Finding our calling
I am reposting a blog, which first appeared on 6 December, as part of the #AdventBlogs which is run by the brilliant Gary Cookson and you can see the original post here.
We might be in the lead up to Christmas with the #adventblogs, but I’m writing this in November, and I mention this because as I look ahead to the festive period, I am taken back to being a child and wondering what the future would hold for me. For me, the festive period has always been a reflective time, especially around new year when I look forward and back. I’m really not a fan of new year as it seems to bring with it pressure and a focus for all of us to set plans, often tough ones which when we don’t achieve them, can result in a feeling of failure.
When I was growing up my experiences were shaped by the programmes that I watched and the magazines that I read, plus by the people around me. I remember watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and wanting to be an explorer and discover lost treasure. It didn’t help that I was also a scout, even today, I still want to explore and discover new things.
My mum was an amazing cook and would bake wonderful creations, so this made me dream of becoming a future chef with my own chain of restaurants, which my dad would be repairing or fixing things, doing some decorating, or sorting something out. All the time, they would do these things and explain what they were doing, I loved to learn about new things. I still use a lot of what I was shown today, which demonstrates the impact of talking and sharing what you do with someone. I’m especially proud of my annual Christmas cakes where I still use my mum’s recipe.
Later, when I was 14, or 15, I remember that we had a school careers lesson where we had to think about our future and what our careers would look like. To be honest, I had no clue. At this point, I was thinking as far ahead as 5.15 and what was happening to Spuggy in Byker Grove and not what I would be doing in a few years. So, to help us focus, we were asked to complete a massive questionnaire on a huge piece of paper, which was fed into a computer and a report generated. The report was printed on the dot matrix printer paper with the green stripes, and I loved pulling off the perforated edges. So satisfying!
The report said I would be a great Prison Warden or truck driver and various other roles. But these did not connect with me, and I remember suddenly panicking about what the future held. At no point did I consider a career in learning and development or coaching. Yet, I could not imagine doing anything else now. The future looked dark and my first couple of roles were unfulfilling and I just felt lost. It was only when I was asked to help support a new intake of people with their inductions, that I started to realise I had fallen into the world of HR and L&D and I could make a difference.
When I am asked, “Why do you work in L&D?”, my answer is always simple. I want to help people to be the best that they can be. I remember a manager that I worked for who sat me down as part of my appraisal and we discussed careers and where I wanted to be in the future. She didn’t do it as a tick box, she really cared, and this was the big difference. She wanted me to be the person that I wanted to be and over the years she has supported and developed me. I can draw a line from where I am today, right to her.
If you are reading this as a manager or leader, maybe consider how you are supporting and helping your colleagues, so that they can realise their goals. Giving someone the time and space to do this properly, really can have an ongoing positive impact on them and their career.
As I reflect on what I thought I would do, when I grow up, I wonder how many people actually thought that I want to be a HR / L&D professional or a coach supporting people! Yet now I don’t think I could imagine anything else. Coaching and developing others is really part and parcel of who I am.