Saturday, June 24, 2006

 

Turning Over A New Leaf


In the past three or four months I have been rather down because work has been really stressful. I've read several self-help books on happiness in the workplace which really haven't made a difference in my attitude.

On Thursday, My manager (The VP), came into my office to talk. Our company had announced major organization restructuring and she inherited another department which increased her headcount by about 40 people. So basically she will be running two organizations. I knew this was coming because she had warned me a few weeks ago. During our conversation she wanted to know how "I" was doing. I told her I was burned out from working so much overtime because I was responsible for two job roles and needed a long vacation. [A little background: I had asked for two week vacation in July about three weeks ago and she said no. This week, we had a new hire start who will be doing my old job.] My manager was really understanding and spent nearly 30 minutes telling me in a r-e-a-l-l-y nice and diplomatic way ...
{"I chose you to be my assistant because I have every confidence you can do it. I have been promoted and have chosen to bring you along for the ride. If you need relief with stress, go get professional help. You are the gatekeeper. People are going to go through you to get to me. If you are having trouble with this concept, then tough. You better accept it. If you need help figuring out how to filter the data coming from all directions, then go find a mentor, read a book, or take a class. Things will be rough for the next few months since you are still learning how to be an executive level administratorAND we are restructuring the organization. Things SHOULD get easier because you can start offloading some things to the new hire. We are going to hire more administrative help as the organization grows. YOU are going to be SENIOR administrator and naturally have to be a leader. I have faith you can be successful, but YOU have to make it happen. I am not going to and can't do it for you. I will support you if you need funds to go take classes or seminars. So, SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT!!" }
When she left my office I sat there silently replaying the conversation for about five minutes. As I said she didn't say any of this. I am totally interpreting what she said. She took the scenic route in explaining things, never raising her voice, drew diagrams of my responsibilities, etc. She was very positive and cheerful.

After analyzing the conversation I then realized what basically happened. SHE GAVE ME AN ASS CHEWING! WOW! As I said, she took 30 minutes to say this and it was such a nice way she handled it. Dang, I don't think I could have ever been that smooth and eloquent. I've never had anyone be so indirect in a direct way. I don't think I would have handled it that way since I am such a blunt and direct to the point person. I have a new respect for her as my manager and as a vice president. I can see why she has moved up the ladder so quickly.

It became very clear that I have to change my attitude. I should be relieved that someone has been hired to take over my old job. I also have to accept that working for an executive is going to be demanding. I can't regret leaving my old position because "I" chose and wanted to be her executive administrator. I just have to remember what IT was that I liked about the executive administrator job which made me want to ask to be permanently put into the position.

So, I am turning over a new leaf. Part of change came from the ass chewing, the other part came from reading Johnny's blog about his father. His father chose to excel at his profession even though he doesn't like doing it. I need to adopt that philosophy as well. To quote from Caddyshack "The world needs ditch diggers, too." So, if I were digging ditches as a profession, I may as well be the best ditch digger there ever was. Johnny, if you ever tell your dad you wrote a blog about him, tell him 'thank you' for me.

# posted by Andie & Scott G. @ 6/24/2006 06:47:00 AM
Comments:
Thanks. It's kinda a weird statement that we've had it so "soft" that it takes us to be a few years older to realize things that our parents had to learn at a younger age.

And, it sounds like your exec is an excellent exec from the way the message was delivered.
# posted by Blogger Johnny : Saturday, June 24, 2006 4:02:00 PM
 
I'm not a frequent reader of your blog, but I was really struck by this post. In my experience, too many people are doing work they are not passionate about and consequently they don't enjoy it. Only you can decide if you're in the right place, or not, but I would say that maybe it's worth exploring other types of work.

I've been in education for ten years now after five years in the "business world" and I love it. That's not to say that there aren't some difficult days, but overall I know that what I'm doing is important and I get to make a difference in the lives of young people. Most days I am excited to be in the classroom with my students. It makes the time go by quickly.

Anyway, I hope you will aspire to be more than just a super ditch digger. You were meant for better things. I'm sure your teachers would agree! ;-)

Good luck!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : Saturday, June 24, 2006 6:25:00 PM
 
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