I was the global head of commercial technology for the customer facing departments of one of the biggest airlines in the world.

My days (and nights) were an exciting but relentless tide of demand management, service management, steering groups, innovation labs, deadlines and budgets. I barely found time to develop the team around me - I was firmly on the busy train. Then I met this guy.

Sebastian

Sebastian was running major programmes alongside me and his people skills were off the charts. In his early 50's and coming from an elite level military background he viewed teams and development in a way far beyond the office politics I constantly found myself dismayed by.

Over coffee one morning I realised that he went out of his way to find people around him that he thought had potential or deserved a chance.

They may be a mid career manager struggling to find purpose, somone who just needed their CV revised, a whizz kid programmer that needed help with public speaking.

Sebastian would take these people under his wing and MAKE time for them every month. What he said that morning I will never forget :

If I don't help someone every week, then that week is wasted.

I checked around us in Starbucks , leant in conspiratorially and whispered : ''Tell me the truth..... you're not Spiderman are you?" He said ''No..... you absolute idiot''
I said 'Well you appreciate that I had to ásk at least!
He laughed and said : "It's very simple. It's our role to train and help the next generation of leaders. It is about giving back."|

And, even though, quite disappointingly, he wasn't Spiderman - he was right. Instead of constantly fretting about deadlines and scrambling for promotions - finding time out to help others takes the focus off that rat race and becames hugely rewarding.

Try it if you don't believe me. Your friendly neighbourhood Coach Ropes.