Radio personality and John Maxwell life coach, Sheba Wilson, has released her first book - a collaboration with a member of her John Maxwell Leadership Team, Brian Brogen.
The book, entitled ‘Voices For Leadership”, featured a number of guest writers from the John Maxwell leadership team.
“He (Brogen) reached out to me last year, asking if I was interested in collaborating,” Wilson explained. “The whole concept was to bring together as many voices in the leadership team as possible, to speak on different areas of leadership.”
Wilson’s chapter entitled, ‘Overcoming Adversity’, chronicled her personal struggles and how she used grit and determination through her faith to get over the challenges that threatened to befall her.
“When he approached me, I didn’t hesitate…I told him that I would like to speak from my personal experience with adversity, and how you can really overcome adversity using leadership principles, like having the right mindset, grit, having mental toughness. So, that was basically what my chapter was about,” she said.
She added: “For me, anything that I do really, it is always to add value, and to use my own personal knowledge and experience to help other persons navigate. So, the purpose of me being part of that particular book was just that…I felt like I had something to offer that would help.”
Wilson is currently working on her first solo project, a book entitled ‘Girl, Get Up and Lead’, which is to release before years-end.
“Basically, it is me sharing my own personal story. And so, it says to persons that you are going to face challenges in life, it is inevitable. Life is not going to be without challenges. But here is what you do when you are faced with a challenge…this is how you put these things into practice so that you would be able to build resilience, to have grit, to grow, and to learn from those experiences and use that to continue to move forward.
“Nothing you go through is just for you…it is meant to share with the world, so that persons are able to use that to help them with their own journey,” Wilson further explained.
“One of the things that I shared in my chapter, ‘Voices for Leadership’, was that if you find the hurt that you were meant to heal the world, you would discover your purpose. I truly believe that each of us has a hurt to heal, so when we experience difficulties, when we go through life-changing moments, it’s not just about us, its about how we are going to then use what we have learnt to help someone else,” she further stated.
Wilson revealed that Grace and Grit are the two elements that sustain her.
“The Grace of God that sustains me, and just having that grit and determination. Grit, for me, it’s growth, it’s resilience, it’s intentionality, it’s tenacity. And you are going to hear about that in my upcoming book, ‘Girl, Get Up and Lead’.
“Because that is basically the foundation on which that book is built…Grace and grit. There is no secret sauce…I just learnt to trust God, to accept the grace that He gives me, and to always have grit, knowing that no matter what I face I have the power to overcome,” she explained.
Speaking specifically about her personal loss and how she managed to emotionally navigate, Wilson revealed:
“Many persons in Turks and Caicos would know that nearly seven years ago I lost my husband to stage four prostate cancer. And for me, that was a defining moment in my life, because I had one of two choices, I could just allow that to take over my life and drown in my sorrow, or I could use it to say okay what is the purpose of this? What am I to gain from this experience and how can I use it to help others?
“And chose the latter, which is to look at the situation, to see how it can help shape me going forward, and share all of those lessons that I learnt along the way with other persons. So, that is what my upcoming book is going to be all about.”
Wilson, no stranger to writing, studied mass communication at the Barbados Community College and majored in print journalism. However, she was a bit coy about broadcast journalism because she did not like her voice.
She has worked with the now defunct Turks and Caicos Free Press for a while, before venturing into banking, then hospitality. After leaving the Free Press she did a little bit of freelancing with the Turks and Caicos Weekly News, before deciding to leave the profession altogether.
However, journalism would not leave her alone, and so, at one point she had a television show, and about two years ago, started a podcast, which has now grown into a radio-sponsored show courtesy of telecoms company Flow, on Radio Turks and Caicos.
Her Flow Radio Show – ‘SheWil Lead’, is an interview series geared towards women.
“I specifically chose women and let me tell you the reason why I chose women, it is because what I found along my journey coming into leadership, I did not have female mentors. All of my mentors were male. There was not a woman that was accessible to me that I could learn from, and grow with, so I was constantly surrounded by males in leadership.
“And I am grateful for that because I learnt so many valuable lessons from them along the way. They poured into my life and helped shaped who I am today, so I am grateful for them. But I just feel that my purpose is to help women and to be what I didn’t have. And so, I have a passion for developing women,” she said.
However, the life coach said she is thrilled when seeing a young man rise to prominence.
“I will tell you that my heart becomes full when I see young men in particular, doing great things in our community and our country. I would agree to some extent that males are overshadowed in this day and age, and a lot of times when we hear about young males it is the more negative things,” she said.