Encouragement is not a side thing. It is part of how strong communities, real relationships, and lasting businesses are built.
When a Room Changes You
Last year, I attended Women in Tech in Stockholm. Next week, I’ll be back - this time as a speaker.
Three thousand women in one room - founders, investors, leaders, builders - and thousands more online. That kind of energy is hard to describe.
Last year, the ambition in the room was sky-high. But so was the generosity. The warmth. The curiosity. The real support people showed each other.
Events like that matter. Because sometimes what changes everything is not just one conversation. It is being in a room like this that reminds you what is possible.
I have spent most of my life cheering on others. And I have loved it.
I love seeing the smile on someone’s face when they are celebrated. I love seeing that extra ignition light up. I love watching someone stand a little taller.
People have often asked me why I put so much energy into this.
Because deep down, that is exactly how I feel when someone cheers me on. And that feeling matters so much more than most people think.
When Success Starts Feeling Threatening
Too many people treat success like a competition.
They see someone else succeeding and immediately turn inward.
They compare.
They tense up.
They feel behind.
It sounds like this:
“Why them?”
“What do they have that I do not?”
“There is not enough room for all of us.”
But that mindset is expensive.
When you see success as a competition for limited space, you train yourself to react with tension instead of inspiration. It makes you more guarded, less generous, less magnetic.
How you respond to other people’s success says a lot about your own mindset. It reveals whether you are operating from scarcity or from confidence.
That is not a small detail. That is character.
The Open-Hand Mindset
The people who build the strongest long-term relationships are often the ones who keep an open hand, not a clenched fist.
An open-hand person does not waste energy on jealousy. They use that energy to build trust, relationships, and community. And over time, that compounds in ways you cannot plan for.
People remember who made them feel smaller.
But people also remember who made them feel stronger.
Three Ways to Practise This This Week
1. Turn comparison into curiosity
The next time someone around you wins, notice your reaction.
Do you tighten up? Pause there.
Other people’s success is not proof that there is less available for you. It is proof that good things are possible.
So congratulate them. Be genuinely happy for them. And then get curious:
What made them successful?
Is there anything in their approach you can apply in your own work?
2. Make encouragement a habit, not a random act
Say it out loud.
Tag someone. Repost their win. Give credit where it is due. Tell someone when they did something well.
None of this takes much time. But the effect compounds in ways you cannot predict.
Because people remember who made them feel seen - and they want that person in their corner.
3. Teach it, model it, and live it consistently
This is something worth passing on.
Clap for your friends. Congratulate the competition. Celebrate effort, even when it is not your win.
Because paths cross again.
One day you may want to work with someone you once competed with. Encouragement is a long-term investment in the kind of life and relationships you actually want.
The Ripple Effect Is Real
Many of my former clients have become my biggest evangelists.
They have brought me in for new assignments. Called me again when the next funding round came. Recommended me to their networks. Introduced me to others at events.
That has been one of the most powerful forces in my business.
So many opportunities have come through recommendations - one connection rippling into the next, just like the rings on the water. It's fascinating.
And just this week, I sat with a former client who has now started her own business. We spent time together thinking through how she can accelerate her growth.
That conversation reminded me of what this really creates.
Not just business.
Not just visibility.
But continuity.
Support has a way of coming back in forms you could never have planned.
What Changes When You Live This Way
When you genuinely cheer for others:
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You build stronger relationships by celebrating others instead of staying silent to “protect your energy”
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You stay more inspired and energized because you are expanding, not contracting
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You earn a reputation as someone people genuinely want in their corner
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You create opportunities you could never have manufactured alone — through trust, goodwill, and the ripple effect
This does not mean cheering others on is the only thing that matters.
You still need to build your business.
You still need to do the work.
You still need to perform.
But how you treat people on the way matters too.
Someone Else Shining Does Not Dim Your Light
It never did.
Cheering others on is not separate from your success. For many of us, it becomes part of it.
It builds stronger relationships. A healthier mindset. A better reputation. And often, more opportunities than you could have created alone.
So here is something to reflect on:
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Who can you genuinely celebrate today?
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Whose work can you highlight this week?
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Where can you replace comparison with inspiration?
Until my next turn - I will keep clapping for others.
I hope you do too.
P.S. If this resonated, forward it to someone who could use the reminder that there is room for everyone to win. That small act is itself a form of the open-hand mindset.
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