The secret to your success is YOU!

I clearly remember the day a director told me I was “too values-led”. I felt crushed, insulted, angry. My values are the core of who I am - I care deeply about what I do and who I impact. Wasn’t that a good thing?!

At the time, I was moving up the career ladder and held aspirations of becoming a senior leader in the organisation. I felt confused and deflated, starting to doubt myself. Perhaps being me wasn’t a good thing at all. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for senior leadership, or I needed to change myself to gain a promotion?

But that didn’t feel right. Who would I be if I wasn’t me? What value would I deliver if I didn’t bring myself to my role? I had two choices – to take the feedback on board and distort myself to fit a mold, or to be my authentic self.

As I reflected on my past successes, I realised that they resulted from bringing my whole self to my work. When I did that, my unique perspectives and ideas shone through. People connected with me emotionally, human to human, and were inspired by my passion. They trusted me because I was honest and open; felt safe with me because they knew I cared about them and their success. They supported me because they saw my humility in admitting I wasn’t perfect; I didn’t have all the answers and sometimes needed to ask for help. This was my DNA, born out of my values, and was the result of bringing my complete self to work.

So, my course was clear. I wanted to be a leader who inspired others to see their unique value and be their authentic selves. And that is the leader I became. It was no coincidence that, by staying true to myself, I continued to make a positive impact on my teams, colleagues and the businesses I worked for, and went on to enjoy success as a senior leader. I was continually in awe of the amazing things my teams achieved by bringing their brilliant uniqueness to their work.

In the end, it is really very simple … if you want to create a meaningful career, that aligns with who you are, YOU are the key to your success!