The Liberation of a Closet Blogger
Well, it happened. The Team I work for found my little blog out here on the great big ‘interwebs’. Not only did they find my little blog, which was truly unexpected (more later), but some have mistakenly – yet understandably – assumed that some of the criticisms penned here are aimed at them, which is untrue.
It’s my own fault.
I didn’t expect anyone to find this site of mine, at least not this soon. You see, these initial posts were intended to exercise these atrophied creative writing muscles of mine; to help me shape the voice and message of my blog; to help me overcome what is a curiously awkward endeavor: To write as though someone else will care to read it.
Yet, somehow it is liberating. My goal with this site is to author a site of my personal perspectives in hopes that mine will contribute to yours as you build your own vault of experiences and perspectives.
When I was a developer I spent many years bouncing from job to job as a consultant/contractor. I worked for companies large and small, public and private, innovative and conservative. I worked for many different managers, yet only a couple of real “leaders”. Along my journey I have amassed a myriad of experiences of my own, and I have compiled those with the professional experiences of my wife. I have aggregated the experiences of not only mine and my wife’s, but also those of my friends and family. I engage in discussions with strangers and most everyone I know about the challenges they face in their work lives, and what they are doing to try to overcome them.
Mobile application product managers. Plumbers. Publishers. Personal trainers. Loading dock managers. Program managers. Business Analysts. Industrial survey equipment trainers. Team Leads. Directors. Off-shore liaisons. Human Factors Professionals. And so on… They all encounter challenges which must be overcome. They all provide perspectives on leadership, on work life, on what it means to be an employee, and what it means to be a leader (even if the lesson is a byproduct of how they are being lead.)
My perspective is that lessons on leadership and models of change are everywhere. Will you be open and receptive to them as you make your way through your day? Will you take advantage of these opportunities to learn from and through others, to accelerate what you can learn beyond your years?
You get one shot every day – and that is to make the best of that day before it is gone forever.
“Progress begins with the belief that what is necessary is possible.” - Normal Cousins
