Wednesday, September 1, 2010

"Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are." - Julius Charles Hare

I applied for a new job on the weekend.  The job I applied for is the same job that my boss has, only 30 minutes in the other direction - so instead of being an employee, I would join her peer group.

This is a big step for me and I'll tell you why.  For the last 18 years I have worked as an Administrative Professional (for you non-PC's - secretary). I have always wanted to do office work, in fact I started working in our school office when I was still in school.  There is something that this many years later I still find rewarding about walking through the aisles at Staples and finding just the right sticky notes (don't ever buy the yellow ones).  But more importantly, I have learned the inner workings of whatever business I have been in and become successful in supporting business owners, vice presidents, presidents, directors, CAO's, you name it.  I didn't have to start at the bottom as a receptionist and work my way up.  I started somewhere in the middle as a secretary working for the owner of a small oil and gas company.  My experiences there set me on a very successful course. I have built an entire career on the concept that I would work harder than anyone to make my boss look good.  I have always wanted to be in a position of knowledge visa vie authority without actually being in charge and, for the most part, I have managed to position myself that way.

So why this change?  Why now?  I don't know, bored maybe?  Ready maybe?  I think a little bit of both.  I love the work I do, but I'm not particularly challenged by it.  I have spent a lot of years working for some very dynamic individuals (and some slightly less than dynamic) and learned a lot about what kind of manager I want to be.  I feel ready to take on a new challenge and see what comes from that.

Of course I'm really transparent about this sort of thing.  I told my boss that I was going to apply for this new position....perhaps being transparent is only good for ghosts.