Top Tips for a Successful Career
Sisterhood Chat with Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery
We love hearing from inspiring women and sharing their stories with you. Laura Chow is the Head of Charities at People's Postcode Lottery, one of Women for Women International's delivery partners. In this Sisterhood Chat our Managing Director, Shivonne Graham and Laura talk about Laura's incredible career and her top tips for how to succeed.
1. Nurture your inherent curiosity
Stay curious and don't be afraid to follow your interests.
I was always quite curious. In my younger years, I did what I was curious about and what I was interested in.
2. Set goals but allow yourself room to learn, grow and experience the world
When Laura left university, she gave herself 5 years to try out different jobs before deciding on what career to pursue. She explored many different sectors, developed her skills and learnt more about herself and the kind of jobs that make her feel most fulfilled.
“At the end of the 5 years I thought about all of my experience, paid and unpaid and the one thing that made me happy all the way through was doing work with charitable organisations that were really mission-driven.”
3. Build a diverse network of friends
Have a diverse group of trusted honest friends, who are going to give you good advice and honest good feedback.
“I had this really diverse group of people who became the people I trusted the most."
I think that if people you trust the most are different from you and different from each other, then you really broaden what you think you can do because they teach you about something different every day.
4. Consider the culture of the sector you're planning on moving into
When changing careers think about the culture of the sector you’re going into and whether you could emulate it.
"If you don’t like a particular genre of music, then why would you listen to it all day? But if you’re into hip hop and you don’t mind a bit of jazz and you think you could learn more about it and emulate it for a certain amount of time to be able to learn more then it’s fine."
5. Your definition of success can change as you grow
Don’t discount your failures – learn from them.
“Sometimes when you look at somebody’s position you think ‘oh they’ve been quite successful’, but you don’t realise how much they’ve been unsuccessful because that’s not what they put on LinkedIn.”
6. You can’t learn everything from one person, have a range of mentors
A lot of people have this barrier to coaching or mentoring because they think there needs to be one person that should provide everything for them.
“It’s almost like identifying in yourself [your] weaknesses and fears and looking for the person that excels in that. For example if you’re not comfortable at public speaking, there’s probably one person you might have seen that you thought would be great. There might not be the best person to go to for advice on how to manage a complex team of people with different needs in their career but they will be great for that aspect.”
Want to learn more about Laura's career journey? Watch the full Sisterhood Chat here.
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Players of People's Postcode Lottery
subtitle:
Since 2017, we've been partnering with People's Postcode Lottery to help women in conflict zones develop skills, access power and transform their lives. In 2022, funds raised by players will support women in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and South Sudan through our programme.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, graduates of our programme are organising 'Community Forums' to educate and engage local leaders on women's rights issues, and find solutions to the major barriers women face.