On the evening of the 20th of April, Resilient Crew hosted A ‘Tuesday Tune In’ with four fantastic coaches in a panel discussion led by Allyson. The topic was centred on ‘Improving confidence in your career’, whether it be for a career change, or just retaining skills to remain in a familiar industry.
On the Panel were Resilient Pilot mentors, Sam and Vicky as well as Resilient Crew mentor Melanie and guest Katie Denyer, Career and Wellbeing coach. With each coach bringing to the table their own unique speciality and style of coaching, this made for a really interesting dialogue of thoughts, ideas and tools to help identify ways to boost your confidence when it comes to your career.
First on the agenda was: ‘How to embrace change’ and recognise how that change might manifest.
The overall feeling from the coaches was that in order to embrace change, you must firstly recognise why you’ve been resistant in the first place.
They expressed how you needed to question; What was holding you back? What are your underlying emotions and feelings behind your actions? In order to do this, it’s important to give yourself space and understanding in order to explore these feelings to be able to move forward.
Secondly, to further help to embrace change, they advised to break down changes into smaller, more manageable steps. This way the task at hand won’t seem so overwhelming, and in turn will boost your confidence. Don’t focus on what you can’t do, but instead on what your strengths are and what you can offer to a new role.
Similarly, they acknowledged how important it was to listen to your inner voice with empathy and kindness. Imagine it was a friend talking to you. How would they speak? Sometimes we are so unkind to ourselves, which negatively impacts our confidence and therefore progression.
Next on the list was have Self- Belief! Linked to talking to yourself kindly, you need to be motivated that you can do this, you are capable, and be your biggest fan. Use a change of mindset to believe you can achieve.
However, all of this is great in practice, yet in order to fully commit to change, you must first ensure that you connect your inner values and establish a role that compliments them.
So how can we actually do this and start to change our mindset on our own abilities and confidence?
Firstly, we need to change our default setting of focusing on what we lack and can’t do, into what strengths we have and what we can do. There is no benefit fixating on the negatives. Of course, if we are doing this in a productive way in order to improve those negatives then great, but first acknowledge your strengths – in turn helping with that confidence boost we discussed earlier!
Similarly focus on the things you actually have control over, rather than those that are out of your control. If it’s out of your control, then nothing productive comes from worrying about it. Instead streamline your thinking to what you do have control over.
Likewise, once you’ve changed your mindset and set sail on applying for jobs, be aware that not getting a particular job is not failure, but an opportunity to improve. It’s just a hurdle to climb over, not stop at.
Finally, to find your ideal role get specific of interests, strengths, skills and values. Brainstorm to work out what role might suit you best based on these, it will make your job-hunting efforts far easier and more efficient. Talk to friends, family and reach out to colleagues for ideas and potential roles.
This might all sound easier said than done so look for further help if needed. Whether it be through a friend as mentioned earlier, or one of our specialist mentors here at resilient pilot, we’re here to help.
What can we do to help get the specific job we’re after?
One really great tip that came from Sam was to use a model such as ‘SWOT’
- STRENGTHS: Don’t be too modest, show off
- WEAKNESSES: Identify developmental areas
- OPPORTUNITIES: Use creativity and logic to identify what is available to me
- THREATS: What barriers could stop me?
The next tip was to understand that employers are looking for the real you and not just what is written on your CV. Ensure to make it personal and be proud of what you’re writing and who you are.
Linked to this it was suggested to make a personal video to accompany your CV including a personal story of something you’re really proud of. This will help you to stand out, and really show off your personality to your potential future employer.
And finally make sure to fully investigate and research the company/industry you want to be part in order to showcase your dedication and passion for the job.
After this insightful discussion we asked our panel what they personally do for self-care to help ground themselves and empower their own internal confidence. Exercise came out on top, with all four coaches stating that they used daily exercise as a way of releasing endorphins and grounding themselves where the only focus they had was on themselves. Also, if you’re able to, meditation can really help to find inner focus. And if in doubt, try a steamy hot bath for some self-indulgent ‘me’ time!
This specific ‘Tuesday Tune In’ is now live on our website for you to re-watch on demand. Similarly make sure to have a look at this week’s ‘Wednesday Webinar’ with Arpad Szakal, also focused on career development.
Holly is a Senior First Officer on the A380 and also one of our Resilient Pilot mentors. With a passion in wellbeing and competencies she can offer great support. Head to our ‘supported’ page to connect with Holly and our other mentors.