It’s fairly rare when you can pinpoint the exact moment in a new job, when you suddenly realise that, “Yes, you are going to like it here,” and “Yes, you will make it past your 3 month probation, because your boss does value you and isn’t kicking themselves for hiring you.”
I had a moment today. And I knew it was the moment. I was so conscious of it, I could have revelled in it, to the oblivion of my colleagues and dangerously, to the oblivion of my manager, who was presently on the phone to me at the time.
Today, I was told what every employee should be told, but rarely isn’t.
That I was adding value. That I was a valued employee. I have been officially recognised as someone who adds value to my team, who complements my manager’s working style and who makes their job easier and much more easier than normal. You see, my manager, I don’t think, has ever had subordinates to manage. I think she has managed the division on her own, with no one else to assist and no one else to rely on. I don’t think she has had that support, that second pair of eyes to watch out.
Today was a bit of a ‘moment’ for me. The story goes a little like this. I was asked by K yesterday to compose an email to a number of senior management people, reminding them of their obligations on a project we’re working on. Having been through this sort of thing before, I am all too familiar with the pitfalls of such projects and involvement, so I knew just how to word the email as to make it overtly clear of K’s expectation of this group. The email was not backwards in coming forwards on their expected level of commitment and cooperation they must provide this project. The email spoke about the ramifications of their lack of commitment and how her terrier, ie ME, would be onto them so fast, they wouldn’t know what hit them. I guess you could say, I went out on a bit of a limb, wording the email the way I did. There was no subtly to the email, it was shooting straight from the hip.
Well, she gushed. She gooed. She loved the emailed. She was so pleased to finally work with someone who understand the pressures of our jobs. Who seemed to be able to come out and communicate the basic intentions of our group. She went onto to say that she was so pleased to work with someone who complemented her working style and how she knew we would work so well together. In gibberish, this meant “I’m so going to keep you come the 3 month review and I can’t believe I found someone so cool to work with!”. Ok, it wasn’t gibberish. It was a compliment. I was pleased to receive, because although I actually hadn’t considered not being here after the 3 month review, it was rather settling to really feel like I was adding value and bringing some experience and skills to the group, which were not already there.
Then I realised something that now pisses me off.
Managers fail to remember what it was like, what it is like, to be reporting to a manager. They forget the insecurities and high expectations placed on them. They fail to acknowledge the lengths to which their staff go to, to ensure they look good and that the team operates smoothly. This made me mad, because once upon a time, they were reporting to managers and were making their managers look good.
Have I lost you yet? Good.
So, it’s just nice to work with someone, who is really committed to her job and the organisation, but also understands the contributions of her team, and how her team makes her look good and gets her job done easier.
I think it was a moment of clarity for me today. The only reason why I think it was so blatantly obvious to me was because, in a nutshell, I’ve just come from reporting to the boss from hell, who was so self absorbed, I’m surprised she knew where her ass was. I used to work for someone who couldn’t manage her emotions, let alone her staff and division. Who didn’t understand the real work her staff actually performed, but insisted on making them work more. Who didn’t offer that human element to her team, which was sorely lacking. All the while, HR was ever aware of this stupid scenario and allowed the 5th person - yes, 5th person to resign from under her leadership - yeh, mismanagement is a better word.
Anyway, I think I’ve kinda moved on. It sounds a bit sentimental, but it’s not. But it’s like that old saying, if you allow others to treat you like shit, then you will feel like shit.
