.
Have A Vision
I consistently talk about having a vision and mission for your team that you always focus on through your belief about what is possible.
Our last blog was a deep dive into beliefs; you can access it here if you haven’t read it. In one of the media reports, someone reminded Lesley about her audacious comment about winning an Oscar.
She told him it wasn’t audacious as she knew it would happen.
How strong are your beliefs in what is possible?
On the surface, an athlete deciding to become an award-winning screenwriter seems impossible. For most of us, we don’t have to hold such extreme beliefs to make an impact in our professional world.
What beliefs could you hold about what is possible for your career?
Get Outside Your Comfort Zone Consistently
Present company excepted reading this blog; a challenge for many leaders is getting stuck. They ticked the box on the leadership course they attended several years ago and don’t strive to learn more, be better at something or go all in on becoming a master leader.
They become obsessive, in a good way, about making a difference, and this requires them to step outside their comfort zone consistently.
All traits of exceptional leaders.
Lesley embodied this at so many levels; from writing and re-writing the screenplay and wrangling meetings with people who had never heard of her.
When did you last learn something new, attend a course or programme to learn a different skill?
Do The Work and Prepare For The Long Game
Though we might think having an Oscar-winning belief is extreme, it wasn’t for Lesley and her supporters. They knew what must be done and devised a plan to achieve their belief.
They understood they would need to pitch their offer to anyone that would listen. They also knew that film pitches don’t happen overnight.
They had thought through a way to achieve this goal, no matter how audacious it seemed to everyone else. A great reminder is that many things are possible if we create belief, show up, and take action.
Until next time,
Julia Carter
International Women’s Day 2023
This year the theme for the day is EmbraceEquity which is so critical currently. The DEI agenda is finally making an impact, and the equity for all message takes this to a different level which you can read more about here.
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