Cherelle’s reflections on 2024, CPD and learning to lead

06/01/2025 16:54:41
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What 2024 taught me about self-development


Cherelle Jones abseilingSenior Account Manager Cherelle Jones reflects on 2024 and a year of continuous professional development, personal growth and learning to lead.

Isn’t the New Year a funny time? Some look to the future, planning resolutions and envisioning where they want to be this time next year. Not me. Right now, I’m reflecting on 2024, because without that year, I think my headspace would look very different.

That sounds a tad dramatic but hear me out. Modern careers require more than just showing up to work in a morning. Today, a career means staying ahead of the curve, continuous professional development and learning, self-investment and proactive growth. 

Last year, with the Partners team cheering me on from the sidelines, I completed my CPD for the year (four months early) and embarked on a six-month leadership course to invest in my career.
 

CPD isn’t just about ticking boxes


For me, completing my Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for 2024 isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s about keeping up with an incredibly fast-paced industry and future-proofing my career. 

To give you a flavour of how much PR has changed, let me take you back 15 years ago, when I took my first steps onto the PR career ladder as a fresh-faced account executive. I’d pitch in press releases over the phone, spend my lunch trawling the magazines in Sainsbury’s looking for client coverage, then manually calculating editorial values. Now, it all starts with an email, and the evaluation tools at our disposal are far more sophisticated. 

Today, client coverage is at my fingertips and PR professionals are more than just wordsmiths with media contacts. Now, we are experts in social media, we understand the basics of SEO and combine wider marketing strategies with traditional PR to make a difference to our clients’ bottom line, as well as managing reputation and audience perception.  

To keep up, CPD is essential. I gain valuable insight into the future of PR, sharpen my expertise to better serve my clients and keep up with industry trends.

Learning to lead


I said at the start of this piece that my headspace would look completely different if it wasn’t for 2024. Those that know me will know I would never refer to myself as confident. Reserved, absolutely – confident - no. 

I know where I want to be in my career, but in all honesty, the word ‘leadership’ scared the living daylights out of me. While I know the world of PR and my clients like the back of my hand, leading and inspiring others felt dishonest, if I was crumbling internally with overthinking and self-doubt.  

In April 2024, I decided enough was enough. After a lengthy conversation as part of my personal growth and development planning with Karen Tinkler, one of Partners PR’s two owners, I embarked on a six-month Remarkable Leaders programme with Pro Development. This experience opened my eyes and brought me to where I am now.

From the outset, this course pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me some very valuable lessons, that I have pondered over the festive break to help me shape 2025. Now, thanks to this course, I understand myself, and most importantly I know that leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers. 

I have decided that 2025 is the year I lean into being myself. I might not have all the answers, I know there will be challenges along the way, but I’m starting 2025 with complete clarity (which incidentally is one of our team values) on who I want to be, and what I bring to the team, besides an unwavering love for junk food.
 
Cherelle Jones leading a horse
Cherelle setting personal and career targets

Why does personal and professional development matter?


Investing in continuous professional development is not always easy. It’s hard to allocate time, and with daily workloads it’s very easy to say, ‘I don’t have time, I’ll start next week,’ then never get around to it. But take it from me, investing in knowledge and self means opportunity. Not only do I know my industry more, I know myself more which in turn helps the team around me and will help me grow in my career. 

Reflecting on my 2024 journey, I am excited about the coming year and the opportunities it might bring. If one of your goals for this year is to find the time to invest in yourself, then my advice is simple: go for it. Even if you can only spare five minutes per day, your future self will thank you for it.

 

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Cherelle’s reflections on 2024, CPD and learning to lead

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