Living Corporate with Gathoni

I’ve started this blog/ newsletter to use my life experiences to bring to life all the thoughts we have about careers and working life.?

I like to call myself “The radical recruiter”. Why the title? Well it’s good for you to know whom you are subscribing to.?For my new subscribers, I'd really like to know what's “your peak”?What is this big title or thing you are striving to achieve by the time you retire? What’s your final destination? What challenges are you facing that we can discuss? Work backwards let’s figure out how you’ll get what you need.

I realised I loved writing and I wasn’t too bad at it from a farewell email I sent when I was transitioning out of my then organisation. There was indeed some editing but I was a keen to express my gratitude to the firm to the proficiency of a professional writer/ author because it was from the depths of my eyes, heart and and spirit. They say eyes are the windows to the soul so I trust my colleagues then truly saw me as G, Gatoni, Gathoni, Ms.G. I loved a lot as I typed that farewell and maybe that’s why it was so well received.?

This week I want to discuss RnR (Reward and Recognition)…later we will delve into many topics through this blog from interviewing, gut instinct, self awareness and all things recruitment,selection and career.

I discovered the hard way RnR is part of the formula to get myself to my "peak".??Something else I came to realise, you can be your own RnR system in the context of your corporate and private workspace. It occured to me that many of us including myself, wait for validation.Keep in mind you back ache from a 16+ hour workday days, are going over and above your job description, and you are just an active and engaged employee to put it in short. Let me tell you a little secret... you did the damn thing Ma’am/ Sir?! You did it! Whatever "It means" but hopefully also in correspondence with your KPIs/ OKRs. Afterall, you were hired to be _____ not helper of all things in the company.

So just how do we go about self RnR in action?

1. Get a white board- greatest investment outside of land for us Kenyans in the house.?
2. Start tallying your wins, every week. It gets very easy to forget the small things but your board will be your guide. Similar to a vision board this is going to be your “RnR board”. And guess what? Once it’s done your resume is ready for an almost copy paste situation. You’ll nail your interviews because your visual memory on the board is at play.?
3. I came to discover RnR actually starts from within. Appreciate your wins, be they big, medium or small - YOU DID it! These days I call RnR buying flowers, buy yourself some flowers, many if you'd prefer that too.

Next week what would you like us to talk about? Please share in the comments your hot topic and let’s tackle it together!