Greetings readers!
You may know running my business, EMPOWER Possible, is not my full-time job. I love the work I do as a business owner and I love the work I do in my full-time role. They complement each other and whatever I do in one area benefits the other. A year ago, on a snowy day, I drove to the Essentia Health Business Service Center in Duluth, MN to begin my full-time job as a Well-being Specialist for Essentia Health. On the first day, my supervisor texted me, she said, we need to start two hours later than planned as the snow had caused issues with daycare. When I received the text I was relieved because I was concerned about getting to work on time and this gave me plenty of time to drive slowly and have a relaxed morning. This also sent me a message, it was a message of flexibility, understanding, and concern. My supervisor demonstrated to me they understood life happens because they have lived experience with needing to make adjustments to work commitments. During the first few months, this message of flexibility and care was reiterated over and over again however I had trouble believing it. I kept thinking, “they say it is okay for me to have a flexible work schedule but when is the “gotcha” moment going to happen? When are they going to take it back and tell me I am not meeting their standards?”. When I shared with a friend, “my job is going really well but I just keep thinking this can’t be real, this has to be a trick, there is no way this is going to last.” She said, “Julie, you were traumatized. The response you are having now is because you left an environment that wasn’t right for you.”. She was right. When I first started my last job, a colleague shared with me a warning, “this place with suck the life out of you if you let it”. I loved my last job for many years. I am grateful for the opportunities I had. I am grateful for the friends I made. I am grateful for the growth I experienced. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and in the end, I felt betrayed by the institution that gave me so much. After I left there was a period of mourning, a mourning of the loss of identity and the loss of a dream.
This leads me to the creation of my new project. I am excited to share I am working on gathering stories from folks who have also experienced grief related to a job loss, job transition, or the loss of a dream. If you have experienced any of these and want to help build a resource for others going through a similar situation please email me at info@empowerpossible.com
Now onto something more positive! Over the past year, I have observed many positive qualities and learned many lessons from my time at my current place of employment. These include:
1) Culture matters. Your actions are either supported or railed against depending on the culture - good culture = productive, motivated, and positive employees. What is culture? It is the shared practices, goals, values, goals, and attitudes that characterize a workplace. It is reflected in how people behave, interact with each other, make decisions, and do their work. It impacts everything — including your happiness and career. Culture covers everything from how quickly people expect you to respond to an email to how the organization adapts to threats and change.
2) Communication is key. In the workplace (and every area of life) communication is important. It has the power to boost or destroy employee morale, increase or decrease engagement, improve or decrease productivity, and increase or decrease work-life satisfaction. Communication affects how teams cooperate and collaborate. Effective communication is clear, kind, time-sensitive, respectful, and honest.
3) Can’t do it alone. We are all connected, there is wisdom that can only be found in the collective. One person doesn’t hold all the good ideas or the answers to the complex issues we face. When one person rises we can all rise together if we help each other and don't feel threatened by others.
4) Control what you can and let go of the rest-set boundaries. This one is a biggie but also the hardest for me. By setting boundaries, you can work smarter, gain respect and increase your productivity. It isn't always possible to influence your workload however more and more people are able to adjust their workload if they take the steps to do so. You may be surprised at how much influence you can have. First, have a conversation with your supervisor to help you prioritize your tasks, then build your workload off of the list, and make it a reasonable list! Second, set limits by setting work hours and holding yourself to them. The out-of-office auto-reply is your friend. Third, communicate clearly what your limits are, delegate tasks that don’t fit into your workload, and practice saying “no”.
5) Connect your work to your purpose and mission and the organization's mission. By identifying the values that matter to you and understanding those of your organization, connections will emerge. The key is to get clear about yourself, your role, and your company, and then look for that ultimate Venn diagram intersecting the set of your values and the company's values. Need help? Take the EMPOWER Possible Meaning Mini Course www.empowerpossible.com/p/empower-mini-course-meaning
These lessons have made my time at Essentia enjoyable. I look forward to coming to work which for me as a remote worker means walking down twelve stairs to my home office...however I enjoy taking each step! I want to do a good job because I know my colleagues are doing their best too. I have learned a lot about myself, my worth, my values, and the importance of culture in the workplace over the past year, and look forward to many years to come. My wish for you is that you too can learn what you need from your workplace/life and learn from your past experiences.
What lessons have you learned in the past year?
What do you want next year to look like?
Does your current work/life situation support what you would like to see?
What topics would you like to explore in the upcoming year?
Please share! Email me your responses at info@empowerpossible.com.
Cheers to the journey! Thank you for your readership. Together we can regenerate our world,
Julie
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