I know your pain, I’ve had some sick days but with emails coming in and being someone who’s a little better off to get a few things organized, I’ve looked at and filed or deleted some stuff. It’s not diving right in and working when I’m not supposed to or can’t because I feel like a horses ass but it’s reducing the stuff we have to catch up on. Hope you feel better soon man!
I’ve been in my role now over 2 years and one of the things that I discovered was a considerable gap in documentation that my team has. Things were very disjointed and not really easy to digest or pick up. Another team had this nice and organized structure for their work that was similar to ours so I went and duplicated their structure and format so I wasn’t reinventing the wheel but updated it to be specific to my team when I’m not the manager or director but I wanted to not only help myself but help my colleagues. It’s nearly complete and took about 40 hours of work but my boss was blown away by it and thanked me for doing it but also for doing it for the team. We are going to build upon that and organize some of the other key teams that we work with daily to contribute to our stuff and it felt good to do something that wasn’t my job at all but it will help me do my job and nobody else was stepping up to doing it.
I think it’s important to do these things but also make it a team benefit not just a “me” benefit. The more we can improve collaboration and processes so that everyone is efficient the better it is for everyone, especially our customers. It felt pretty good to turn the corner and get it almost complete! Just have a few minor details that I have to work out but I’ve already given it to 2 of my junior colleagues and they thanked me so many times because it’s daunting taking on your first real projects.
I enjoy living the collaboration mindset like this!
It can be stressful right? I mean, I have had (still have) a fever and feel pretty shitty but one must cowboy the fuck up right? (I'm just trying to muster the ability to get over to the farmers market and supermarket to do some shopping and I don't feel like it...it'll not do itself though right?
Good work on that restructuring and if your boss is a good leader it'll pass up the chain that it was all you. The boss will get the accolades for creating a team environment in which his/her team clearly wants ownership and takes responsibility and you'll get the accolades for doing it. A win-win. (A win-win-win really as the boss, you and the team all win.)
It's called lifting heavy shit, as I mentioned in my post above, going the extra mile, finding the work that needs to be done and just fucken doing it...then looking for more and doing it all over again, and again. Ownership, responsibility and discipline...it makes good leaders, and builds good teams.
Yeah dude for sure, I am really lucky that I've got a good group of leaders behind me which isn't too common these days. My manager, director and senior director are all solid people and will get down in the trenches with you when the need arises. It makes wanting to do these things easier because we are helping each other as a solid and cohesive team. I, like you, just get shit done. I think I got it from my dad, where it sucks doing it sometimes but the payoff in the long run is more than if you just complained and didn't do it.
What always helps me get over those annoying cold or flu things is a nice serving of garlic. You stink like fucking hell but damn that shit is powerful at knocking out the bacteria and viruses! I'm sure the farmers markets have some good ones. If you can, try to look for garlic scapes! Holy shit those are my favorite! If you ask one of the people at the farm stand if they have garlic scapes you might get lucky! It's a very light garlic flavor but it's a green onion look to it. I absolutely love getting those in early summer every year!
A good leader/manager/boss etc. can make a multitude of wrongs in a workplace or job seem so much less. It's when the workplace/job and the boss all suck where problems start. I always try to make people feel engaged, part of something, that their opinion and input matter (and counts) and make them feel supported...it's usually paid strong dividends and on those occasions it hasn't the individual who doesn't fit always drifts away of their own accord. A highly motivated team of high-achievers creates high achievers, but like you say, it has to start with solid core beliefs and work ethic.
I'm going to eat a ton of garlic bread for lunch...I hope it works. Lol.
Ok, I'm not going to eat all that garlic bread, I'd probably die. My dad was a huge advocate of the healing properties of garlic, I can hear him now, agreeing with you and saying, that cmplxty chap is wise beyond his years. Lol.
Hahah well garlic bread kind of counts but pure garlic is best! We've got 3 bulbs of it in the house at all times :D you can smell me coming from 20 feet away!
Yeah for sure it helps when you have a solid management team. I wasn't interested in leadership roles before but I know that it's probably something I will have to do at some point. I don't love it but know I can do it and know that it's important to have capable people to lead. We have a capable person shortage right now and think it's a way I can affect positive change, at least I hope. Just getting my base created to help support me in that future role, whenever I take the jump to it. I have a strong sense of team building and making people around me successful as I can, so I would like to try my hand at it and see if it can work out or if it's a dumpster fire and I do something else haha.
Being a good leader isn't easy, but it's made a lot harder by egotistical, selfish, prideful and pretenders who think leading is all about pointing the finger and ordering people around. It is not that at all. It can be a lonely job, one can't be everyone's friend all the time, but one can be empathetic, focused on solutions, engaging and empowering...well, I've written so many posts about it I'm sure I don't need to say it all again.
When the time is right you'll know, or it'll be thrust upon you, and when it is just do your best, seek to learn, know you'll make mistakes and that your best asset is the people you lead.
And eat garlic.
Hahaha yes absolutely. Eat garlic!
Solid points for sure man!
Garlic keeps vamps away too you know. Buffy the vampire slayer taught me that.