One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night....
...a very nice quote I stumbled upon tonight.
I'm hoping that for a spell that my path of the night may be past me,
and that the dawn is ahead.
Yes nuttiness abounds in my life, with the most crazy insane employment situation is concerned (well at least as far as me being able to count on my needs being taken care of by my employer), but one of the most rewarding in the sense that everyday I'm feeling and actually being told by those people I'm trying to make life better for-- that I'm making a difference.
I would have never chosen this path in a thousand years! Me, trying my best to manage, safeguard, edify, support, encourage and inspire a motley crew at the warehouse. A skater punk ex telegraph homeless guy, a fiery Brazilian lesbian with 4 ex husbands who all live together, an ex-organic vegetable grower turned woodworker, and two Chinese nationals who are learning more English with each day.
I had to fire another employee last week-- he was a good heart, young guy, indie punk craftsman at heart-- but overall the selfish desires of the owner took precedence over his ability to stick around. Yeah he messed up, but he’s going places. I'll do my best to give him recommendation and references for his future endeavors.
So yeah-- the employees really shared with me this week on a few different occasions stuff like I'm the coolest boss they’ve ever had, they cant believe a manager actually cares about how they are doing, how they feel each day, how their friendships, relationships, living situations, financial situations are doing.
I feel everyday the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" these people don’t have medical insurance, dental benefits, reliable transportation (there is one car owner amongst them)... yet everyday they push themselves with a work ethic I never experienced (cept at founder level) in the tech industry because they care. They know the owner is an ahole. They know hes a selfish bastard. But they know that all our fates are bound together there-- we either all make it successful and keep our paychecks, or we all hit EDD together.
Its so interesting to hear about my other friends out there in the tech industry facing their challenges... unique and I’m sure very complicated engineering challenges, some deadlines for big projects, some salary increase negotiations, some complaining about their commutes... but I know that regardless what happens, I pray I never forget this perspective of knowing that some really really good people out there wont have their food,bills,and medical needs taken care of to the point to worry about complex problems besides not getting injured on the job. They don’t have big picture goals to strive for, they just try to be perfect in their responsibilities each day so the owner doesn’t fire them on a whim. The raise/salary increase discussions I've heard about lately are a handful times multiple of the monthly earning of my workers. They don’t even have a car to worry about the commute about!
Its been a very educational, humbling experience.
I do sense its time for me to start searching back in the project mgmt field. The market is getting better. I know I've made a real difference here. I do know that the frantic crazy mind set of the owner is going to burn this thing to the ground someday-- maybe even with crazy legal complications. I don’t wanna be there for that, and I wouldn’t want any of them to be there to have to be let down by that.
After my move to the city with Addison at the end of this month, I'm going to start searching for jobs again.
In the mean time, I'm going to start searching for possible ways or perspectives to approach my feeling so damn guilty about abandoning these people-- or somehow finding other work for them.
Either way, this if anything else I've experienced in my work history has been the humility and humble pill I was needing say about a decade ago!
If any of yall have thoughts, especially you who've been in small workplaces / family corporate / company environments in which you've had to answer to these things and feel these things... please kick me some wisdom!
saw 'Miracle' tonight.
Kick ass movie.
Not kick ass in the ROTK way,
but kick ass in the typical geoff optimist way ;)
one of my fav quotes from it (not verbatim!)
"Great moments are created out of opportunity"
heh
So many great moments are out there waiting for us.....
I'm hoping that for a spell that my path of the night may be past me,
and that the dawn is ahead.
Yes nuttiness abounds in my life, with the most crazy insane employment situation is concerned (well at least as far as me being able to count on my needs being taken care of by my employer), but one of the most rewarding in the sense that everyday I'm feeling and actually being told by those people I'm trying to make life better for-- that I'm making a difference.
I would have never chosen this path in a thousand years! Me, trying my best to manage, safeguard, edify, support, encourage and inspire a motley crew at the warehouse. A skater punk ex telegraph homeless guy, a fiery Brazilian lesbian with 4 ex husbands who all live together, an ex-organic vegetable grower turned woodworker, and two Chinese nationals who are learning more English with each day.
I had to fire another employee last week-- he was a good heart, young guy, indie punk craftsman at heart-- but overall the selfish desires of the owner took precedence over his ability to stick around. Yeah he messed up, but he’s going places. I'll do my best to give him recommendation and references for his future endeavors.
So yeah-- the employees really shared with me this week on a few different occasions stuff like I'm the coolest boss they’ve ever had, they cant believe a manager actually cares about how they are doing, how they feel each day, how their friendships, relationships, living situations, financial situations are doing.
I feel everyday the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" these people don’t have medical insurance, dental benefits, reliable transportation (there is one car owner amongst them)... yet everyday they push themselves with a work ethic I never experienced (cept at founder level) in the tech industry because they care. They know the owner is an ahole. They know hes a selfish bastard. But they know that all our fates are bound together there-- we either all make it successful and keep our paychecks, or we all hit EDD together.
Its so interesting to hear about my other friends out there in the tech industry facing their challenges... unique and I’m sure very complicated engineering challenges, some deadlines for big projects, some salary increase negotiations, some complaining about their commutes... but I know that regardless what happens, I pray I never forget this perspective of knowing that some really really good people out there wont have their food,bills,and medical needs taken care of to the point to worry about complex problems besides not getting injured on the job. They don’t have big picture goals to strive for, they just try to be perfect in their responsibilities each day so the owner doesn’t fire them on a whim. The raise/salary increase discussions I've heard about lately are a handful times multiple of the monthly earning of my workers. They don’t even have a car to worry about the commute about!
Its been a very educational, humbling experience.
I do sense its time for me to start searching back in the project mgmt field. The market is getting better. I know I've made a real difference here. I do know that the frantic crazy mind set of the owner is going to burn this thing to the ground someday-- maybe even with crazy legal complications. I don’t wanna be there for that, and I wouldn’t want any of them to be there to have to be let down by that.
After my move to the city with Addison at the end of this month, I'm going to start searching for jobs again.
In the mean time, I'm going to start searching for possible ways or perspectives to approach my feeling so damn guilty about abandoning these people-- or somehow finding other work for them.
Either way, this if anything else I've experienced in my work history has been the humility and humble pill I was needing say about a decade ago!
If any of yall have thoughts, especially you who've been in small workplaces / family corporate / company environments in which you've had to answer to these things and feel these things... please kick me some wisdom!
saw 'Miracle' tonight.
Kick ass movie.
Not kick ass in the ROTK way,
but kick ass in the typical geoff optimist way ;)
one of my fav quotes from it (not verbatim!)
"Great moments are created out of opportunity"
heh
So many great moments are out there waiting for us.....