A few months ago, I started a new position with the my company. It wasn't exactly a promotion, but the fact that they asked me to take the position was definitely a vote of confidence. It couldn't have come at a better time--I was getting burned out with my previous position and didn't even realize it. In fact, when they first told me that they wanted me to give up my program to take on a more prestigious position, I couldn't see that it was a good thing for me. Instead it felt like a punch in the gut. How could I give up this program that I had built up and really made my own? Then management said the perfect thing to get me thinking differently: 'We know this will be hard for you---you really have a passion for this work and your identity is all wrapped up in it.' Oh no you didn't! And that's when I started thinking about how it might be time to move on and here was an opportunity---why wouldn't I want to make the change? A day later I agreed to take the new position and was completely amazed at the overwhelming sense of relief that I would be able to walk away from the program I built. That was dozens of email requests a day that would no longer require my response. Those issues that had cropped up as the program reached maturity--someone else would need to take care of them. And the identity that was attached to the program? I could also walk away from that. I could start over and that was probably the best part of the deal.
I'm still in the first 90 days of my new position. It's now very clear what the job will involve and what the issues will be that in 2-3 years I will be happy to leave behind. But I'm not there yet. I'm still building my vision of what this position will be. I'm discovering what I need to learn to be able to do this job well. My most recent discovery is this: what I already know will be absolutely invaluable in this job. How great is that? With all that's been said about having to change the way you operate in each new position ('The Leadership Pipeline', "What Got You Here Won't Get You There'---both excellent and useful books), this realization was a bit surprising for me. It turns out, the principles of working well with people don't change. It doesn't matter what level in an organization you're working, the principles are the same. People are the same. All that changes is the names, and the number of people who will be affected by the work. So I say, be open to all that's new and different in each situation. And believe in what you already know about working with people. It's probably true.
So here's to fresh starts, learning new stuff and not forgetting what you already know.
I'm still in the first 90 days of my new position. It's now very clear what the job will involve and what the issues will be that in 2-3 years I will be happy to leave behind. But I'm not there yet. I'm still building my vision of what this position will be. I'm discovering what I need to learn to be able to do this job well. My most recent discovery is this: what I already know will be absolutely invaluable in this job. How great is that? With all that's been said about having to change the way you operate in each new position ('The Leadership Pipeline', "What Got You Here Won't Get You There'---both excellent and useful books), this realization was a bit surprising for me. It turns out, the principles of working well with people don't change. It doesn't matter what level in an organization you're working, the principles are the same. People are the same. All that changes is the names, and the number of people who will be affected by the work. So I say, be open to all that's new and different in each situation. And believe in what you already know about working with people. It's probably true.
So here's to fresh starts, learning new stuff and not forgetting what you already know.
