Impatience has been a major struggle of mine throughout my life. I've always wanted to be done with one chapter of school/work/life and onto the next. When I was in high school, I couldn't wait to be in college. When I was in college, I couldn't wait to be graduated and onto "real life". Now in "real life", I can't wait for the next season/promotion/big change.
I hadn't noticed this problem so acutely until recently. I felt very uncertain about the position that I was in at work (was it right for me, was I moving in the right direction, where I was going next, etc.) and quickly applied for another position within the company to see what options I had. I informed my boss of the application and he quickly pulled me aside for an impromptu meeting. He explained to me that careers were marathons, not sprints. The most impactful progress that I could be making at this point in my career was to gain mentors and sponsors so that others could look out for my career and help steer me to the correct place.
He was absolutely right. My impatience had taken over once again, and I needed to find a way to slow down and run the marathon. So that's exactly what I did; I began to run in 5Ks, which evolved to 10Ks, which then grew to Half Marathon training. I realized that graduating from college where you are sprinting from semester to semester towards graduation left me feeling like I had hit sand when trying to sprint at full-time work. When I began to shift my feeling of unease toward productivity to my personal life, it took quite a bit of pressure off of my professional life.
Since applying for the other position roughly 9 months ago, I earned another promotion in my current position. Patience paid off, and another lesson learned.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
The Words We Say
I've been thinking a lot the past few days about the words we say and how they impact others. I was recently involved in a meeting where we were pushing the supplier for action in order to progress on a specific initiative. The vendor assured us that they would work diligently on the project and that action would be taken. My business partner then replied "I know that this initiative will finish successfully because Kendra is on your team, but I want to know specifically what you will be doing to help." Although this particular person sparingly uses encouraging words, those ones struck me as very impactful and stick with me even today. He offhandedly made a public acknowledgement of my hard work and it made me feel proud of the work that I did and gave me insight into his opinion of me.
That's what leadership is. Leadership is understanding and reflecting upon the power of your words and choosing, every time, to use them to build others up and not to tear them down. My boss said to me after a meeting today "I was just watching you speak in that meeting and was extremely impressed at how you handled yourself." Wow. One sentence that I will likely not forget. One string of words used to build me up, make me feel important, and to build my confidence.
I also have a voicemail still saved on my phone from a supplier thanking me for my partnership and my dedication to our team. I am proud of these little moments. I am proud that I come off as collaborative. I am proud that I will keep working when others give up on progress. I am honored to be a person that a supplier will call to deliver that exact message. So honored, in fact, that I keep re-saving that voicemail any chance my phone tries to delete it.
Just in the time I have been writing this post, a coworker stopped by my desk to inform me that our Director made some extremely positive comments about me in the last leadership meeting. The fact that he took the time to give me insight to the opinion of me within the office makes a difference that, as an aspiring leader, I know he is making consciously in order to build me up.
We so often forget to make the positive comments, to take the time to give someone a call, to stop by their desk and fill you in on conversations you aren't privy to. But at the end of a long day, long week, or long year, those are the words that I cling to that keep me going and are the words that we should really be focusing on.
That's what leadership is. Leadership is understanding and reflecting upon the power of your words and choosing, every time, to use them to build others up and not to tear them down. My boss said to me after a meeting today "I was just watching you speak in that meeting and was extremely impressed at how you handled yourself." Wow. One sentence that I will likely not forget. One string of words used to build me up, make me feel important, and to build my confidence.
I also have a voicemail still saved on my phone from a supplier thanking me for my partnership and my dedication to our team. I am proud of these little moments. I am proud that I come off as collaborative. I am proud that I will keep working when others give up on progress. I am honored to be a person that a supplier will call to deliver that exact message. So honored, in fact, that I keep re-saving that voicemail any chance my phone tries to delete it.
Just in the time I have been writing this post, a coworker stopped by my desk to inform me that our Director made some extremely positive comments about me in the last leadership meeting. The fact that he took the time to give me insight to the opinion of me within the office makes a difference that, as an aspiring leader, I know he is making consciously in order to build me up.
We so often forget to make the positive comments, to take the time to give someone a call, to stop by their desk and fill you in on conversations you aren't privy to. But at the end of a long day, long week, or long year, those are the words that I cling to that keep me going and are the words that we should really be focusing on.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
For some reason, the mantra "two steps forward, one step back" keeps coming to my mind. My life has been full of humbling myself to see the beginnings of personal success day after day. Part of this seems to be a constant reminder that two steps forward and one step back is still progress. Slow progress, but the humble beginnings of progress nonetheless.
The hubby and I have been married for almost two years now. We met during an internship and fell quickly and madly in love. Two years later we graduated college, got married, moved to an apartment, started full time jobs, bought a house and moved again, all within 5 months of each other. We move aggressively, wonderfully fast and are always seeking out the next challenge in life. Our homestead now consists of 26 acres that we have turned into a hobby farm. The current farm now houses 2 adults, 1 slobbery pooch, 4 ridiculously stupid goats, 27 meat chickens, 4 ducks, and 6 laying hens. We used to have 10 hens that provided oodles of eggs until a neighbor dog broke into the coop and decimated our progress- two steps forward, one step back...
My daily life falls somewhere in between managing the stress and expectations of a corporate world, to learning how to dive in and get my hands dirty (literally and figuratively) at home while taking care of myself and staying sane. The polar opposite nature of the two is thrilling and uses two completely separate parts of my brain, my passion, and my determination. I've started this blog to remind myself of what success looks like and how it evolves as I grow.
The hubby and I have been married for almost two years now. We met during an internship and fell quickly and madly in love. Two years later we graduated college, got married, moved to an apartment, started full time jobs, bought a house and moved again, all within 5 months of each other. We move aggressively, wonderfully fast and are always seeking out the next challenge in life. Our homestead now consists of 26 acres that we have turned into a hobby farm. The current farm now houses 2 adults, 1 slobbery pooch, 4 ridiculously stupid goats, 27 meat chickens, 4 ducks, and 6 laying hens. We used to have 10 hens that provided oodles of eggs until a neighbor dog broke into the coop and decimated our progress- two steps forward, one step back...
My daily life falls somewhere in between managing the stress and expectations of a corporate world, to learning how to dive in and get my hands dirty (literally and figuratively) at home while taking care of myself and staying sane. The polar opposite nature of the two is thrilling and uses two completely separate parts of my brain, my passion, and my determination. I've started this blog to remind myself of what success looks like and how it evolves as I grow.
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