What a year.
This year has been unique — I’m not sure I’ve ever had a work year filled with such highs and lows. Here are some of the experiences/learnings these past 365 days that made 2019 a stellar learning curve.
I quit my job
Midway through the year, I said goodbye to a place I loved for a long time, having watched it grow from a close-knit 70 persons in Sydney to a family of 1800 worldwide. I still am in touch with the best of my people from my previous work home. The hugs I’ve shared with ex-colleagues when I’ve seen them at various events after my departure, come from a place of warmth, gratitude and happiness.
I looked for a new job
And I found a fantastic one. :)
But before that, my reflections on recruitment, in general, is that it still sucks. Job descriptions are vague, and organisations look for unicorns. Calls are not returned, and an email advising a delay in response seems too much to ask. I even had a phone interview where one was not polite enough to organise themselves to be in a quiet setting.
Take heart though, as those who get it right, get it right by leaps and bounds. They earned more brownie points than they even realise, and their company gained brand reputation money could not buy.
I didn’t recognise myself sometimes
It took some honest persons to hold that mirror up to me. For that, I learnt that it’s not enough to say the bad work experiences will not define me; I have to take decisive action towards that. The frank conversations and advice given with kindness at heart, helped me break out of the cycle of self damnation. I am a better person (and employee) every day because of this teaching.
Lessons on advocacy
I learnt you don’t always know your advocates and similarly your detractors. On face value, a person may seem firmly in one camp but in fact, sit in the opposite field. This situation makes trust challenging to give.
Evidence though, has been a useful indicator. I learnt to treasure my promoters and work hard in gaining approval in only the critics that matter, never the ones that don’t.
Categories a.k.a working in the grey
It’s always been easy for me to place things and persons into these two buckets — Good and Bad. It was effortless for my brain to say, if they mimic behaviours in line with my values, things like honesty & kindness, they are in ‘Good’ bucket’. Even easier to say, “If they do an action that clashes with my values, like cheat or lie, they are in the ‘Horrible’ bucket. A prime example of this was when I found out an ex-colleague had blatantly plagiarised my LinkedIn profile. This person copied my mission statement and unique key achievements, amending only the product name. I have no respect for that behaviour.
But there is such a thing as the ‘Gray’ basket, as much as I wish to deny it. I may never know their true intentions for lying on their resume but what I do know is that their colours are now clear. Perhaps in contrast to that, evidentiary of cognitive dissonance is that I also believe good people make mistakes. Don’t we all.
(Rest assured though that I’ve always had copies of my work as proof of authorship should I need to. ☺)
Courage in spades
There were many decisions made this year that placed me outside of my comfort zone. Things like speaking a handful of times publicly and writing many articles (albeit many will be published next year). The courage to say goodbye, find a new work hello and learn to love new beginnings. I’m comfortable saying that now, that I have courage in spades and I look to lean into my bravery even more next year.
Wrapup
This year further cemented for me that growth finds you in places you least expect. I am confident 2020 will be no different, and I wish all readers, much growth in the year ahead.
