Ever since I started as a handler, I’ve constantly pushed for positive change, working with different business areas throughout my tenure and learning from each experience. When I think back to my application to become a Performance Analyst, I was lucky I could pull experiences from my time as a handler and team leader. However, they weren't all huge changes to processes or massive improvements to performance. Nothing is too small; as long as you’re tenacious, inquisitive and excited by continuous improvement, you're already halfway there!

Throughout my career I’ve been on a learning journey regarding how I communicate. When I first started out, I was very shy and found it difficult to communicate confidently. I’d be nervous sending an email to someone I’d never met and spend hours over-analysing the content to make sure it was ‘perfect’ before sending it. As I sent more and more emails, met more people, and put myself out there for presentations, I grew in confidence but I still had a lot to learn. I’d often go into the specifics of everything and give people information overload because I was worried about missing something important. I got a lot of feedback around this and was regularly asked to “keep it high-level”. I really had to work at this, and I needed to get help from peers, mentors, managers and external research to understand what this meant, when it mattered and how to be effective at a higher level of detail. With years of practice, I am now much better at communicating and that’s helped me progress into a leadership position. This is just one example of me learning a skill which I thought was impossible. If I can do it, so can you!

Often people have limitations set by others or sometimes even by themselves that stop them from progressing to that next level both in life and in their career. Self-belief is one of the key stepping stones to building confidence in yourself and your abilities. Imposter syndrome is something most people who enjoy varying levels of success have dealt with at some point or another in their careers. It is important to recognise that this can manifest in many forms, such as doubts about your skill level, not applying for that role even when you meet the requirements or generally not going for the things you want. Once you see that happening, you can start to take the necessary steps to overcome the negative self-talk. Start to engage with people who’ve achieved the type of career success you’re looking for. Surround yourself with positive people who encourage and believe in your success. Apply for that role! You never know what could happen