Meet Jules Gordon
I have been a high achieving HR professional for as long as I can remember. My background was working on the tough stuff – the complex matters where you often experience the worst of people. The kind of work that took me away from home for weeks on end in the name of organisation transformation! The more complex and gritty the work, the more I enjoyed it.
I’ve been blessed to work with some of the most phenomenal leaders during my career. The kind who have the perfect balance of commercial focus and empathy for people. The environments that were challenging, rewarding and fun. Fun in the darkest of moments where you all support one another and come away with shared battle scars. The type of environments that bond you.
I loved my profession, I loved my job and I’ve loved the organisations I’ve worked for. That was until I found myself in an environment with a toxic culture and a value set that could not have been further away from my own. The leadership had changed and the organisation I had joined was no longer recognisable. A day at work, felt much as the same as I imagine starring in the Hunger Games, ‘may the odds ever be in your favour’. Survival was the name of the game and in an environment that operated so differently to myself, I struggled.
I stopped sleeping and was running on empty, where 3 hours sleep were considered a luxury. I was travelling to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. The office politics were rife, everyone was out for themselves and the blame culture was thriving. My value set and moral compass were not. Slowly, over an extended period of time, I no longer recognised myself. I had no idea who the person was looking back at me in the mirror. I started to have debilitating panic attacks. Most days I cried on the train with no idea how I got to or from the office. I was working more and more and more to compensate for what was going on around me. I had dealt with stress before, but this was so much more than high stress. It crept up on me and was all consuming. I could not stop. Stopping would mean I had failed in my role as a leader.
It tooks months on end, before I made a decision to leave. I had reached the point where I could no longer function and it was impacting my health and home life. I spent all day every day in conflict as I wasn’t showing up or operating as myself and the company wasn’t aligned with my values. I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. Long story short, I had an idea for my parachute plan, which was Astraea, I just hadn’t expected to pull the rip cord quite so soon. I wasn’t ready, but I broke. I had reached burnout, but I did not know that is what it was. I had ignored all my physical warning signs. At the point my body could take no more, my appendix burst. The hospital said it was so bad, I was very lucky to make it. While most people went in and out quickly, I was stuck in a bed, unable to move for a week. During that week, I slept, almost solidly. I had no interest in anything whatsoever and could not begin to deal with the situation I found myself in.
My lived experience led me to helping others who are experiencing or recovering from burnout. Burnout creeps up on you slowly and has the ability to destroy you mentally and physically – it is all consuming. I believe you are worth so much more and if I can help one person, to avoid the trauma that took me years to recover from, then it’s worth it.
Jules is a burnout aware Executive Coach, LEGO Serious Play Faciliator and Mediator, with a flair for solving complex problems to achieve success and enable true change. Having experienced burnout herself, Jules is all too aware of the devasting impact that burnout can have and how to help you prevent it. Jules is empathetic, free from judgement, works at your pace and will never add more to your already long enough to do list. Coaching with Jules is not a one size fits all approach. You are seen, heard and all coaching is tailored to you.
Follow and connect with Jules: @astraeamediation (Instagram), Jules Gordon | LinkedIn · Your website link: www.astraeamediation.co.uk