Piloting through career ups and downs - Paul Winnister

The Left Turn

This week's Left Turn guest is Paul Winnister, a combat pilot turned transformation and change expert who also has his own consultancy helping develop corporate leaders.

Paul spent 15 years in the British RAF learning how to lead teams in the life or death pressure situations of combat missions during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Paul clearly thrived in the camaraderie and culture of the RAF, so when he decided that it was time to find a new career challenge, the shift into corporate life was not an easy one. Paul is very open and honest about those personal challenges, and how he navigated his way through his loss of identity when he was no longer a pilot.

Paul talks expansively about his subject matter expertise, which is leading under pressure, but also reveals what he has learned about humility and curiosity being two of the key traits that have helped him succeed across his career changes, and how being a generalist rather than a specialist brings important advantages to managing complex and unambiguous situations - like a change in career.