5 Early Career Learnings That Changed My Life

I’ve made PLENTY of mistakes in my career, more than I can count! BUT, they are really important and I think we should not be scared to make them. That’s how we learn right?! Welcoming failure is a key step to success!

From my early career failures, I have learned HUGE lessons that have changed my life for the better. Now, I take these lessons into every single day, in both my professional and personal life and they make me more caring, empathetic and kind.

Let me know what your mistakes taught you!

Confidence is built by doing, not by thinking.

Often, we spend so long thinking about an action, second-guessing it and weighing up the pros and cons for too long and then the moment and the opportunity passes. This could apply to something as small as speaking up during a meeting, which can be daunting and you open yourself up to ridicule... It’s not the easy route. However, you CANNOT build confidence by being silent, or being passive!

Whatever you’re thinking about, do it and see what happens. Feeling vulnerable at times is part of building your persona and career. Soon, that will become second nature and you will reap the benefits of taking risks within the workplace. In general, I think the best piece of advice is: just go for it.

Be happy to fail.

Failing at something does not make you a failure. Not all of your ideas will be good ideas. If you’re putting yourself out there and trying your hardest, some of those things will inevitably go better than others; make this part of your mindset!

What’s important is how you respond to that failure: if you make a mistake, try to be the first to recognise and correct it. If someone else gets there first, acknowledge it and apologise. It has NOTHING to do with ego - it’s business and nothing ever changes if you don’t try new things.

When I was 16, I got my first student job at Douglas, a perfume shop in Germany during the school holidays. I was young and, if we’re being honest, rude and arrogant because I was determined to be going places. I acted as if I was superior to my colleagues because I had a higher level of education than them and looked down on the fact that some of them would never go any further than that retail job. Then one day, the boss called me in her office to talk with me about my attitude. She was kind but firm and she told me that while I might have lots of potential and agreed I was more intelligent, educated or culturally nurtured, my colleagues were experienced in their field and I was not and I should respect them for that! She was right.

I reflect on that lesson often and I truly believe that it has shaped my behaviours and attitudes towards others in the workplace. Sometimes, failure is the most effective way to learn.

Be feminine, not feminist.

The worst thing a woman can do is try to compete with men at their “manhood" level. Your 'd...ck' will never be bigger than his - you don’t have one! So, stay feminine and true to yourself. Men and women usually have different core traits and they complement one another. If you are in a male-dominated area, such as Finance, rather than trying to be just like them, look at your talents and assets as a woman and use those to your advantage.

Men can be process-oriented when trying to reach a goal. However, women have a different outlook. We notice different routes a man might not. That’s not antagonising; it’s complimentary.

Be a woman: use your femininity, your soft skills, your nurturing skills to empower yourself and others within the workplace. Bring something to the table men cannot, rather than trying to be just like them.

I’ve seen so many women feeling that they need to be the hardest worker to earn their keep: to be the first into the office in the morning and the last to leave with the shortest breaks. That cannot be the answer. Remember that you were hired for your own skills and experience. You’re good at what you do.

You sell with your ears, not with your mouth.

In any situation, your greatest power is knowledge about whoever is with you in the room. The person opposite you is the important one, never you. Whether it’s a sales pitch, a negotiation or a team meeting, be the facilitator. Listen, to find where you can add value or provide a solution and give yourself the chance to fully understand their objective and how you or your business could fit into that.

Nowadays, even as a boss, there’s always someone more important. I am a boss and that is a responsibility. My job is to serve the team and make sure they have everything they need to do the best they can. In a lot of ways, their needs come before my own and I believe that is what makes me a good boss.

You are only as good as the team you manage. The archaic top-down command structure of bosses is finished. Instead of hiring beneath you, you need to hire people who bring specific value to your team and work with them to harness their skills. Like conducting an orchestra, you need all of the instruments to be playing the right notes at the right time to make a symphony. It’s your job as a boss to make that happen.

No tolerance for bullies.

A toxic workplace environment begins with one little quip about somebody., like “They’ve always been a difficult one.” In most cases, you can’t change the person who says things like that but you can control your reaction. If you see a fire and you have the power to extinguish it, you can just walk away or say: “No, that’s not ok”. A zero-tolerance policy is the only one that should exist. That’s the mindset that needs to be established within a thriving workplace.

When I worked at CNBC, one anchor had people in tears on all levels: in the directors’ room, the production team, even the other anchors. It was terrible. He was kept on for a long time because he had good ratings. It created a really negative environment which festered for a while until eventually one of the bosses said enough is enough and let him go. Everything about that work environment changed for the better after that one decision.

It only takes one rotten apple in the beautiful basket that you’ve built and nurtured to spoil the bunch.

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It’s so important to always stay open to learning. Often we can shut the world off outside of us and think: “Yeah, I’m doing a great job!” BUT everyone else around you may be thinking otherwise. I did this in my early career and it DID NOT go down well. To this day I learn something new about myself or my impact on others daily.

I feel SO strongly about how your attitude and values within the workplace can determine your success. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the lessons I’ve learned in the comments and if you have any tips of your own.