What happens next is up to us…
WORK WELL
Inspired by heritage. Curious about what endures.
Work Well is where Neil Crump reflects on leadership,
culture and the experiences that shape how we work with others.
The question running through this is simple:
what is worth carrying forward?
The alarm clock that changed the course of my life
On this day in 1991, I overslept, and it changed my life trajectory.
My parents had dropped me off at the University of Bath the day before for Freshers' Week. Sometime during the night, the batteries shifted out of my chicken-shaped alarm clock. I woke in a panic, having missed the entire 90-minute induction for my Biological Sciences degree.
I threw on some clothes and ran to the South Building. The department administration office sent me to see Professor Wright, our head of year and a noted geneticist.
I tapped on his door and cautiously put my head around it.
“Ah, Mr Crump, I presume.”
I sheepishly explained what had happened.
“What an auspicious start to your student career,” he replied.
Thankfully, he then took the time to run through the induction with me himself.
Looking back, I think I was meant to oversleep that morning.
The following week, Professor Wright came into our first laboratory session looking for volunteers for the Staff–Student Liaison Committee. My hand shot up. I wanted to prove to him, and probably to myself, that I wasn’t the flaky student who missed things.
That moment changed the course of my university life.
Within a week, I was sitting in committee meetings, representing my fellow students and helping to organise things. A relatively shy young man from Crawley began to discover that he wanted to lead and contribute.
From there, I threw myself into university life, including student theatre, committees, extracurricular activities in the Arts Barn. I made lifelong friends and had the most extraordinary time.
Sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we stand out for entirely the wrong reason.
But what happens next is up to us.
What felt mortifying that morning became a sliding-doors moment. It gave me something to prove and propelled me forwards.
To everyone beginning university this Freshers’ Week, embrace it all. Make friends. Step forward. Put your hand up. And if something goes wrong, remember that it might just become part of your making.
What’s worth carrying forward?
Leadership often starts before we recognise it as leadership. It can begin with putting your hand up, taking responsibility or choosing to contribute when it would be easier to stay quiet.
We will all get things wrong. What matters is what we do next. Sometimes an awkward moment, a setback or even a mistake creates the impetus to step forward. And that small decision can change far more than we realise at the time.
Continue reading Work Well
More reflections on leadership, culture and what is worth carrying forward in the Asterion Journal.
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