What People Criticise in You is Often Your Competitive Edge

For most of my career, I was criticised for “moving jobs too often.”

In interviews, I’d brace myself for the inevitable question: “Why do you jump around so much?”

For a long time, I carried that as a flaw: something to explain or justify. But what some people saw as “job movement,” others recognised as a real strength - a sign of adaptability, courage, fast learning, and a breadth of capability you simply can’t gain by staying in one place.

I moved countries. I built a life in places where English wasn’t the first language. I navigated different cultures, industries and expectations. And with every move came new lessons, new skills and new perspectives.

That breadth became one of my greatest strengths: the ability to hit the ground running in any environment.

A Chair of the Board once said to me, “You achieve in one year what others take three years to do.” That line has stayed with me because it perfectly captures how I operate when I step into any business . . . with pace, depth, and a focus on creating meaningful impact.

Because when you’ve led teams and transformations across 15+ industries . . . from retail, childcare, fitness, healthcare, hospitality, media, beauty, education, to corporate services and other multi-site operations...  and when you’ve worked in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe and Asia…you stop seeing industries and start seeing patterns, people and potential.

Here’s the truth I now own: I get up to speed faster than almost anyone.

Because I’ve had to. And that necessity became a strength.

• I’ve walked into businesses where revenue was falling…

• Where people were exhausted…

• Where culture was fractured…

• Where customers were slipping…

• Where leadership teams were spinning in circles …

And within days (often hours), I can see exactly what’s going on.

Not because I’m a magician, but because I’ve seen versions of it hundreds of times before and I build trust fast. Years in journalism taught me how to listen beneath the surface, ask the right questions, uncover what’s really happening and articulate it clearly. Years as a dietitian and personal trainer early in my career taught me empathy, humanity and how to support people at their most vulnerable. Years leading companies through chaos,  pandemics, restructures, integrations, expansions and divestments, taught me how to create clarity when everything feels overwhelming.

The combination is my real superpower:

I walk into a business, listen deeply, earn trust quickly, and turn noise into a clear, actionable plan. I don’t tell people what to do. I help them see what’s possible and coach them through it. I turn stagnation into momentum and complexity into direction.

Because I’ve seen so much, I see things others miss.

• Retail teaches pace.

• Childcare teaches culture and regulation.

• Healthcare teaches empathy and precision.

• Fitness teaches member experience and operational discipline.

• Media and PR teach influence and storytelling.

• Hospitality teaches consistency and cost control.

• Multi-site teaches systems, scale and leadership layers.

Pull all of that together…and you become someone who can understand a business in hours, not months.

That’s why I can work with SMEs, enterprise, private equity, founder-led businesses and everything in between.

Because underneath all of it: Every business is a people business.

And when you understand humans - really understand them - you can help any business grow, perform and transform.

A final truth I used to downplay:

People often described me as someone who is always looking for the next thing, constantly improving, refining or changing things.

But that isn’t impatience. It isn’t disruption. It isn’t a lack of commitment.

It’s momentum. It’s progress. It’s the instinct to make things better - commercially, culturally, operationally and humanly.

It’s optimism backed by experience, evidence and outcomes.

Takeaway's What people criticise in you is often your competitive edge. My “job jumping” wasn’t instability— it built range, adaptability and pattern recognition. Most business problems are actually people problems. When you understand humans, you can help business grow, perform and transform.