MENTAL TOUGHNESS
MENTAL TOUGHNESS AD
Symes Group met Lucy Schott at the She Leads International Women’s Day event this year. Her tenacity, compassion and intellect were so impressive that we weren’t surprised to discover that outside of work she spends her time saving lives as a vice captain of patrols at North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club and as a crew member of the rescue boat team. Lucy gave us her insights on mental toughness.
BH: Tell me about your career journey.
LS: My career has taken me from a small rural primary school in Thailand, a public school in Sydney, training groups of teachers in the Department of Education, working as an eLearning developer at Macquarie University to my current role as an organisational capability specialist at Domain Group.
I coordinate the national onboarding program – ensuring that new starters have a positive experience within their first six months with us. I also design online learning materials to help support our sales teams develop their product knowledge at a time and place that suits them.
BH: What drew you to surf life saving and what does it involve?
LS: I became a surf lifesaver three years ago to conquer my fears. I was afraid of the ocean and waves, having almost drowned as a child in the surf. Another reason was to learn how to conduct CPR. Someone in my immediate family died and was not given CPR effectively, for which I was a witness.
This memory has always stayed in my mind and I wanted to learn what to do in case I ever had to do this again. Now that I have conquered my fears and run towards big waves rather than away from them, being a surf lifesaver is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. I am honoured to be able to contribute and serve society.
Now I teach others how to do CPR and give first aid. I am now a vice captain of two patrols at North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club. Last year, my patrol won the National Rescue of the month, having rescued a group of approximately 15 swimmers in rough conditions. For this we were awarded the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Personal Sigil Medal.
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Lucy Schott spends her working week in corporate Australia and on the weekend she is a Life Saver at North Bondi Beach. Barbara Harvey recently interviewed Lucy on what drives her to do this incredible work and what she thinks
mental toughness is.
……..
Contributing to society
'an honour'
"Now that I have conquered my fears and run towards big waves rather than away from them, being a surf lifesaver is one of the most rewarding experiences I
have ever had"
Lucy Schott
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