06The Story Behind our Logo
It was 1995 and Simon Smith had just completed 10 years of service as an officer in the British Royal Air Force. He packed his bags and headed south to Australia via Asia and enjoyed 2 years of travelling freedom.
His first ever sighting of the Southern Cross constellation was during a night tour at the Observatory in Canberra, and he was blown away by the depth and detail. A few months later, Simon was in the Philippines working as an underwater videographer, SCUBA diving instructor and marine researcher. His love for the ocean led him to be part of a crewing team sailing a 37-foot yacht around the South China Sea.
Simon would often take the midnight to 4am shifts where he took to the helm and kept watch. He loved the solitude, the frequent visits from whales and accompanying dolphins, and was in awe of the inky black sky set ablaze with a billion sparkling stars. Sitting and watching the Southern Cross on its rise and decent became a symbol of direction, freedom and inspiration, provoking many hours of personal and professional reflection. Today it reflects our field of professional and personal development.
The Southern Cross symbolises you, the individual, the team and the organisation. The two lone stars pointing to the Southern Cross are called ‘The Pointers’ and are symbolic of coaching and training which focuses on the individual, the team and the organisation by pointing you in the right direction.
To the naked eye the ‘fifth’ star, just below the far right hand star of the cross, appears to be one white star. It is actually a cluster of several bright, multi-coloured stars known as ‘The Jewel Box’, which can only be seen when observed through a telescope. Our coaching and training services help you gain insight and awareness into yourself, your leadership, your career, your team, and your organisation. They can help you to see the ‘jewels’ inside.
Just below ‘The Jewel Box’ is a black patch of sky called ‘The Coal Sack’, barely discernible unless you’re away from city lights. This dark interstellar dust cloud obscures the light of the stars behind and appears as a dark nebula. Many of us are familiar with our own darkness that we can sometimes drift into; we know it, we’ve been there! Coaching, training and knowledge development can help get you out of it when you are in it, and aid to prevent it from returning.
From the dark come rays of light, emanating from ‘The Jewel Box’ signalling a new dawn. In a coaching and development context, this is the emergence and brightening of awareness, the development of wisdom and knowledge, the burst of inspiration and ideas, the materialisation of direction and initiation into action, all of which Southern Cross Coaching & Development focuses our services on.
Maybe when you look up into the night sky and see the Southern Cross, you will look at it from a different perspective after this insight.
Coaching, and knowledge in general, develops and changes your perspective. It helps you see new directions and ideas, and helps you to view you, your development, your organisation, your leadership, your career and other people with a new wisdom and in a more knowledgeable light. That’s what Southern Cross Coaching & Development can do for people.
