22. Building Career Confidence

Jul 21, 2021

I’ve been working since I was 12 years old. From folding t-shirts for my Dad’s side hustle on a Friday night, to working at Target and in pubs, I’ve always had a strong work ethic and have always wanted to work.

Confidence, however, is something I’ve struggled with throughout my career, and it’s something I see a lot of other women struggle with, too.

Growing up, I was quiet and shy. I liked to read books and ride horses, and dance. My brother was one of those kids who was effortlessly great at most things, so I was labelled the ‘struggler’ of the family.

I didn’t have big career aspirations, and I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in my own ability. When I started working in IT, I didn’t know anyone and I viewed it as “just a job”.

Obviously, this attitude changed throughout my career (you don’t get to the C-Suite if you’re just plodding along, let me tell you!).

When I finished Uni, my Mum suggested I get a job in the offices at Target, and I ended up securing a job in the Help Desk. I worked with some wonderful, supportive women who saw something in me and encouraged my growth.

Originally, I wasn’t fussy about where I worked – I just wanted to earn money and move my career forward. These days, though, things are a little bit different.

I’m really clear on what my values are, and I choose to work with companies, organisations and leaders who are committed to helping other people achieve their goals, and those that support women.

Nowadays, I don’t expect a role or company to be the be all of my career and my life, and even now I continue to learn outside of my day to day job, build side hustles and network, both within my industry and outside of it.

I created my career, step by step.

I focus on what I want to learn at that particular organisation or in this role, and ask myself if there’s a new skill I’ve learned that I want to put into practice. As an example, in my last role I wanted to grow my career around the digital space. I was brought in to transform the digital ecosystem with my team, and that focus gave us a clear objective.

Take a minute to think about what this looks like for you:

  • How are you learning?
  • Is there something that you want to get involved inn?
  • Is there something you could try out on the side?
  • Is there something that isn't TECHNICALLY part of your job description - but would be helpful to have some basic skills in - that you could learn?


Then turn your attention to your organisation:

  • Why are you working there ?
  • What do you want to achieve?
  • Do you have a plan?
  • Are you clear on your objectives?
  • Are you asking for feedback?

It’s also worth asking yourself: What will I be ALLOWED to achieve, working at this organisation?

I’m someone who loves change, loves finding problems and fixing them, but over time I’ve learned that sometimes companies don’t want true change, so you have to make change within the constraints of the organisation.

A valuable lesson I’ve learned is to run my race at the pace of the collective leaders of the organisation – you can’t drag people along with you if they’re truly resistant, and you may be seen as an UNDER performer if you don’t enact change quickly enough, so learn to observe the pace and the considerations organisations have in place when it comes to change.

This has made me feel held back on occasion, but I’ve learned that you CAN make change piece by piece, rather than talking about the big, sweeping changes that can scare off some leaders in senior management. Lots of small change can add up to big change, and lots of small goals can help you achieve big goals.

Throughout my career, I have always put my hand up for extra work. I believe you learn by doing, and there’s always more to do.

I’m also always thinking about the next job: what is it, what’s the job after that, and how do I develop the skills that I’ll need to reach that next stage?

The reality is, there are some companies where you can only get to a certain level before your career growth is stalled. In that case, you need to learn to be loyal to your own career, rather than any one organisation.

Get practical about how you’re going to get things done.
For any project, I plan out a mission, vision and strategy, with supporting plans, then I’ll get a team behind it. We then deliver and test to see what works, whether that’s in a small business or a large organisation. I have my overall strategy with monthly plans, then I have to be realistic about what I can achieve in any particular month, taking into consideration lockdowns, horse riding events and family commitments.

I have a work in progress document, an Agile project board and a to do list. This is what works for me.


I also recommend sitting down and exploring the ways that you work best.

  • Are you a morning person or a night owl?
  • Do you work better with long stretches of time to devote to one project, or do you need variety in your day?


Knowing these things about yourself can help you set up your day for success. While the state of the world means that we’ve had to learn to become flexible, just knowing how you work best and working around other commitments and distractions as best you can, can be really helpful.

Eat that frog. Get the thing you don’t want to do out of the way first so that it isn’t taking up valuable brain real estate. If you find yourself procrastinating on a task, schedule it in to your diary, and if you’re still procrastinating? Ask yourself why, and see if you need to do it, or if you can delegate.

I also like to write down goals, to give myself a bit of momentum. This comes from the mission and vision I mentioned earlier: I look at those overarching goals, then choose the smallest possible sub-goal of the big goals and get it done. Doing smaller steps starts to build momentum, and before you know it, you’ve reached the big goal!

Finally, work on your relationships!

Introduce yourself to people within your organisation, reach out to people on LinkedIn, and ultimately? Be a little bit brave! You never know when that person in another department will have a friend at a bigger company ask them if they know anyone who would be good for your dream job.

By increasing your network, sharing your career aspirations and being a little bit proactive, you can shave years off your next promotion.

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