Thanks but no thanks
Louisa Fleet
Executive Sales and Leadership Recruiter/Head Hunter for Commercial and Industrial Soft FM Services, Hygiene, Workwear, Specialist Cleaning, Laundry, B2B Contract Services based in Thames Valley - Recruiting UK and USA
Really interesting to hear everyone’s opinions on why, and why now, following Nicola Sturgeon's resignation
Opinions I’ve heard range from “I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want that job” to “Clearly she couldn’t handle it” and “I take my hat off to her, it takes courage to do this”
My opinion is the last one, “I take my hat off to her, it takes courage to do this” also, maybe she couldn’t handle it but where is the shame in this? Is it so wrong to say that you don’t feel you are up to the job or that your personal life is more important? Or should you fake it, suffer in silence, and let your personal life take a back seat?
I made the decision to step down from a “bigger role” when I worked for a large national recruiter over 15 years ago, I’m not embarrassed to say that I couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t up to the job. I had relocated to Newcastle to marry my Geordie fiancé; we’d had a long-distance relationship for 3 years leading up to this.?I didn’t apply for the job, I transferred with my employer and my new boss gave me a higher-ranking position, based on my previous successes, it was a launch in a sector that was completely new to me as well as overseeing 3 teams. It's ironic that this was a recruitment business, I wasn’t interviewed or given a job description. My life was a struggle, I found moving to the other end of the country away from all of my friends and family really hard. And the job that I took on was tough and not what I had anticipated.
The timing was wrong and the pressure of work and home life all at once was overwhelming. So, I stepped down and asked for my old job back, which I got, happy days. I felt shame, feeling like I’d admitted failure, but looking back I’m glad that I did, and I learned from it. It meant more to me to be able to do a great job and be happy personally than to struggle for the sake of status, money, and a nice car.
This highlights two key topics that are really hot at the minute: humility in leaders, and burnout.
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Truth be told, we all make mistakes, and when the spotlight is constantly on you, these mistakes can be amplified, and whilst others may criticise, I’m sure Nicola’s internal critic is the biggest of all, so for this reason I take my hat off to her and, I still think, it takes courage to do this.
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2 年Excellent post Louisa.
Great to read such an honest account of a big chapter and important decision in your life Louisa. Your integrity and transparency puts you on the map and got you here. All credit to you for doing it your way and not leaning in like so many do. It does take courage, so well done you ??
Head of Regional Sales London & South East. Helping deliver Workwear solutions throughout the South East. Head of Regional Sales, Coach, Mentor, Enabler.
2 年I wholeheartedly agree with you on this Louisa Fleet. We absolute should be more open and honest. Whatever her true reasons are behind this decision she’s made a brave (and probably healthy) decision for her. When I was in my early twenties I was promoted to a much bigger job than I’d ever had, based in Altrincham. I lived in a hotel Monday to Friday, travelled back and forth to Glasgow each weekend, hardly saw family and friends, didn’t have time to make new ones. Damn near killed me. Pulled myself up short, gave myself a real talking to and ended asking to back to the Glasgow offices. It wasn’t just the nature of the job that was difficult-on it’s own I could manage it fine. It was the additional pressures surrounding it. And it was really frowned upon by my employers when I made my decision and it definitely set my career back. Mental health wasn’t talked about the same way in those days, but if it was now, I would make the exact same decision but hold my head high as I walked away.
A great post Louisa! As someone who knew you then, I thought you did a great job running the Newcastle branch. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have ever ended up at Nuaire and the rest…as they say is history. You should be very proud of your achievements and for having the guts to “do you” in your decision to step down, relocate back home and setup - all credit to you! ????