 |
Workaholic finds her fixPosted on 1/21/2006 at 8:56 AM - Post CommentIt's not that I'd forgotten. You don't forget the feel of... I can't name it. It's passion, power, pressure, doubt, confidence, joy and terror all rolled into one coursing sensation. And I love it.
For most of my first 20 years in the work force I was terribly unfulfilled. After highschool I continued my choices of immediate gratification and chose a fulltime paycheck over the tougher world of university. This lead to a series of jobs that were ok, but unchallenging.
Then, at the experienced age of 38 I got my big breaks: I figured out the secret to success and I landed an entry level job in a new company that was owned by a visionary.
For six years I worked and learned and loved my job. I went from the manager of a one-person branch to Chief Operating Officer. The company grew to 100 branches and for 3 of those years I had the honour of leading 300+ frontline staff and 65 of the 80 support staff.
The best part of course was being exposed to new ways of thinking and leading. Personal accountability became the foundation for my life and once I put myself in charge of my life, things were great.
When the company was sold, I was devastated. I didn't expect to be devastated. For about 10 weeks I knew the sale would most like happen. In fact, I worked like a dog on the due diligence process. But when it was over, I was left without a job.
Throughout my life I have felt alone in my experiences. I frequenly felt misunderstood and didn't really understand others. This is not unique I'm sure. But when I was the boss, I was allowed to be me. Everyone had to tolerate me. The owners loved me and loved the million plus dollars in profit my team delivered every month. The staff either loved me or hated me, but they all had to put up with me and my ways of running the business.
But with that gone, I felt alone again. I remained in contact with my mentor, the ex-owner and within days of leaving the new company he was telling me about a great job he'd heard about that would be good for me. That was this job and yesterday I got to feel it again.
I found out later that Tim had actively seeked out several companies and made them aware that I was available and that if they were smart they'd snap me up.
It never occurred to me that I was available or that anyone would care. Surely I wasn't going to have another opportunity like the one Tim had given me when he entrusted his company to an ex-secretary with a high school education and a weird sense of humour. And I was trying to deal with the grief I felt about that. Turns out that I do get another chance. And there will be more opportunities.
And based on my experience and my faith in myself and the belief that happiness is simply a choice, I will get to feel this love of work for years to come.
I am grateful.
|
|
