I don't make it any great secret that I really like going to a job where I do something. The office jobs that keep me sat behind a desk shuffling numbers across a spread sheet kind of kill me. So I've gone away from that career path and I'm limping along the path in retail, where if you did it yesterday, you'll probably have to do it again today AND do it with a smile (which is like a bonus challenge for me... because I look angry ALL the time) and sitting is a kin to sin. So I'm more or less happy there. I have a great management crew. That statement is kind of loss on some of my co-workers... but I get it from their perspective. I've been there long enough to see the flaws and the benefits... and I really like my team.
So as I'm limping along, I've moved departments. The new team is doing some great things, just needed a new person to shove them, it seems. But there's one person in particular, who having been there for a long time has seen fit to try to instruct me on what he wants me to do for him... he's telling his boss how to do their job. If that's not enough to drive me crazy, he's doing it in cryptic text messages. The latest of which informs me that while I don't have to DO everything, I have to BE everything. ... What the hell does that mean?
I've ruminated on this for a few days... including a night at the bar which reminded me that I am no longer 22.
I can't do everything... there is literally not enough time in the day to have the face time my crew needs as well as do all of the packdown, take care of all of the customers and learn all I need to know. No way I can do all of it while fighting the neccessary destruction of shoppers. Can't do it all. But be it all? Be a face, and a shoulder, and a packdown guy, and personal shopper, and designer, and problem solver, and ... and... and...! But can a person be it all?... Not really.
There will always be something that just isn't part of our natural skill set. There will always be something that we're not great at. And being a leader doesn't mean that we have to be everything that the group is not, it's that we must be able to guide them, motivate, and train them. I am not perfect. I will never be. There will always be a weakness. But the mission to be a supervisor, to be a leader, isn't about being a super hero. It's a mission to help them see where they can improve while being willing to see where we can improve. There is no space here for hardened hearts and stubbornly digging our heels in. We must be flexible, but not string cheese. Being a leader is like being copper or gold. Malleable enough that when circumstances change we can change, but rigid enough that when the path is set, that is where we remain.
It's not always easy to get there, but when we do... It's really annoying to be told to be EVERYTHING.
Song for the day: Yo La Tengo : The Weakest Part
Blame it on the night at the bar. There's only space enough for one new obsession, and Yo La Tengo is it at the moment. This song spurred the debate across the bar "It's a happy song!" cried out a lovely girl a few seats down, followed by my neighbor retorting "No it's not. It's a really sad song." "But it sounds happy! The melody!" "It's a sad song!"
A few days later, sober... it's a sad song, but it sounds happy, and it's where I lived for years.
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