I’ve been employed full time half my living life … Looking back at My Career to date; Would I do anything different?

This afternoon I found my self contemplating my career to date. In doing so, I started to think what lessons I have learned, who were those key individuals that have given me something that to this date I still carry with me… (I will mention some later on), and the other individuals, that even though I learned a lot from, it was learning what one shouldn’t do (I will not mention these, and to be fair, they were not too many).

To answer the question, no I would probably not do anything different, bar potentially work abroad more, but hey I’ve still got 30 years or more to reach the pension age, so the opportunity will surely come!

There are many lessons I learned over the past 17 years, but the three I live by the most, and I preach about when I am talking about career advice are;

1.??????Confidence, Confidence, Confidence! – Without confidence most of your competence will be wasted. Build self-confidence. – I’ve done it the hard way, at 22 I left Malta, to go work in London, and not being confident was not an option.

2.??????There are other forms of payment besides your salary – We all go to work to get paid at the end of the month, BUT you can also work for satisfaction, pride, mastery and above all to be challenged. If you just go for money you are most likely to remain doing what you are doing.

3.??????Without competence, Confidence is just a protective layer which will wear off – Don’t stop working until you deliver actual results.

As I mentioned above, I feel I’ve reached to this point in my career thanks to many people I’ve crossed paths with, but there are a few which I feel moulded me in who I am today.

Let’s go …?

Tina Trifu - in 2006 First ever manager at InterContinental Malta, back then in a room with no windows, selling some kind of privilege cards. What I took from Tina, is that when you set a goal, you keep at it until you reach it. Thanks

My first full time job was at the HSBC contact center in Swatar. Tracy Bleser the center manager at the time, I remember her assertive tone of voice, but extremely clear at communicating expectations. Tracy trusted me with managing a team of 16 contact center agents before I even had a driving license. Thank You!

Moving on, from an island in the middle of the Mediterranean to Canary Wharf in London. Mark Horscroft gambled after just one phone call ... (no video calls at the time) 1 month later, in a country on my own, working at the bank's head quarters. I can thank Mark for many things, but mostly for providing me with a platform to grow, and within 12 months gambled again and promoted me to a Manager (The man had guts!) Mark's leadership was very effective, knew how to motivate, whilst pulling the threads from his little back office room. I learnt from Mark that you don't need to be constantly visible to know what's happening, give people their space and results will come. Thanks!

Still in London came along Jodie Mosley, the life of the party, but also a super people's manager, knew the ins and outs of all her team, caring and capable to give you a nudge when she sees you going of track. From Jodie I learnt that management is not about authority. We also had some crazy nights out... #WorkHard, #PartyHarder. Thanks!

Back in Malta s-Sur Ray Calleja, I am yet to meet some one as helpful, from Ray I learnt that patience is really a virtue, I've seen Ray going out of his way many times to keep clients and employees of MeDirect Bank Malta satisfied, and we've seen that this does have a return. Ray thanks for the great examples you've set when we worked together!

At this point in my career, I had decided to move from banking to HR, Back then Josef Said from Konnekt was the man with the key, to my HR career. Today I consider Josef as a mentor more than anything, his sound advice has always worked. I also take a lot from Josef by observing how he leads his teams at Konnekt. Grazzi!

De La Rue was where my passion for people met with my first fully focused HR role. Ronald Bonnici was another person that took a gamble on me, and got me in with minimal HR experience into a demanding HR role within the Manufacturing Industry, I thank Ronald mostly, for throwing in the deep end and exposing me to situations which gave me a lot of experience in managing tough situations. Also at De La Rue, Edward Chetcuti a leader which helped me understand and learn how beneficial it is to feel like you belong in an organisation, and how every element of the team is crucial for collective success. Thanks Ron and Ed!

Kenneth Formosa Ventura took me on as the HR Manager for the Vistajet Malta office and amongst many things, taught me how to remain composed, I believe that it is a very important skill I gained throughout that time. being able to remain composed at the face of adversity, is very important in HR Management.

In my last role before joining Baxter, I worked in a family owned organisation Famalco, I admit that moving from multinational corporate organisations to locally owned, was a bit of a change, however I feel that it was an important part of my career which continued shaping my career, at Famalco I had the opportunity to work with a visionary. From Hermann Mallia I've learnt that everything comes for a price, and that one needs to put in time and hard work to achieve results. Hermann thanks for instilling in me that nothing comes easy or for free!

I am now 3 years at Baxter, I am blessed to be in an organisation which thrives on collaboration, I won't mention names but once read somewhere ..."You become the average of the most five people you spend most time with" I happen to spend most of weeks with more than five very talented individuals, so it augurs well for my future, and at this point in my career, I see Baxter as my long term plan, I feel it is the right place to grow and achieve my career goals.

And finally - if you want to be successful and enjoy what you do - 3 last tips

1. Be grateful.?Gratitude is more effective than criticism.
2. Be clear and truthful.?The clearer you are at saying what you want, the more likely you are to get it.
3. Failure is temporary, if you never give up.

Once again, a big thanks to the people I mentioned and many others I met in my career to date.

I know this was a long one, Sorry! But hope you took something from it.