Amongst moving offices, welcoming new faces, celebrating birthdays, engagements and a LP baby being born (congrats again, Lana!), we are also marking 9 years since Lotus People was first set up! 

As the team and I celebrate a new office chapter, I am also taking some time to reflect on the last nine years. It’s been a journey filled with amazing people, tonnes of lessons, lots of personal growth and so. much. fun.

Nine years is a long time to do anything and it would be highly unusual if I hadn’t picked up some wisdom and lessons along the way. There has been much to navigate and learn, but let’s stick with 9 for now, for obvious reasons!

2. Understand Yourself

Do your Myers Briggs, do the personality tests, ask your colleagues/ leaders for feedback on what you’re good at. Treat self enquiry as an ongoing exercise. The more you know yourself and what you stand for, the easier it is to show up in an authentic way. Building self awareness is a vital step in building your emotional intelligence and working and collaborating well with people. Do the work, it will pay off! 

3. Play to Your Strengths

Once you understand yourself and how you work, try do work that plays to your strengths. When I first started in recruitment, I tried to mould myself into the role of an extrovert, but after reading Susan Cain’s book Quiet, I realised that my own introverted style of working, building genuine relationships and working in a strategic, methodical way allowed me to thrive, rather than being drained by trying to force something that just wasn’t me. Our leadership team have completed the Gallup strengths finder test and it’s something I think about constantly - how can we build a team and a structure where everyone is playing to their strengths, it’s a surefire way of getting the best out of ourselves and each other.

4. Never Stop Learning

This was a piece of advise I got from my first ever boss, and it really has stuck. We live in a world where there is an abundance of information available to us and whilst everyone has their different learning styles and preferences from audio books to reading to podcasts to live events, it is so important to seek out information that is of interest to you, to continue to learn and grow. Sometimes those interests will cross over into your career (give me anything and everything to do with psychology and the brain), and sometimes there absolutely will not (haven’t figured out how to incorporate food and cooking into Lotus yet!), but either way your brain will be happy to be learning! 

5. Find Your Tribe

This list is definitely not in order of importance, because this one would have to be first! In my personal and work life, I have a tribe of people around me who are my absolute go tos, that I know I can seek counsel with for anything and everything. These are long standing relationships of people who know me extremely well and knowing I have them in my corner makes my life a lot easier! Long term relationships built on trust, mutual respect and kindness is the secret to success in my opinion - we are nothing without the people we surround ourselves with! 

6. Follow the Pull of the Passion Projects

We change so much as people as the years go by. What we want changes, who we are changes, what we value can sometimes change too and it’s important to have the awareness to switch off autopilot and listen to that internal hum that pulls you towards things that light your soul up! Although I’ve held the same job for nine years, it has had many many different iterations and some of my absolute highlights have been when I have followed passion projects that play to my strengths and align with my biggest interests. The joy you get from doing the things you love has ripple effects into the rest of your life! 

7. Keep it Light - Fun is Everything!

Fun is everything! When I saw author and podcaster, Ryan Holiday, speak last week, he said - the best way to head towards a breakdown is to think the work that you’re doing is very very important! When the market is in a downturn, when the job can get hard, when the to do lists are long and the diary is full, things can, at times, feel heavy - remembering in those moments to laugh, to have perspective, to be light and grateful is so important. Personally, putting Taylor Swift’s Shake it off on full blast and on repeat is a surefire way to bring me back to lightness! 

8. Prioritise Health

In my first year of Lotus People, I ran so fast and hustled so hard that I quickly burnt out and suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, spending months out of the office with zero energy/ ability to be in the world. Although it was the scariest experience of my life, I will forever be grateful that at 27 I learnt a lesson that I would carry through the rest of my life - health comes first. I’ve never quite nailed the balance, but I understand the absolute importance of self care, work-life balance and not running ourselves into the ground and I try to lead with this front of mind for the team and for myself every single day. 

9. Follow Your Gut

It’s always right! Hone it, lean in to it, listen to it. Your gut and intuition is your internal North Star - learn to tune into it and have enough belief in yourself that it is right and all knowing! The gut is the second brain and all of the best and most pivotal experiences in my life and career so far have come firing from my gut first before my brain has even had a chance to catch up.