Career advice from a government policy lead

What’s the best advice you ever received? What tips did you wish you knew earlier? How did this help you on your career journey?

We’ve spoken to members of the Apolitical community to share their top three pieces of career advice with us. In this article, Nicola Hickman explains why it’s important to cut your own path in their role as a government policy lead.

Your first piece of advice:

It's easy to look at senior colleagues and feel you need to emulate their working styles. Whilst there is a huge amount of merit in learning from others, and getting a feel for what works well and what doesn't, don't lose sight of the fact that the best thing you can do as you progress through your career is to be yourself and allow your own natural strengths to shine. There is only one of you, so remember that is your unique selling point!

Your second piece of advice:

If you are a natural introvert you can make a fantastic leader. I still think there are notions that great leaders are extroverts, the kind of people who relish the chance to hold a room, feel comfortable sharing their views without question and don't spend too much time overthinking things. Apologies for the huge generalisations I have attached to being an extrovert!

There are many leaders who excel at this, but there are also a great many who identify as being introverts. You can still build the skills to deliver great speeches (hiding your clammy palms), network in challenging situations (trying to ignore the inner voice of self-doubt) and demonstrate your fantastic leadership qualities. Don't feel that a preference of style defines what you can achieve.

Your third piece of advice:

Everybody makes mistakes, that's life, be kind to yourself. It may seem an obvious one but it can be really hard to accept the concept of making a mistake in a world where perfectionism seems to be increasingly showcased. Now, I appreciate this advice has a different weight depending on the job you do - if you were a surgeon, for instance, the margins might be much smaller - but in general if we always set out with best intentions in our work, check things along the way and still find that something doesn't quite happen how we wanted it too or needed it too, try not to dwell.

Focus on what can be done to put things right and move forward. It can be easy to give ourselves a harder time than we ever would if it was someone else, so remember there is always a need to be kind to yourself in the course of your work.

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