An interesting 12 month journey with a lot of learning

Today marks 1 year since I left my employer of 35 years. Leaving wasn’t as hard as I thought it may be. Having delivered retrenchment news to many people over my career I was uncertain how I would react and wondered if the resentment I had seen in others was about to set in any day. Fortunately for me it still hasn’t. Maybe because I am thankful for an amazing journey and was ready for something new, or maybe I am just not built that way but since leaving I have embraced each new day trying to discover what the future may bring. That said, I have had moments where I did have regrets about the need to leave. These were always about the people I missed and my former teams who themselves were going through change and disruption. 

As I was leaving many people reached out and promised to stay in touch. Many have, many have not. I would imagine that COVID and the year that was with lock downs has had an impact on many, and for some it would just be the right thing to say. The learning with this one was not new to me. Many years ago a great leader told me that work friends are just that. Friends at work and they will go away when you do, or they do. He was right, well partly. I am pleased to say that many of the friendships have carried on, and not surprisingly, many have not.

This brings me to the next big learn from my year. People who you think have your back can be very hard to track down when you need help. Especially if that requires them to back you, or put in a good word with someone else they know. It is amazing how people who are very active on some platforms just don’t see your message…. Or do they just avoid it. I suspect the later. Emails go unanswered as do phone calls but we continue to learn and grow through all of these encounters.

Of course, some people are just amazing and will offer an ear, advice and even to reach out. I have so many people who have been so generous with their time and advice (Thanks Kerry, Rob, Craig, Paul, Naush, Sue, Michael, David, Sean, Eyad, Steve, Mal, Rick, Lia and many more.

One piece of advice that still resonates for me is regularly is ‘if you ask for a job, it will probably lead to advice. If you ask for advice, you may get more than you expected’. Thanks Paul.

Reaching out to people who I don’t know has also been an interesting experience. A former peer suggested the best thing to do when applying for a job is to reach out to the job owner via Linked-in and say Hi as this puts you on their radar. I have found this to be hit and miss. Some love it, others definitely do not (and I think wipe you from a potential list) so best to try and get more of an idea about them first through someone you may know, who knows them.

For me the biggest challenge was to work out what I wanted to do next. Having been in banking for 35 years and leadership roles for more than 30 of these, I needed to work out if this was still something I wanted to do. After all, branch numbers were shrinking, hence the retrenchment.

Working with John Daikin a career coach from Directioneering was unbelievable to help me decide my future. John helped me to be calm and take time to decide where I wanted to focus my energies and seek my future opportunities. We took time to do some psych testing and analyse the outcomes and talk through what I liked and loved about prior roles as well as the dislikes. I explored careers outside of banking by chatting to people across many industries to end up discovering that want I still wanted to do was be involved in Banking, leadership and lending. Amazing that you can take such a long time to be certain that what you have always loved to do is still your number 2 choice.

For the record, #1 choice would be to be a fully funded race car driver, but dreams need to remain dreams!!!

Applying for jobs has also been an interesting learn. Many recruiters are a pleasure to deal with and show amazing interest and do a great service to the brands that they represent. Others are just dreadful. If you are lucky you get rejected. Many of roles I have applied for, I am still waiting on some kind of response. Interestingly I have been left hanging for a response even after a second interview. This does nothing for any business’s reputation. I do get that recruiters get over subscribed with applicants, but when people have taken the time to apply for a role, the least a business can do is give them a response. Even when it is no thanks, that is always better.

Of course I have also encountered the ‘you are over qualified’ for this role. This one I don’t really understand either. If someone with more skills then you need wants to work for you for the pay that the job offers (Mind you, hard to guess what that may be) then why not try and understand why and how you can leverage and benefit from those skills. Maybe it is because you want people to come and learn and grow and stay in the role, or maybe you are afraid that they are just looking for something to do until a better offer comes along. You will not know if you don’t ask. Maybe they just want something different, or a new start point where it is mutually beneficial to the employee and employer???

In September I started a new role with CBA as a Lender Coach. Whilst I have been a lender before and heavily exposed to lending throughout my career the in detail knowledge that the CBA coaches have is just unbelievable and is continuing to be a massive learning curve for me. Policy, Language, culture and the size of the organisation all offer another opportunity to learn. I am loving working with the talented, hungry lenders who want to achieve and be their best and have the courage to push back when they don’t get the answer that their customer deserves. It is no great surprise to me that CBA is able to attract and retain such amazing lenders. It is also amazing to see how much better the policies, appetite, culture and systems for Lending are at CBA. The Coaching team and leadership have also been very welcoming and supportive of me. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a part of this great organisation.

It has been an interesting year where I got to take time, reflect, think, clear most of my back log of chores (I am never painting again) and have a play with some of my toys. Change is invigorating and I can’t wat to see what the next 12 months takes me. JD