Protopia

How do you know when it’s time to move on?

Is it simply a gut feeling? Was it a moment where you recognised a red line and knew you couldn’t take any more? Or was it simply that you’d outgrown the old you?

In my case, it was when I realised I was happier.?

It wasn’t a lightning bolt - I’ve learnt to be cautious about lightning bolt-type feelings these days and what they’re really trying to tell me - but rather a gradual, steady feeling of contentment and security.

Talking about work - whinging, moaning, complaining - as well as speaking up against injustice of any kind has been my MO for many years, long before this newsletter existed. I went canvassing with my dad when I was in a pushchair, became a union rep in my early twenties, and grappled with the reality of being a disabled employee in many different industries - retail, hospitality, financial services, and the public sector to name a few.

I felt incredibly guilty for having health conditions.

Most of the time, I kept quiet about them at work - and I was embarrassed if they impacted the team in any way.

Broadly speaking, that’s because I am older than quite a few of you - and when I started work, and until very recently, the employer attitude towards disability and health was piss poor. Mental health didn’t exist and if you acknowledged you had it, it was potentially career-ending. Physical illness was inexcusable, too.

We obviously have a very long way to go, but I have felt things shifting in a more positive direction recently, if only in that people seem to feel able to talk about their health more openly.

For me personally, it has taken a very long time and an entire shift in circumstances, and basically restructuring my whole working life to feel that I can advocate for myself and work around my health.

I have created the right structures and have the right people around me in both my working and personal lives to support me, and I cherish them immensely.?

I’m certainly not saying every disabled or marginalised person should become self-employed. It certainly isn’t for everyone and has its own significant challenges.?

For me, founding my own businesses wasn’t just to do with my health; I don’t really like being told what to do especially if I don’t understand WHY I’m being told to do something. I love working autonomously and I feel I have enough experience and creativity to offer something unique to my clients.

But I do believe, and I didn’t for a long time, that it is possible to be happy and thrive at work if you are a bit different.?

I don’t mean to be flippant when I say this, and I have given it an enormous amount of thought (and have a tonne of experience in this area): if you are seriously unhappy at work, please know that you can just leave.?

There will always be reasons to stay - an attractive pension or bonus scheme, a regular and comfortable salary.

But ask yourself this - is the juice worth the squeeze?

I don’t think it is possible or even sustainable to be ecstatically happy all the time. Apart from anything else, if people were like that they’d be really annoying.?

A very wise man once described to me the concept of a protopian future (and protopian present) - where things gradually, incrementally get better. It doesn’t mean things change in the blink of an eye or overnight - and it can be hard to see immediate progress.?

If we look at recent events in the UK, it is hard to see our current reality as protopian. We shouldn’t ignore bad news and bad things because we should keep striving to make them much, much better.

Which brings me to my own little corner of the world.?

This newsletter - The Work Woman - will cease to exist after this edition in its current form.

It has been a hugely cathartic experience for me to talk to you about my experiences of being an employee and specifically as one with very complex health conditions. And even more specifically as someone who presents outwardly as appearing to be entirely healthy.

Thank you so much for allowing me the space and time to do this. But I am officially hanging up my Work Woman hat.

For one - I am no longer an employee and haven’t been for some time. So my experiences now feel somewhat outdated, even though I still have very strong views on how people should and shouldn’t be treated at work.

I’m all about solutions, and so that’s why it’s been so exciting to start Unity Two with the incredibly talented Juliett Bohanna (MA, PCC) . We are helping companies who care about their teams become more productive (and profitable) by boosting their culture.

I am also going back to basics!?

The concept of evolution not revolution has never meant more to me than when I’ve been self-employed. I’ve loved the chance to figure out what I am good at, what I want to focus on, and the people I’d like to work with. Sometimes it’s felt like taking two steps forward and twenty back, but slowly I have evolved into who I am.

Being too niche closed off too many opportunities for me; I tried to solely focus on businesses who ‘do work’. But I really missed the world of financial and professional services, fintech, scaleups, and everything I’d worked so hard on throughout my career.?

I’m working with businesses now to develop their voices, and to create really impressive thought leadership strategies so they can stand ahead of their competitors, reach for investment, and achieve their goals.

So now, very simply, I do two things:

Communications and culture.

Thank you so much for reading - I hope you will continue to do so on the other side.?

This is my protopia. What’s yours?