* Massive instability made it hard to develop efficient ways of working. In the space of two years, approximately 20 people left the EU team (of less than 40 to begin with)
* It felt like there was a significant knowledge and competency gap among EU senior leadership which made day to day work challenging, and had a lasting impact on my confidence and motivation. Specifically the following fundamental skills were missing, in my opinion: basic emotional intelligence, management, team building, and feedback skills, plus significant ignorance on DEI and mental health issues
* DEI situation felt like it was stuck in the 80s. I was witness to, or on the receiving end of, numerous inappropriate comments. The resulting actions taken were limited, and in my opinion insufficient. I was told that the way the business responded was by the book (who wrote this book and whose interests they represent?) and that if I wanted to see a difference made I should be the one to do the work in educating people and making a plan for change; asking me to do work that others did not need to do in order to feel belonging. I believe that the ignorance among EU leadership and the lack of willingness to educate themselves created an environment where I did not have a right to the same sense of security as others without doing this extra work, and that I had to accept feeling diminished in the time it took to enact that cultural shift
* I learned that it was not possible to trust the EU leadership. On multiple occasions EU leadership made negative comments about team members who were not present, and would say the opposite when 1:1 with that person, or in settings where that person was present. There were different things told, to different people, with other people’s points of view being incorrectly assumed or misrepresented
* EU leadership seemed to lack the skill to see things from other points of view when it came to preferences in working styles (including reasons for wanting to return to office vs. staying remote) and training needs, and seemed entirely out of touch with the practical and financial realities experienced by graduates and junior team members
* The training program was run by someone who did not understand the work and refused to learn, and responded defensively to feedback (despite being the person who trained others to give feedback). This training also used lazy and offensive country-based stereotypes as part of sales training (i.e. assuming that German clients would behave or respond in a certain way). It was one of the many ways in which the training felt dated and out of touch
* The work and the offering to clients is not particularly differentiated, and there isn’t a clear brand identity, which makes it a difficult sell. There was potential but it was rarely realised
* There did not seem to be a real career path forward for me