Tackling Career Change

I was so excited to start my first job an actual 9-5 salary role! I did not know what to expect on the first day. Would they provide a big welcome or just a hi, here is your desk and laptop, your tasks and away you go.

I walked into the doors met by a lovely Cook Island woman who greeted me with her smile and asked who I was. I told her that I was the new guy starting. She looks at her computer screen and says that "Your team is up stairs, just wait in the office they are just in a meeting and will be out to you once they have finished." I waited with anticipation for my new team.

What are their names? What do they look like? How do they work?

A thousand things were running through my head. I was thinking and assuming who they were. A few minutes go by and I see them walking out of a room from downstairs and walk into the team office where I am waiting by myself. I count 8 people who walk in half were women and men all from different ethnicities Indian, Fijian Indian, Niuean, Samoan. The manager walks towards me and introduce himself and then introduces me to the team. The room is quiet I am not sure if I am who they expected to be.

There is nothing like playing rugby especially in a team. The adrenaline, the trainings to become the best you can be as a person, and how to help achieve a win every day and week of the year. The sweat and hot preseason trainings to all the running and lifting weights there is nothing like it! There was also the social side which was a important factor in the wellbeing of the team and culture-depending who you talk to that is! Achieving the dream of playing professionally started with a dream to become the best tackler that I can be. Now I had a another challenge and it did not involve a rugby ball!

This is no sports teams this is a corporate team!

• What is their unique difference?
• Who are the drivers of the team?
• Who are the communicators?
• Who are the introverts and extroverts?
• Who are the clowns in the team?
• Who are the serious types?

In sports teams there are many characters with diverse personality types and understanding what makes them tick is important in creating trust and friendship. Like most teams I was involved in, it will take time to know them individually and also to be who I am and confident and getting to know them.

Building trust takes time in teams especially in sports teams. Your players next to you to the trainer, the coaches and the manager. My first corporate team outside of the sports field I was nervous but excited. I had a plan and I would need to transfer all those soft skills in communication and working together to achieve objectives and build trust fast!

Learning new skills is like passing and catching the ball or tackling, it is a process. For this new career adapting to the new environment of a desk, computer screen and wearing a suit and tie was challenging at first. Being consistent and persistent in learning and relearning and unlearning habits took time especially the break times.

Making the first tackle is a process, take your time and stay focused to learning new skills, listening to others more experienced and then actioning the steps.

Fa'afetai

Filipo

This is snippet of my upcoming book on career transitioning:

"Tackle Success" 

More on Transitioning

https://www.filipolevi.com/rugby-union-business-club

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Rugbybusinessclub/posts/