Have you met Giles yet? He’s our new, part-time Head of Production here at Hey Tuesday and over at our older sister company, Hey Saturday and he’s just quit his corporate job. Over to Giles…
“Did you really just quit your job?”
It’s a fair question to ask yourself at your check in with the 3am night dreads. It was a fair question for my work colleagues to ask as well (although not at 3am). I assumed that they would be scathing, but actually most were inquisitive. From why WOULD you quit, to why WOULDN”T you quit in one broad sweep of incorrect assumption. Transmitting my self-doubt is quite a thing.
I’ve been writing for some time now about how we work is changing. It’s also happening at a remarkable rate. I’m now pretty sure I’ve been living it for a few years and I’m definitely living it now. Flip back to 2008 and I couldn’t see myself making the leap from corporate to self-employed world. Sure, I considered it, so I think the seeds were there, but I knew that my personal capital was not sufficiently developed to pivot into the entrepreneurial world at that time. Just as importantly, I hadn’t figured out my work-related passions, even less of how to turn them into something from which I could create a business.
I realise now that I couldn’t find my true passions until I’d crafted a valuable set of skills, competencies and attributes. I spent the next ten years in the corporate world subconsciously doing just this with high engagement and motivation. The usual stuff that you get in the corporate world: long hours, numerous priorities, multi-tasking, self-managing, listening. The learning curve was pretty steep and rewarding (for the most part).
I had a fantastic team of around 20 really talented people with soul – the best people to work with. I had successfully completed a dual Masters degree whilst working a full time, demanding job. I knew how the organisation worked and I was respected and liked by many. I had a terrific working environment offering flexibility and a reasonable amount of autonomy. But all that stopped being enough. I felt that I’d been able to find my passions and that the time was right to follow them.
Followers of my LinkedIn page will know that I have thought and written a lot about the future of work and how growing and protecting these competencies and attributes – our human capital – is going to really matter for us all, whatever your professional and personal ambitions and desires.