There are pictures to post and stories to tell, but at the moment, sitting in an Admiral’s Club for the 5th hour of my layover in D.C., I have something different to share.
The past 3 weeks have been divided between Paris and Florence. The time spent was much needed on all fronts: work life & personal life.
Beautiful moments alone to process a thought instead of just simply having one.
Fast-forwarding, back from la la land, I find myself reviewing the past several months. What have I learned? Better yet, what will I do with the lessons?
Some of that I’ll keep close to my chest, but one thing that this big universe seems to keep beating me over the head with is the worthiness (even the calling?)
of simply striving to be a great manager.
As a designer, I’ve carried a bit of a complex: what to I actually do that contributes to anything wholesome? I don’t save lives on a daily basis. I don’t get my hands dirty rebuilding villages,
or see to it that children are given medicine and education….I could go on.
However, there has been just enough of a belief in what I do, or at least have the opportunity to do, that has kept me going. Although, to this point, I’ve never been comfortable in my articulating it. Then today I read it so well put, that I actually felt the proverbial weight lifted.
An article in the Harvard Business Review’s website, a professor, Clay Christensen wrote what I longed to hear,
“…Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team.
The context of that particular statement described the difference that could be made in someone’s life when they are built up and empowered verses belittled and demeaned.
It’s well worth the read:
The article is only free to read through the end of the month. I highly recommend taking a moment if you can muster one.
He goes on to express another well made point, which is the mundane nature of the expected return from an MBA program: buying, selling, investing…
Mentioning that the pursuit is too often missed of the life that can be made by the good that can come from managing, building–things that make people’s lives better.
Stepping off my little inspirational soap-box and onto a plane. I hope you read Mr. Christensen & take away a bit of encouragement.
Cheers for now – and maybe some Euro-trip photos later.
Categories: behind the curtain
This is a great post, Heather. And you are right about the significance of being a good manager. It is a way to serve God and to serve others by offering yourself as someone with a higher purpose but who also just wants to help her employees in any way possible. Kudos to you!