“You can’t be a mailbox”: The advice that changed my career for the better
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Do you remember that one piece of advice that changed the trajectory of your life, or your career?
Kim Vella does. Here she shares the defining moment when her boss created the ultimate turning point for her…
I still remember being selected to act as an EL2 in the government department I was in at the time. I’d worked so hard to get to that point, and here I was – with exactly six months to prove I could do an outstanding job and land the role.
To say I worked hard would be an understatement. I’d always thought great leadership required working harder, faster, and longer. Often, I wouldn’t make it home until after 10 pm…barely seeing my partner and allowing all self-care to go out the window.
All that mattered to me was securing that role. And I did.
Had I continued working like I had, burnout would have been inevitable. The cracks were already starting to show, and for every crack, I thought if I could only work that little bit harder or longer, I could fix it.
Turned out that was not the right mindset and, fortunately for me, my new boss knew it. He was an incredible mentor, and after only a week in my new permanent EL2 role, he called me into his office and asked, “What are you doing?”.
My heart sank. After all, you never want to hear those words when you’re working as hard as you possibly can. I knew I’d earned my right to be there, and didn’t know what I could be doing wrong.
But what we said next changed my point of view on leadership, and hence my career, forever. He said:
“Kim, you can’t be a mailbox.”
Based on how I was approaching everything at the time, I knew exactly what he meant. Another way to phrase what he was saying is through the words of author Marshall Goldsmith: What got you here won’t get you there.
When you land a permanent EL2 role, you can’t act it – you have to be it. I didn’t have the mindset of an EL2; I still thought it meant continuing to work harder, faster, longer. He knew that wasn’t sustainable, and he helped me realise it too.
It was certainly a turning point. I realised then that I had to:
- Learn how to change my mindset.
- Provide value-add instead of just running around.
- Zoom out instead of always zooming in.
While it took training and time to adjust, I eventually learned to step out of the weeds and into the bigger picture. Several courses challenged my established mindset, and gave me a number of very useful tools to put into practice. In fact, it was this combination that gave me the skills and confidence to continue advancing my career into the senior executive level.
It’s these and many more cutting edge leadership skills and strategies that I – alongside a cohort of distinguished public sector experts – will be sharing in the Leadership Strategies Series in just a few weeks. Designed to be collaborative, engaging and stress-free, the series is a culmination of everything learned through our own careers that can (and will) greatly help others in theirs.
The Leadership Strategies Series will be delivered in-person in Kingston on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 May, or online from Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 For those interested in taking their learning to the next level, advanced workshops will commence approximately six-weeks later.
Interested in what else you can do to progress your career? Keep an eye out for the online and in-person workshops in June or July – or book your spot now!
To learn more or request information to support a business case for funding, visit the Leadership Strategy Series.
