By Teejay Dowe
When Emily came to me recently it was because her confidence was at an all time low, her self-esteem in shreds, and she’d lost all vision and direction. All because of a bullying boss.
Emily had loved helping to bring up her baby brother, now 5 years old, and she was delighted when she got her dream job in childcare.
Unfortunately for Emily, a near miss situation at work sparked off a bullying spree by her boss and she felt she had no choice but to resign. She got another job in childcare but her ex-boss continued to bully her: as a result her confidence was shot and she lost that job too. Now she was beginning to doubt whether childcare was for her, but she didn’t have any idea of what else she could do.
Taking the Profile Test
Emily discovered that when she took her Talent Dynamics for Young People profile she was a Trader profile. The more we delved into the description, the more she began to recognise herself.
At first she found it easier to recognise the challenges and struggles that Traders often face. She agreed that she’s often more sensitive than other people and probably takes offence more quickly. And she definitely recognised a very typical Trader trait, which is saying ‘yes’ when she really wants to say ‘no’. We playfully put a strategy in place to help Lucy say ‘no’ more often.
When we turned to the Trader profile strengths, Emily also began to recognise herself in those. She agreed that she really cared about people; that she loved to connect with people; and that she enjoyed taking care of people. We explored this area in great depth, and because someone else had written down the words, she started to believe them. For Traders seeing is believing.
The Results
Through the profile and our discussions, and perhaps because the challenges had resonated so strongly for her, she began to see that maybe she could have a career in childcare after all: that she had the right strengths.
Further evidence of her suitability for childcare came through exploring what she perceived as a lack of academic ability. When we looked at her communication and learning preferences, we discovered that she learns through doing. And that’s exactly how she helps the young children in her care to develop: by getting into the thick of it and doing things with them.
I was so happy to see the sadness lift from her bit by bit throughout the session, and by the time she left, her confidence was restored. A week later I heard that she’d got into a great college course that’ll open up all sorts of opportunities for her. She told me:
“I now realise that it’s okay to just be me and do the things that I want to do and also the things that make me happy when I do them rather than trying to change who I am just so that I can fit in … I am now living my life the way I want to and feeling much better because of it”