By Justine Eden, Director, Eden Ritchie Recruitment

I watched your video informing your fans of your departure from the McLaren team at the end of this F1 season and I could feel your pain.

F1 is such an elite, tough sport, with massive money, politics and egos involved and with the level of scrutiny these drivers face, the constant media and public speculation that a driver is on the way out, it must be soul destroying at times.

Sure they get paid huge money, take extreme risks and get to drive vehicles at the breaking edge of technological development – well at least Mercedes and Ferrari drivers do (my favourites).  But to feel the blunt end of “failure” in such a public way must really hurt. And I use failure loosely as I do not believe Ricciardo is one.

But my point is not to impress you with my F1 knowledge – because it’s not that impressive – it is based on watching a few episodes of Drive to Survive and a few race highlights. Rather it is the psychological aspect that fascinates me – the psyche of high performance individuals and how they develop or possess resilience. As one such individual who has achieved on the world stage once told me, it’s the ability to face and overcome adversity, to be resilient during the really tough times, to overcome setbacks or injuries is what sets those that achieve at the highest levels apart.

I always reflect on how applicants take feedback when they are unsuccessful in a recruitment process. I understand it’s hard not to take this personally, particularly when a large amount of time and effort has been invested and sometimes the reason for not securing a role are not always that informative. Which makes it hard to change your approach. But it’s that mindset of wanting to constantly improve and learn that will set you apart, it is a form of resilience. By focusing on things that are more within your control and trying not to take things personally you keep moving forward.

It’s early days for Ricciardo but he is always so optimistic and that is something we can all hold onto.

To meet the Leadership Team at Eden Ritchie, visit us at Eden Ritchie Recruitment