HR books

I was an ordinary woman from an ordinary town doing ordinary things, until the day I decoded what confidence meant to me…that’s when things became extraordinary.

I still remember the drive that changed everything. I was heading to work, stuck in traffic on the M62, so I rang a good friend to have a chat, but that day my mood was low and I wasn’t feeling great. I complained about everything: my career, my salary, the title I thought I should have had by now. I was exhausted from shape-shifting into whoever I thought people wanted me to be, and every moment felt like I was performing as someone else.

I’d spent so long trying to mould myself into the kind of leader I thought others would respect, such as being louder, tougher, and more polished, that I’d lost sight of what leadership looked like when I played to my own strengths.

When I finally stopped talking, there was silence on the line. I thought the call had cut off. Then she said, calmly but firmly:

“So…what are you going to do about it?”

That realisation took me right back to growing up in Manchester, when my confidence in myself started to crumble. As the only Asian family on our street, I learned early that fitting in was the safest option. Day after day, being told, subtly or directly, that you don’t belong chips away at your sense of self and confidence. To ‘fit in’ I became the ultimate people pleaser, conforming to whatever would help me belong.

At school and later in the workplace, that habit followed me. My parents hadn’t worked in offices, so the world of suits, unspoken rules, and after-work drinks felt alien. I spent years trying to fit into what I thought was “acceptable,” believing that confidence and leadership were things other people were born with.

But I realised I wasn’t leading, I was performing. And deep down, I knew if I wanted a fulfilled life, this way of working and living couldn’t last.

That moment on the motorway was when everything shifted. I pulled into the car park at work, and I sat there in stunned silence, realising that my friend was right, change was within my control. It was the first time I understood that it was my confidence, or rather the lack of it, that was holding me back, not anyone else. I realised that my progression was determined by always waiting for validation or permission before I believed I was worthy enough to succeed.

And if I wanted to lead differently, I knew I’d have to decode what confidence means to me.

Over the decades my journey has taken me from being an award-winning chef to leading the international Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation (IWSI), where I’ve built up expertise in job skills training. Our group employs eight hundred apprentices at any given time and has successfully graduated more than 20,000 others. We have a network of more than three hundred small, medium, and large employer partners. Although I hung up my apron a few years back, I still keep in touch with my culinary roots. My philosophy today leans toward farm-to-table, focusing on organic, locally sourced ingredients, and I try to live a lifestyle that’s clean and healthy.

My goal here has been to not create yet another “formula” book on the workings of the workplace. And just to be up-front, I’m no McKinsey-style management guide. You won’t find robotic, data-driven analysis or structured methodologies here. What you will find are practical ideas, including some key ingredients such as mentoring, mastering change
in a tech-driven world, and building a resilient, innovative workforce culture. To this I have mixed in (hopefully) some entrepreneurial hustle (the same hustle that gets startups off the ground).

This book is a culmination of my diverse (some say crazy) background. From culinary to corporate, talent development to embracing change, my aim is to offer fresh insights into the workplace. Those insights often take a different track from the age-old “get into a good college” mentality. Not that I have anything against college students. It’s just that in the modern age, there are many options to consider. As a hiring manager or business owner, you need to have a keen awareness of who’s out there seeking employment and what they can offer your team. You need to know how you will captivate them and demonstrate why you want them on your team—and how you will entice them to stick around for a while.

Join me on a journey as we explore innovative strategies, redefining the future of work. The path for which I advocate is a path less traveled, but one rich with creative solutions and ideas that can lead to impactful change.