Do what you CAN
The big plan
Back at the beginning of January I handed in my resignation with no new job to go to. My plan was to take my company and my big dream and make it something that I do full time. This has been something that I’ve wanted to do for something like 15 years. So why now and not before? Well, not before because I’m fairly risk averse and I never found the courage to take the leap. Even this time it took a tipping point before I had the courage to make the move. It’s something that I planned for over a year. I thought through exactly what it was that I wanted to do, I worked through my limiting beliefs and out of date identity that was holding me back, I put aside some money to give me a buffer.
My last day at AstraZeneca was agreed to be April 2nd.
Backing up a bit, what was the tipping point? Well, it was a number of factors really. These included:
The commute to Cambridge from home takes about 2.5 hours door to door. It’s exhausting. There are some days when I’m actually too tired to be safe.
Last year was a tough one with my Dad being critically ill for such a long time and ultimately passing away. Being away so much with work and Dover and I didn’t spend the time with my Dad that I should have or wanted to. That’s time I can’t get back now. I can reassess my priorities.
In the 3 years I’d worked in Cambridge, I never managed to effectively do my swimming training there. I became a ‘binge’ swimmer, cramming everything in at weekends. That’s not ideal
In order to cram in everything that I had on my plate: work, training, Dover, clients, travel, it was sleep that was cut. Short sleeping has all sorts of impacts, I have now learned. It had physical & mental health impacts on me. It caused my resilience to be low. It changed the person I was to a version of me that I wasn’t happy with.
One day a week was not enough to run a business, do the admin and help clients as well as the bulk of the voluntary work I do for Dover.
I had major events planned for this year, I wanted to bring my best self to those events. I wanted to avoid a repeat of previous events where the factors above had led to failure or not as favourable a result as I could have reasonably expected to achieve.
Phasing out
Some people check out at work long before they leave. Their heads move on before they physically leave the building.
That’s not me. I wanted to put my team in as good a place as possible before I went. I also wanted to set my successor up for success. So I have been working flat out to do that. I’ve asked my team to make use of me to unblock issues that they were facing. I created a revised roadmap which I took to the CFO. I was BUSY!
I was also working for a new boss. Within a week it was clear what a phenomenal leader he is. It was like a breath of fresh air. Clearly intelligent. Clearly values driven. I was able to be completely honest about where there are challenges that need his intervention. I was confident that my team would be well looked after once I left.
Unprecedented times
And then the world changed. COVID-19 started to make itself known in China. We watched the news and I remember having meetings with colleagues in northern Italy who were in lockdown.
With my Dover hat on, I started to think that this could impact training. But too soon to tell.
Then cases of the virus hit the UK.
Whatever your political views, I think we witnessed a master class in change management. In the space of 7 short days we went from ‘if you can work from home you should consider it’ to ‘stay home, only go out for essential shopping and once a day for exercise.’ I know there has been a lot of criticism that we should have locked down sooner, but I honestly think that we, as a nation, wouldn’t have handled it quicker. The advisors behind the scenes have clearly been working hard. The messaging from the start has been clear and consistent. The leadership has been visible and engaged. Anyone in a leadership position and / or work in change management, like me, can learn a thing or two.
Over that same time frame I put out communications on the Dover group to say that there would need to be significant adaptations to training, and then a week later said that there would be no training until the restrictions lift, whenever that might be.
The world changed.
People have changed.
We’re learning what is important.
People are feeling isolated.
People are feeling scared.
People are stressed and sad that things that they have dreamed of or planned for are now not likely to happen. Weddings, parties, sporting events, holidays.
When this first happened, I did stop and question whether this is the worst possible time to walk away from a very good salary. But actually what I felt was complete calmness. I know that now, more than ever before, people need support from coaches like me to make sense of this new crazy & scary world. Someone who they can connect with and talk things through with. It’s helpful that 100% of what I do can be done remotely.
AstraZeneca
Initially, I didn’t really think about the impact of COVID-19 on AstraZeneca. How could something like this impact such a giant of a company? How could it impact the finance function that I am part of?
Well, firstly, at a company level, AstraZeneca plays a very important role at this time. We make medicines for people with Asthma, COPD, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer amongst other things. These disorders are ones that put people at additional risk of complications if they contract Coronavirus. Therefore, in order for them to minimise their chances of this, it’s important that they take their medication. It’s important that AstraZeneca are still able to manufacture and distribute their medications to our patients. To do that means that we need to maintain our workforce and all the supporting functions that enable us to continue to supply medicines to patients.
Secondly, we are part of the effort looking at tests and vaccines.
So what about finance? The finance function ensures that suppliers get paid and that the right people are invoiced. In my part of finance it’s important that we continue to be able to report our financial results. We are approaching our next external reporting deadline. We have finance colleagues all over the world and a concentration of people in our shared services centres in India & Kuala Lumpur. If either of these are unable to operate then we would be unable to report to the market.
It’s important that we keep things stable throughout so that we can continue to put patients first.
BIG decisions
As it became clear how big the impact of Coronavirus could be on the company, I let my boss know that I would be happy to support the company on a consultancy basis or provide coaching support to team members who were struggling with the adaptation.
At the same time, we have projects that are in critical phases. Ones that need strong leadership.
With less than 10 days until I was due to leave, my boss asked if I would consider extending my time with the company. He wanted continuity during this unsettled and critical time. I hadn’t expected that. We’re not just talking a week or two, we need to steady the team and function through these uncertain times and back to normality.
What a huge dilemma. A dream I have been wanting to pursue for such a long time was within sight. But this was something that I could do to support a company that I have such a strong connection to, it’s something I could do support a brilliant leader and brilliant CFO. I’m not a scientist researching vaccines and tests. I’m not an NHS front line worker. I can’t help directly like these people do. I can help steady the company though. Do what you can do. We can all play a part be it on the front line, back office or staying at home and following the social distancing guidelines.
But, I also recognise that there are people who need my support on a one to one basis and I am keen to progress my own business too.
OK, so the business won’t be able to grow as fast as I planned or have as wide an impact as I hoped, but I have managed to free up some more time to help more people.
It’s not forever. It is for now and I am delighted to be able to do my bit for the greater good.
Do what you CAN
This is a phrase that I’ve been using a lot over the last couple of weeks. It’s so easy to focus on what you can’t do at the moment. That’s not all that helpful though. I prefer to focus on all the things that I can still do.
I can still do strength & conditioning training at home
I can still use my once a day exercise to get out - a bike ride is my chosen exercise
I can do my bit for the Coronavirus outbreak by continuing to be a leader in my field within AstraZeneca
I can still help individuals with their coaching needs by expanding my availability through reducing my hours in my corporate role in AstraZeneca
#OnceADay
Life often requires compromise and doesn’t respect plans. I could get stressed about the swims I can’t do, but that won’t change anything. I could continue with the plan to leave AstraZeneca and no one would think less of me. I would know that I didn’t do my bit to help.
So, I’ve changed the plan. The end goal is the same, the path to get there is a little different. But then, life is different right now.
If you are struggling through what has happened in your world, and would value some coaching support, please do get in touch. I would love to help.