A few weeks ago, I was standing at the Town Hall Station in Sydney, when I noticed some massive bill boards…not the usual advertising types, but ones with a bit of a difference!  

These billboards were part of Sydney University’s campaign titled “Leadership for good starts here…” (http://sydney.edu.au/leadership/)

Each of these bill boards had an “I will…”  statement and a picture of the person who made that statement. Examples included: 

• I will battle inequality with rage and reason (Anne Summers, Women’s rights activist) 
• I will give people a second chance at life (Victor Chang, Heart transplant pioneer)
• I will make maths cool (Adam Spencer, Broadcaster and maths geek) 
• I will set a new standard for humanity (Herbert Evatt, Co-author of the UN Declaration of Human Rights)

Reading these bill boards not only inspired me, but also got me thinking on two fronts: first, What is my “I will…?”; and second, How could I use this with others?  

Within an hour of reaching my destination at Bondi beach, where I was working with a Senior Leadership team, I decided to experiment! After sharing my experience with the team, I invited each person to take 30 mins to walk on the beach (it was a beautiful sunny day!) and think about their “I will…”  

Here are examples of some of the things that the team came up with: 

• I will connect business to social needs 
• I will turn possibilities into reality 
• I will live more on purpose 
• I will enjoy the journey and help others enjoy it too 
• I will inspire others to live by design (this was mine!) 

The universal feedback was that this was a very powerful exercise. It got people thinking at a deeper level about their life, what was important to them and the leadership impact they wanted to have. And sharing this with their colleagues gave everyone a deeper insight about each other. 

 I’m hoping as you read this, you too have been thinking about your own “I will…”. 

 Would love to hear about your “I will..” – please share in the comments below. And if so inspired, please pay it forward – by helping others to discover and claim their “I will…”