Re-inventing me

There are times in your life when you reach a crossroad, each of them a test of sorts, a moment when you need to make a decision.  Often a moment that could potentially change the course of your life…sometimes irreversibly.

My starting point...

We’ve all had them, sometimes large and visible surrounded by significant stress and consternation, other times discreet and small and at that particular moment in time inconsequential, at least on the surface.   In hindsight some of the smallest decisions – a chance meeting after a late night study session at university and agreeing to go for a hamburger, a response to a question in a hotel lobby in Salzburg Austria or perhaps losing a job…each one of these changes the game.

As many of you know I was a teacher in Australia, and over an seven-year (yeah, pretty short) teaching career taught at all three levels of the educational pyramid.   My first job out of University was teaching at a primary school – (a Grade 2 & 3 composite, second year a Pre-school, Gr 1 & 2 composite class followed by a Gr 5 & 6).  At that point I was done teaching young children, so I decided to move states and teach High School Phys. Ed to year 8 – 11 in Darwin.  The final real teaching role (although arguably I’ve never stopped teaching, just not formally) was that of a part time lecturer at the University of the Northern Territory where I taught undergraduate Education students the art of Curriculum development.   Its so strange to think back about my formal teaching career cos to be honest it feels like a bit of a dream rather than a reality.

In any event I wasn’t cut out for teaching children or adolescents, not really my passion if you know what I mean and fortunately I figured that out pretty quickly (if you consider 7 years short  J).

 Intermingled into the teaching mix was a year backpacking around the world – which I truly believe to be my greatest educational experience…full stop!

During that year I met people from all over the world and had the opportunity to travel with three Canadian girls for an extended period of time – which is how I ended up in Canada, but that is for another time.  

Moving to a new country enabled me re-invent myself, starting afresh with no expectations or history made it relatively easy. 

My first job in Canada was working for the YMCA and after a couple of years and a number of promotions found myself as the CEO of a small YMCA in a large country town about 2 hours outside Toronto.   I was in that role for 18 “difficult” months, and after a falling out with the board was fired by phone….   Rather humbling to be fired but in retrospect was the biggest favour they could have done for me because it launched me on my current business career.   Who would have thought at the time the greatest success came from the greatest failure?

It wasn’t an easy road initially as I now found myself sleeping on my friend (Sandro’s) couch with all my personal belongings in storage…not quite homeless but I could see it from where I was if you know what I mean.  

I figured that here was the perfect opportunity to start afresh, and really had no expectations but decided pretty quickly to become a “consultant”.    Not that I really knew what a consultant did or was supposed to do.   So I did what people did in those days (before the internet) I went to a library and took out a book called “How to be a consultant”.  I read it cover to cover then back again…

 

My business card with company name

Clearly the first thing I needed to do was to make a brochure to tell people how they could benefit from hiring me…   Here I was rushing headlong into a whole new world without any safety net or experience, except a belief in myself to figure it out as I went.  

I poured over the brochure and unbeknownst to me outlined a simplistic process and change model.   From there I purchased a CD with 3000 Canadian company addresses and contacts and then proceeded to mass mail out my brochure to about 200 companies including a host of Universities. 

My approach was simple – send it out, wait a week then call.  I was focused and diligent (typical me) and began cold calling each of them on my list.  I stuck to a regimented call plan and called as many as I could each day to see if they had received my brochure if they required any assistance.   Some great conversations ensued, as well as a lot of “no thank you’s!” but soon enough I landed my first job.  It was a six-month contract with the Canadian Chiropractic College to undertake a marketing study on why such a high percentage of their graduates struggled post graduation in business.  

Surprisingly a lot of companies that I talked to needed help and there I picked up a number of contracts including a Revenue Generation program for the University of Western Ontario for their Intercollegiate Athletic program.  I learned as I went trying to add as much value as I knew how, but really only keeping one step ahead and following my instincts.

The true turning point came the following December when most businesses slow down and tell their consultants to go home and come back in January.  I approached a friend of mine who worked at a Temp Agency to see if there were any jobs available over the break that would get me out of my apartment and make a few bucks to tide me over until January.

Let me see – “I have a one week gig at one of the banks starting on Monday…you know computers right?”.   No worries I assured him, but in actuality having limited experience or knowledge of Microsoft Office.  The next Monday morning at 8:00 AM I found myself on the 41^st floor of Commerce Court East building in the heart of the financial district to meet the HR contact and my new boss.

My Riverina41 brochure

 I arrived to find a very attractive woman in her mid 30’s as my new boss, and I was now her Executive Assistant.   This was the first day of a multi-year program that would transform the internal finance function of the bank and I was effectively the “team”.   It took Carol about two days to ask me “what the hell I was doing with my career?”  

She wanted to see my resume and then began trying to coax me to come work for her on the program and help build the training and change management functions.  I resisted as I had a number of other contracts in flight, mostly small but enough to make a reasonable living.  So for the next few weeks as she began to assemble an internal team from each of the areas within the bank I was by her side, doing whatever it took to keep her on-track and ahead of the relentless meeting schedule.  At the end of each week she would tell the HR group and agency that she needed me again for another week, all the while working on me in the background to get me to join her program team. 

In the middle of January we made a deal that was too good to pass up and over the next six months I wound down my independent consulting practice and joined her team full time.  

I started as a new business analyst and over the next three years moved up pretty quickly to the role of Senior Manager.   The years at the bank provided me with the foundation, confidence and knowledge to grow my career that would eventually lead me to become a partner at one of the largest management-consulting firms in the world.   

Clearly you can’t achieve success on your own.  Growing a successful career is a team sport – you need mentors, coaches and others to believe in you and give you opportunities to shine and succeed (thank you Carol!)  It’s also about relationships, and your tenacity to do things that others aren’t willing to do (all legal btw J).  

However the most important lesson I learned along the way is to never stop believing in yourself or your dreams.    

Dream big my friends, dream big!