What I’ve learned in 100 days; jumping from major corporate to self-employment.

Today, I’m celebrating 100 days of working for myself – ironically on the same day that I would otherwise have been celebrating 7 years with Australia Post.

So what am I up to?

I’m obsessed with modernising traditional approaches to talent, especially now that the world of work has changed. What used to work doesn’t seem to work any more, and this is especially true in the People space – a grave challenge facing HR & Business leaders today. Having moved the needle significantly on the way that Australia Post acquires, onboards, mobilises and separates from Talent, I’m now looking to help others achieve similar results.

And what have I learned?

1. Working for yourself is so personal! There’s no brand or team to hide behind. Every failure is entirely yours to own – and so is every success. Resilience? Tick.
2. I’ve been on a learning curve the size of Everest. I expected to have to learn new topics like business marketing and tax, but what about trying to codify what I’ve learned over 20 years, to better help others take it forward? Tax is far easier, trust me!
3. Focusing on ‘the problems I solve’ rather than ‘the solutions I provide’ was a pivotal moment for my business mindset. It instantly helped me to build deeper connections and helps me to ensure that I’m working with people I like on problems I enjoy. On reflection, I think this discovery would have been useful throughout my career!
4. I’ve done more strategic thinking in the last 100 days than in the last 10 years. I had Strategy in my job description before, but on reflection, I was lucky to practice it more than a few days a year – in reality I was responsible for strategizing and strategies rather than Strategy. So I’ll be using ‘big S, smalls’ to determine what we’re talking about in future.
5. Being competitive is so out of date; co-opetition is the new way of working. Entering a market full of consultants, I was prepared to compete rather than collaborate but discovered the opposite holds true. Ironically, I’ve experienced more competition / less collaboration inside major corporates who are (meant to be) on the same team. I wonder why this is?

Had anyone else made the same move recently? Any other observations or lessons to share?

#Talent, #Talentacquisition, #Transformation, #BoldHR, #Business

• I’m a speaker, coach, and consultant in the Talent Transformation space.
• I help organizations modernise their approach to Talent Acquisition & Onboarding
• I also work with organizations to lean into the challenge of Workforce Mobilisation in the #FutureofWork