Pitch perfect - Bakr's story

In The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley on BBC iPlayer, Stacey takes five teenagers into four different industries for the ultimate work experience. Each school leaver spends two days trying out real jobs and if they impress, Stacey will pay them the national apprenticeship wage at the end of every shift. But she also deducts money for poor performance and so those who don't come up to scratch can find their wage packet empty.

Here, Stacey discusses the ups and downs of 17-year-old Bakr who put huge pressure on himself to be perfect in every job he was given.

Pitch perfect

People who aren’t perfectionists often mix up perfectionism with ‘being perfect’. Unfortunately, there’s nothing perfect about perfectionism! There are a good few reasons why it can be a rod for your own back. If you aren’t careful you can be in a state of semi-disappointment because achieving perfection is almost impossible. Another downside is you can struggle to celebrate your accomplishments or accept praise because everything ‘could have been better’. And worst of all – you might stop yourself trying new things because you might be embarrassingly imperfect at them. The end result is that you have talked yourself out of something before it has even begun!

In short, perfectionism can easily turn into a fear of failure if it gets out of hand. It’s important to accept the little imperfect bumps that happen in the road because they’re inevitable and you can learn a huge amount from them. They can turn into brilliantly entertaining stories! I can’t think of many TV shoots that ran absolutely perfectly from start to finish and we all still got to the end, produced a great film or series and enjoyed our work. Problems crop up in the workplace all the time. It’s how you handle the problem that matters because as soon as you solve one, another one will be making its merry way towards you. So if you expect perfection every working day you are setting yourself up for a lifetime road of disappointment.

It isn’t always smiles and roses!

Bakr, one of our teens in series 3, had a “PhD in making people smile!” His positive outlook and perky humour was infectious to those around him and his spirits soared when everything was going well. But, naturally, there were times when work was pretty tough and it became harder for Bakr to maintain his equilibrium. He liked getting things right and he enjoyed the feeling that he was meeting the boss’ expectations. But I think the struggle for Bakr was not that things around him had to be perfect, but that he had to be. He wanted to be his best self all the time and when he wasn’t he came down on himself hard.

It’s been proven over and over that a contented workplace where employees are treated well and enjoy their job, is a workplace where success will follow. That said, whilst your employer should create an environment for you and your peers to thrive, bosses are not looking for you to be on point 24/7. It’s not a popularity contest and they know that everyone has good and bad days and isn’t great at every single thing they do. Forcing yourself to be overly optimistic all the time can be exhausting. Don’t ever forget the importance of being just being yourself: lumps, bumps and all, because that’s what people truly warm to.

A close friend gave me a fabulous piece of advice that has stayed with me for years. If you feel blue, trick your body physically into feeling better by wearing a smile and keeping your chin up. Taking a physically positive stance can soon blend into how you feel psychologically. But this does not mean ignoring how you feel, it just means you are parking it for the moment that you feel safe enough to discuss it. You never know, what might seem like a problem today disappears when you wake up tomorrow!

Sometimes though, there will be a real problem at work and you have to deal with it head on in the most diplomatic way possible. A while back, when filming on the streets of Tokyo, I was wrongfully detained by the police for two hours. Our crew had not expected this to happen and I had to deal with the problem there and then. Keeping a level head and talking to the police with kindness and respect stopped the situation from escalating any further. I was worried of course! But if I had allowed myself to become frustrated by what was happening, it could easily have turned into a messy confrontation.

For Bakr, a long and arduous day at a cheese factory began to get on top of him. He wasn’t used to not being perfect and doing things well and he found it difficult to accept. Instead of taking stock and taking a step back, he said things to his bosses that he later regretted. It was out of character and he felt full of remorse and all the more so because he prided himself on being as close to perfect as he could be. His bosses didn’t mind at all, they thought he was being refreshingly honest, but Bakr was his own worst critic! So please remember, try to not let any type of failure or annoyance get on top of you. Speak up quietly before you reach a place where you feel uncomfortable. It’s absolutely fine to admit that you need help and no-one will mind, they will be pleased you talked to them about it.

I’ll let you into a secret: even the most powerful and successful people in the world are not perfect. You will always be a work in progress. There’s always more to learn, a new skill to grasp, a promotion to gain. When you take off the chains off yourself, you free yourself up to giving something a proper go and enjoying it.

The importance of a fresh start.

Bakr woke up the next morning and he decided to put the day before behind him and go in and do the best he could. I’m so proud of him. Instead of drowning in his mistakes he approached the new day with a fresh mindset. Without the fear of having to be perfect, he relaxed into a new task and found his positive spark in no time. He earned full pay, made a few new (mooing) friends on the farm and got his genuine smile back.

If you’ve had a rubbish day, put it behind you. Don’t let it hang onto your heels and follow you into tomorrow. Allowing yourself to make mistakes is the best way to reach for success. So stop aiming for perfection and start aiming for better than yesterday!