I was just going to quit but...

It has been so long since I felt inclined to write that I thought it would just be best let the page expire, but it just would not go away. Maybe next time. I was just reading Lori's last entry and it just caused me to reflect on the massive changes that we are all going through right now.

As I write this my wife is at work, my wife has not been "at work" in the "employed for pay" context in about 15 years. She has worked plenty at home and we have done some jobs together (TLC, god forebid that we ever have to go down that road again) but the idea that Lori is "at work" in the true sense of employment outside of the home is just strange. Not bad, just strange. That said, I don't think that she (or I for that matter) could ask for a better opportunity than the one that she has been given. She gets to earn extra income while being involved with something that she loves and can maintain a high degree of flexibility at the same time. Pretty cool really but still just strange!

As for me I am going through what has become easily the toughest and perhaps most "life altering" job change that I have ever experienced. (with the exception of the short stint in advertising about 15 years ago) It may sound strange, it is the same company, the same boss and most of my new employees are people that I have known and worked with for many years. The real change and challenge I believe relates more to a dramatic shift in orientation.

For 27 years I have worked in this industry and for 27 years I have been "on the move" and moving at a very fast pace as well. For the first 16 or so years while my work was done at the store level I set my daily priorities, moved through them as quickly and effectively as I could and then went on to do the "extras" that have allowed me to move through the various "layers" and to arrive in my current position. Once I moved to the "corporate" level I applied the same philosophy to a different set of priorities and "tasks". My so called "tasks" now involved leading other people rather than doing things on my own. Not really that different because up until now I have operated in a very autonomous environment where as long as I delivered the right financial results, supported the overall company direction and kept myself and my people out of trouble then I and my team were largely left alone to pursue the priorities and initiatives that we felt could produce the desired results over time. Not so much now!!

I do not intend to sound negative, it is just so different! I have a good boss who I like and respect. I am employed by a good company who's leadership is genuinely concerned about its people and its customer / owners. I am surrounded by peers that I enjoy working with, I feel that I am fairly compensated (even generously) and I still find the industry to be filled with challenges, all good stuff, right? So what is the problem?

I am still trying to figure that last one out but I think that it is a combination of things. To be truthful I have enjoyed being a "big fish in a small pond". Additionally I have enjoyed being constantly on the move from one place to the next all of the time and the flexibility that it has provided. And as strange as this might sound I have enjoyed being responsible for the financial results and operating statistics of my various area of responsibility whether that was a small Meat Shop or a conglomerate that was actually four different companies with four different income statements, four different balance sheets and three different operating banners. It is all the same you see, the numbers do not lie! You either perform or you don't, you grow the top and bottom line or they shrink under your leadership. There is no debating the results and I have always thrived and actually enjoyed that kind of accountability and pressure even when the results where not what was hoped for, it just made me think harder and try more new approaches. My new job, well not so much now. (the "think harder" part is really kicking in but the world of "black and white" results is long gone, and the comfort that comes with that)

I could go on and on but I am sure that I have lost you all by now. It all comes down to this... I needed to be challenged and to grow in new and different ways. I knew it and my company knew it, that is what is happening now. It is tough, but the truth is that when I first became accountable for financial results back in 1989 in that little meat shop in St George I struggled and stressed and stretched and guess what, I grew !!

Until next time...