Going Beyond Good Enough
4 MIN
After decades in a successful role, Allan Hardy surprised himself by discovering something even more fulfilling.
When Allan Hardy started his career at the age of 18, he was excited and eager to learn about purified terephthalic acid (PTA) — which is a key raw material used in the production of polyester fibers, resin and film. Allan enjoyed the work, his co-workers and the steady schedule at a site in Wilton, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. “I was quite happy to come to work, do my job, go home,” Allan said.
Allan continued in this way for more than four decades. Through multiple acquisitions — the last of which was Koch’s purchase of INVISTA — the one constant was Allan. He was the only member of his team who could run all the units; his supervisors were happy with his work; and when asked if he wanted to do something different or explore new opportunities with the company, Allan said no.
“I was a senior technician, and I had been on the unit the longest. If there was a problem, somebody would come and ask me, because ‘Alan knows the answer; he has seen this problem before.’”
Allan’s expertise enabled his team to complete business-critical projects on time or ahead of schedule. Except for a brief period working on the nylon unit, Allan had devoted his career to the PTA role, now part of Koch Engineered Solutions. He was comfortable. Plus, he thought exploring other roles might leave the team with a gap. But there was also something else holding him back.
“I didn’t have the confidence to speak up. I didn’t come out and say, ‘it’s the same old thing. I would like a career change,'” Allan said.
"I didn’t have the confidence to speak up. I didn’t come out and say, ‘it’s the same old thing. I would like a career change.'"
In 2023, he got a call from a longtime colleague, Annette Hearfield. Her team at Wilton needed help commissioning a new unit for extracting lithium from brine solutions. Although she knew Allan was comfortable with his current unit and responsibilities, she also knew he had the skills and talents needed for this new project. Annette asked Allan if he would consider this entirely different opportunity, explaining why she believed he would bring value to the project.
“We needed somebody who was capable of learning about lithium quickly and putting that knowledge into action with our Wilton Lab Team,” Annette said.
Allan started to feel the excitement he had when he first started his career decades earlier — the thrill of learning something new. But there was another factor at play — Annette’s belief that he could be successful at something new. “It completely changed my perspective,” Allan said. “It was just like a light switch turning on.”
Allan accepted the role on Annette’s team, joining a global group to help build upon the research and development of Direct Lithium Extraction.
“Given Allan's ability and his skills, the advantage of putting Allan on the Wilton lithium unit far outweighed taking him off the unit he was already running,” Annette said.
Annette’s support remained essential as Allan ran into barriers setting up the new unit. When he needed to double-check his calculations, Annette offered to help. When an opportunity came up for him to learn more about lithium, she invested in his growth and sent him to a plant in Canada where his knowledge would expand. And when he had a problem, he wasn’t afraid to ask her for help.
“She spends the time and effort to sort the problem out with me,” Allan said. “She is always there for me — which is a big help. I've had quite a lot of supervisors and they haven't all been like that,” Allan said.
Now, in this new role, Allan is contributing more than ever — improving the DLE project's outcomes. Recently, the team successfully signed their first license agreement.
"I'm so passionate about this work that the team started calling me Mr. Lithium," Allan shared with a smile. "I've been working on this project for about 17 months. Within that time, we started with an idea, progressed to pilot scale and now to plant scale with a signed customer. When you have a passion for your work and a good team, anything can be achieved."
Annette has seen firsthand how open communication about goals and aspirations can lead to personal growth and greater achievements for her employees, like Allan. They meet regularly to discuss work, but don’t limit their conversations to scheduled meetings. Annette’s biggest piece of advice to other supervisors is to really get to know the people on your team.
“I would ask simple questions in our regular monthly meetings like, ‘What did you enjoy this month? What do you like doing?’ Sometimes you must ask a lot of questions. But the more you do that, the easier it becomes and the more comfortable people feel,” Annette said.
With this approach, Annette says supervisors will not only better understand their team’s strengths, they’ll also encourage them. “Believing in him was easy,” Annette shared. “The real transformation was within Allan.”
"It's my own fault that I didn't make the change sooner," Allan said. "I lacked the confidence to believe I could take that next step. I never spoke up or admitted that I wanted a change.”
Allan is once again excited to go to work every day. And he’s thankful for his supervisor’s support along the way. She bet on Allan, but Allan also bet on himself.
“She saw potential in me and took the time to help me see it, too,” Allan said of Annette. “If it had been up to me, I would have kept it locked away in the cupboard. Annette helped me to believe in myself. Now, I'm passionate about helping others do the same."
Give It a Try
The power of these principles happens through application. There’s no substitute for learning as you apply.
- Be aware of your comfort zone. Always be thinking about how your aptitudes and interests could be used to help make an even larger contribution.
- Supervisors: Make time for regular conversations with your direct reports. Use Annette’s approach as inspiration to learn more about your team members.
- What internal barriers do you tend to struggle with most (e.g., doubting your abilities, fear of mistakes, etc.)?
- What should you do if your role starts to feel stale?
- Supervisors: Do you know if and when your employees are ready for something different? Don’t wait for them to ask!