Reflections of Civvy Street

The musings of Commander (Ret’d) Johanna Hooper Royal Navy

I was recently invited to write an article sharing my experience of transitioning from military life to ‘Civvy Street’ for a periodical publication. And as I was writing it, I started to feel that perhaps it would benefit other people too.

Yes, there are some very specific challenges transitioning from military life, but actually, anyone who has worked within ‘an institution’ for all/much of their career will face their own obstacles. How you overcome them isn’t necessarily unique to those leaving the Army, Navy or RAF. They could just as easily apply to those leaving the emergency services, the NHS, government or even large corporates.

23 years!  How did that happen!  When I joined as a Wren Writer in 1992 I certainly didn’t see that coming!  I left school with 2 pretty naff A Levels back at the time when options like university were not really possible with 2 naff A Levels!  So I joined the RN.  I blame my dad!  He had been a submariner for decades (apparently he has been ‘down’ further than I’ve been ‘across’…..) and so I’d been exposed to the RN as a potential career from a young age.  

I did the usual Pussery jobs that involved a real blend of logistics and HR roles, some at sea, some abroad, many in good ol’ Blighty.  Highlights for me were the Antarctic Patrol vessel HMS ENDURANCE (yes, that trip where she nearly capsized in the Magellan Straits) where I was privileged enough to see the rich biodiversity and unspoiled beauty of the Antarctic up close.  What a treat!  Apart from the flood…

After ENDURANCE, I went to Afghanistan, attended Advanced Command and Staff Course and then went for a job in Main Building working inter-agency with the likes of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and No10.  Boy, was that was an interesting role!  A period of pay restraint, in a coalition government, was definitely a fascinating insight into politics and policy making at the highest levels!  It was during this role that I started to wonder about the “what next?”.  I started to wonder what else I was capable of.  And, if I was to find that out, I probably needed to give myself the time to do it.  So, around my 40th birthday, I submitted my notice and started using one of my key strengths: planning!

When it came to leaving the RN, I was hyperaware of the fact that I was a “jack of all trades, master of none” and how this could affect me when it came to choosing my future career.  Although I’d done HR roles from the operational to the strategic, I didn’t have any of the usual HR qualifications like CIPD etc.  That sort of accreditation came in after my time really.  Although I had plenty of qualifications as a logistics specialist (CILT, CIPS), I still didn’t feel like I had the depth of experience that other supply chain specialists could boast.  So then I started to scratch my head.  What job could I do where ‘how’ I conducted myself was more important than ‘what’ I knew.  Then it hit me – consulting!

Luckily for me, there was an RAF officer on my floorplate that was also leaving to become a management consultant.  She was on short finals for her departure and had already landed a great role (from a choice of 3!).  She was generous enough to give me her little black book of contacts and network that she had carefully curated over the last 10 months, which meant I had a list of about 10 people to go ahead and have chinwags with. 

This is Service Leavers’ Tip No 1 – Build Your Little Black Book.

The one thing that I noticed about civilian life is that any veteran that had already ‘transitioned’ was only too happy to help me with their time, contacts and learned wisdom about the world of work.  There are too many to name/mention but let me offer thanks to those people now as their advice, guidance and generosity were definitely part of my successful transition. 

Tip No 2 – Be Generous with Thanks.

Long story short, I ended up having helpful and interesting conversations with all of ‘the Big Four’ management consultancies, plus a few other smaller firms.  One, in particular, was PA Consulting.  PA has a long and proud history of working with the Defence sector.  Founded to support the UK’s war efforts in 1943, one of their founders codified a human-centred approach to boosting productivity and the firm grew to become the world’s largest management consultancy by headcount in 1970.  It was a little more bijou by the time I joined!  What I really loved was that their first consulting assignment was to train housewives to assemble the tail gun section for the Avro Lancaster bombers!  This was as part of Britain's policy of bringing women into the factories in order to free up male workers for the Armed Forces.  

I didn’t know much about this rich history at the time of my conversations, but I did know that they had lots of experience successfully hiring Service Leavers – many of whom had gone on to become partners either in PA or other consultancies.  During the conversations with what was to become my Line Manager, I was impressed by their responses to my questions about how they would help me successfully transition.  I was alive to the potential challenges of transition and I wanted an emotionally intelligent response from my future firm so I could be assured that they understood what was about to come and would provide help as needed. 

Tip No3 – Set out your stall, early. 

Turns out, this lovely little chat was an interview!  Certainly didn’t feel like one – and hence I was relaxed and just answered honestly with no ‘game face’ or anything!  The next thing I knew, I was booked in to see the Head of Practice, the Head of HR and one other consultant (to check for cultural fit).  Again, not a whiff of formal interview in sight!  And on the 15th August 2014, I was offered a role as a Managing Consultant in PA Consulting, 6 months to the day before Her Majesty would stop paying me – phew!  I felt so relieved to have sorted out a job that I was then able to enjoy my last few months in Service, attending as many Mess Dinners and Balls as I could!

I must admit, the transition did feel challenging at times.  Not everyone has this experience, but I had 2 particular challenges.  The first was that I became acutely aware of my lack of commercial acumen – particularly given my £600,000 annual sales target (gulp!).  The second was that all the things I thought I was good at in the RN (Defence Writing, briefing etc) weren’t landing all that well in the civilian world.  Both of these experiences were, at times, causing me to doubt my capability and my departure from the RN.  

It was during a casual meeting with my partner-in-charge that the first of these challenges changed for me.  There was a client that my boss particularly wanted to speak to.  So I pointed out the client in a coffee queue and let the boss know a few personal, pertinent facts about this client that they could use to build rapport.  Apparently, this was not normal!  Nuh-uh!  As an ex-Outer Office person, I was used to smoothing the Admirals’ ability to create rapport with guests, other officers, members of ship’s crew etc so this came naturally.  It was at this point that I realised to be successful in the commercial world, relationship building was far more valuable than being able to generate a profitable business proposal.  And I had that skill in spades! 

Tip No4 – What you don’t know < what you do know.

The second one took a little more time to ‘get my eye in’!  I remember a fabulous assignment manager telling me once that my client PowerPoint slides were boring, inaccessible and visually unappealing!! They didn’t use those exact words; this is an abridged (and PG!) version!  While that stung at the time, they ‘did me a solid’ for helping me understand how to translate my communication skills into something that worked in the civilian world.  We are still chums to this day! 

Tip No5 – Feedback is a Gift!

Fast forward 4 years and I was ‘selling’ £1M of consultancy a year and delivering on numerous client assignments across the Defence and Security sectors.  Success had arrived!  Hurrah!  Except.  I was getting that, “what else?” itch again.  This time, it was about working for myself.  Could I be a business owner???  Me??  So, in November 2018, with fond farewells to PA, I set out to go into business for myself, with three, what I called, “lines of enquiry”.  I was going to set up in business doing something around teaching, coaching and public speaking.  

I then set about gaining qualifications and accreditations that supported those lines of enquiry.  I used my Enhanced Learning Credits (woohooo!) to gain an ILM Level 7 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, an Award in Education and Training and Neuro Linguistic Training qualifications. 

Tip No6 – Maybe don’t rush to spend those ELCs until you’re sure what to use them for.

I set up Limitless Peak Performance on 4 February 2019.  I know, I know, the name is a bit of a mouthful isn’t it?  I tried to capture this idea that our development opportunities are boundless and that we can all reach our own peak performance – I’ve certainly come a long way from those 2 naff A Levels!  I couldn’t have gone straight from the RN into running my own business.  I needed a safe place to unlearn and relearn who I was without 3 stripes and a gold-trimmed tricorn and not worry about where the next pay check was coming from while I did that.  I learnt so much about business development and proposal writing while employed plus it helped hone my strengths into ones that work in Civvy Street.  

Since setting up my business I have also incorporated mediation and conflict coaching and a bit of associate consulting work.  I’m absolutely loving my job and the value I bring to my clients!  In the time I’ve been in business I have:

  • Delivered over 360 hours of group/121 coaching and been accredited as a Senior Practitioner with the EMCC;

  • Helped people from all walks of life (including pilots, NHS staff, HR Directors, Financial Advisers and Tree Surgeons!) and at all levels achieve their peak performance;

  • Spoken at numerous conferences such as the DIO’s Wider Leadership Forum, JHC Air Safety Conference, Women in Defence UK 10-year anniversary conference and even (can you believe it!!!) been a TED speaker.

  • Held numerous teaching events where I help people build personalised resilience building plans (did I mention I was once on a sinking ship?!);

  • Worked, pro bono, with Cancer Research UK and Resilient Pilot – 2 charities that are doing amazing things and have inspiring people to work with!

My areas of specialisation are resilience (of course!) and helping small business owners lead a team they can rely on.  I think we take for granted the leadership development we get in the Forces, and it’s just not the case for small business owners.  I’ve been fortunate enough to deliver on the government’s Help To Grow: Management programme and it’s really apparent how some businesses are trying to lead a successful and growing business with little in the way of learning to help them. 

So that’s my next mission.  And I’m totally excited by it! 

So Tip No7 is – come on in, the water is fine!


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