Free Kick – 6 / Shuli Sapir-Nevo

FREE KICK

I have just received a sought after position in my military career –

Head of the Department of the Courses of the Army, in the Manpower

Planning Division

Hallelujah!

I arrived to my new office , knowing from day one that I am not going to have any overlap, since the officer who filled that position before me was required for another urgent job .

A young lieutenant from one of the neighboring sections greeted me with a haughty smile and informed me that he would teach me the ropes, but most of the learning would be on my own. He put two books on the table that looked like huge encyclopedias. “These are the programs for the manpower planning for the coming year,” he told me.

I started by visiting the other heads of departments in our branch to introduce myself and to get to know my colleagues. None of the them smiled, or welcomed me, or offered their help.

Somebody explained to me later on that I arrived in a branch which is run only by men. No woman officer had ever served there in a senior position. This is the first time that a  female Major Woman had filled this post.

This made them very angry and they decided to ignore me.

The Chief of Planning manpower Division and the Deputy Chief of the main commander of manpower in the army were the ones who made the decision to hire me, since in my previous job, I was responsible for the execution of all the course programs for the reserve soldiers , according to the roadmap of the Reserve manpower Planning Division. The methods that I developed and my way of working were to their satisfaction, so that they decided to promote me.

But the heads of the departments in our branch were not impressed at all with my track record, nor did I succeed in winning their friendship.

I went back to my office trying to hide my disappointment. The young lieutenant spread out a very large map on the long table with countless entries, numbers and letters. “This is the map of all IDF courses for soldiers on standing duty and in reserve, and you are in charge of all the annual planning, in coordination with all the troops, training bases, schedules, numbers of training teams and the number of the soldiers that are required according to the criteria for each specific course “. He shouted out the words.” Good luck! ” with half a smile and disappeared.

“God what am I going to do?” I thought. “How do I deal with such responsibility and no help ?”

I returned home very late for a whole week. Even there at home, I didn’t get a smile. You could say that my spouse was fed up with my military career, especially now that I was having such a demanding role, I was sucked into it and I returned home frustrated every night.

« What should I do? »

I was going through three difficult months of intense work trying to delve into the job and at the same time I tried my best to break the ice with my colleagues. My attempts to fit in were futile. I realized that I had to act in a more creative fashion.

One Saturday night I went over the sports sections of the weekend newspapers and all the football news on the TV and the radio.

The next day, on Sunday morning, when all the heads of the departments went to have their coffee and shmuss, I joined in.

Walking into  the room confidently, with a cup of black coffee in my hand I said to them with a smile, “Good morning people!” Before they could respond, I began to talk knowledgeably about the weekend games. About the amazing goal Ohana how the Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper missed the ball and suffered the crucial defeat. After a few minutes I naturally “slipped” into their intense discussion and I had already become one of the gang I didn’t even have to say a word about Dror Kashtan, the tough coach.

So every subsequent Saturday night I watched the sports programs and learned all about the football teams.

This was easy compared to the serious work I was doing on all the courses in the IDF.

Every Sunday morning, I attended the most “important” meeting of the heads of the departments and demonstrated proficiency in sports news, sharing my thoughts and opinions. They quickly became very good friends and later told how wonderful it was having a woman head of department in the branch. It wasn’t easy. I worked as hard as they did without any exceptions. That’s how I gained their appreciation.

Because my belief is:

DON’T TRY TO BIT THEM !

WIN THEM! 

so I learned to run with wolves.

My conclusion:

When you see a wall look for a creative way to go around it. Just like the proverbial ‘free kick’ in football.

Good luck!

• Probably it is no coincidence that my son, Adar, runs his own international football academy.

• A.R Academy FootballTraining

Shuli Sapir-Nevo

Consulting and Career Development

[email protected]

I ran a human resources consulting firm for Career Development.

*I had my own consulting firm for strategic planning of senior personnel in big industrial organizations, starts up and others.

*I worked for “Israel Chemicals Ltd.” in advancement, training and management of senior staff.

*I was a Major in the IDF and I served in following a number of positions in the Manpower Planning Division.

*I worked for over 30 years in human resource consulting and developing the potential of the managers.

Among my specialties are:

*Find the next career role, mapping strengths and weaknesses and preparing for the next step.

*Assisting managers in managing employees, motivating in the workplace and improving performance.

*Development of teamwork and changes in team structure.

*Build a career path for employees and managers.

*Personal work with clients to prepare for job interviews, mapping the political field in the workplace, prominence in the workplace and personal development.

Special thanks to Natalie Amit, my marketing consultant for professionalism, initiative, motivation and uncompromising performance.

You are welcomed to read more of my books:

Motherhood and Career

https://www.ourboox.com/books/motherhood-and-career

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LET’S TALK EYE TO EYE

https://www.ourboox.com/books/lets-talk-eye-to-eye-shuli-sapir-nevo

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Chutzpah from you – Dare to

https://www.ourboox.com/books/chutzpah-from-you-dare-to-shuli-sapir-nevo

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