How I Am The Captain of My Life
by Jamie Stiles
Growing up, I had no clue what I wanted to do career-wise. I was taking some gen-ed college courses, but the path was unclear. After some deliberation, cosmetology school piqued my interest…the path of an ever-evolving industry and the opportunity to interact with all types of people excited me. Well, at least I thought it would. I loved the people aspect but didn’t feel fulfilled. I was back at square one; What to do with my life?
Knowing I sincerely liked helping and interacting with others, I took on various administrative roles. But something was still missing; I needed a challenge and variety. Fast forward a few years; I landed an amazing job with a company that invested in developing its employees. It was a dream come true. I worked hard and was promoted within various roles working alongside the executive leadership team. I was also tasked with leading various projects and committees to drive initiatives forward and loved it. It was the perfect scenario; a variety of responsibilities that challenged and excited me, getting my feet wet with leadership responsibilities, and being coached and mentored by great leadership. Everything was falling into place!
As the organization evolved, I was offered the honor to serve as Director of Operations. Given my love for challenges, I embraced the role. I quickly realized that I loved placing the right people in the right seats either by coaching and growing the current team’s skillsets or by hiring fitting individuals. Witnessing their success, ultimately leading to the client’s and company’s success brought me so much joy. I truly felt fulfilled. I continued to expand on in my Dir of Ops career and had the honor of working with another company that held the same values.
Not only did I have the pleasure of working within the various roles held, but personally I am privileged to be a wife and mother to my four children. They are such a blessing and my number one priority. Given they are my top priority, my husband and I made the decision that it was best for me to step away from heavy leadership roles into something more flexible to focus on our children.
As blessing would have it, H4H’s Ashley, reached out for a role fitting with my skillset. I let her know I was looking for something more flexible. She then shared the need within W Talent Solutions that was fitting…How amazing is that?!?! In this role, I could spearhead talent search strategies along with diving into other projects to push initiatives forward. PERFECT! SOLD! It has been a fun & rewarding journey thus far!
As I’ve become more engrained within this role, I’ve realized the importance of a significant part of H4H’s recruiting process. Each candidate (as well as all of us H4H team members) participates in the Predictive Index. It is an incredible tool used to further assess candidates to better understand what makes them tick. The assessment read me as a “Captain”. Those of us who are Captains are problem solvers (bring on the challenge!) who like change and innovation (people/function strategy!) while controlling the big picture (ensuring success!). I couldn’t believe how accurate the results were! Thinking about my career history and trying to figure out what made me tick all that time, I sure wished I would have taken the assessment years ago, as it would have provided much clarity! Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for all of life’s journey as there are so many contributing factors as to why I am who I am today, but this sure would have been helpful within the navigation of it all!
If you’re feeling lost in your journey and not quite sure what makes you the unique individual you are, I highly recommend taking the PI. It is very enlightening!
Curious what Predictive Index profile you are? Take the test here!
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