DEBORAH JENKINS

Don't be afraid to seek support within your organisation

At the time of Deborah's enrolment onto the Xplore Career Resiliency pilot program in 2005, she was unsure of where she was heading with her career. Deborah had been chosen to attend the in-house program with her employer KPMG.

Deborah was a senior manager in the Indirect Tax department and as she admits, was considering resigning from her position. She was aware of the reasons why she felt that this way but unsure of what she should do next.

She thought that she was unable to speak openly and honestly to the people around her.

Feeling as though it was not widely accepted to discuss her thoughts on this subject, Deborah felt alone and unsupported. It was as though the more senior she had become in her position, the more isolated it made her feel. She thought that she was unable to speak openly and honestly to the people around her.

Deborah has learnt a lot about herself, her clients and those around her.

The Xplore program enabled Deborah to reflect on where she wanted to go and what her key skills were. The program facilitators Marie and Liz were inspirational to her and she soon began to uncover what her key strengths were and how knowing them could change her thinking.

Learning to identify when you're at your best particularly resonated with Deborah. Suffering with Crohn's disease she was used to tuning into her body but translating that into the workplace had not occurred to her. She soon realised that her bad days occurred when she hadn't "set herself up right". For Deborah that means simply writing a to do list so that she stays focused.

Similarly, having the right work/life balance has helped Deborah with her illness and career. If she keeps healthy and happy it vibrates through her whole life. Someone once said to Deborah "make sure you have a life outside of work, otherwise work dictates your wellbeing" - If you've had a bad day at work and you have nothing to look forward to at the end of it, it can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing.

Deborah also found the program beneficial for meeting "friends within the business". She believes what sets the Xplore program apart is the fact that business lines are mixed so you get to meet people in your organisation you wouldn't normally cross paths with. She found some of the KPMG partners who were guest speakers on the program to be truly inspirational; they had become 'human' to her.

The program taught Deborah how to identify with people's differing personalities and understand how they operate. This helped her to interact with other people better and work through differences.

During the Xplore program, which ran over a 6-month period, Deborah was also put forward for KPMG's Senior Manager Development Centre. She believes that the Xplore program had given her a more heightened awareness of herself and as a result she got more out of this course.

Everything seemed to be falling into place for Deborah both personally and professionally. She began to feel more relaxed at work and was able to focus on what was important to her. This aided in her decision to stay at KPMG, as she was now able to see that there was a career path there and she had the support of people in the business. She had not been brave enough to speak to other partners before when she was thinking about leaving, so it had been refreshing to speak about it in a forum where she wouldn't be judged negatively for feeling the way she did.

In 2006 Deborah was put up for partnership. She recalls this as "the hardest thing I've ever done" and "the most stressful time of my life" but she knew it was what she wanted.

On 1 July 2007 Deborah became a partner. She'd "survived and made good friends along the process", it enabled her to identify who was there for her and were her 'real friends'!

Since then Deborah has been proud to watch the practice grow even through challenging times such as the recent global financial crisis. She has learnt a lot about herself, her clients and those around her. Most of all she is happy that she continued her career path with KPMG, something she didn't think possible back in 2005.

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