Encouraging the Extraordinary: Felicity Aston MBE's Episode

By Sandy Glanfield

I had the chance to speak with Felicity Aston over Zoom recently, and I keep thinking how entertaining it would have been if we’d met in real life. Not just because in our time together we laughed and welled up with tears, but because I imagine that Felicity is so tall and strong… and I am, well, so small.

That contrast makes me smile. But it also makes something else land more sharply.

That someone like Felicity, tall, strong, and successful, has been made to feel small baffles someone with a 5ft 1” frame like mine. And it really emphasises just how powerful the label “naïve” can be when it’s used to shut down an idea before it’s had a chance to breathe.

I am so encouraged by the tenacity of Felicity’s will to not be that person. Not to be the one who discourages someone standing at the edge of a new idea. I felt genuinely heartened hearing her reflect that people should know better. Particularly those in positions of influence and power, who are able to make the choice either to grow or to mow down talent and determination.

There is something quite profound in that choice.

Felicity’s story reminds me that we can all learn to carry our own weight in the challenges before us. Like the petite framed women from Commonwealth countries who had never even seen snow before. Felicity and their team believed in them. They taught them how. They gave them the experience. And together, they achieved what others had already decided wasn’t possible.

There’s something in that which feels both extraordinary and very human.

We all have the capacity to find incredible strength. But we rarely do it in isolation. We need others to champion us. To make the journey a little smoother. To help pick us up again when we fall over.

And it makes me think about the rooms we create, and the rooms we walk into.

If I am ever to pitch an idea to a room, I want it to be filled with Felicitys. People who are wise, but who remember what it was like to come fresh to a novel idea. Experienced, but willing to let you learn for yourself, offering just enough guidance to help you avoid a few unnecessary mistakes. People who feel excited by your energy, and who are ready to champion you so that you can sustain it and stay the course.

Felicity encourages in the way she wishes to be encouraged.

It’s such a simple idea. And yet it feels quietly radical.

Encourage others as you would wish to be encouraged.

Because when we do that, we don’t just help ideas survive. We help people feel a whole lot bigger and stronger, ready to build their own adventures.