TOOLS FOR LEADERS: Do You Remember When?

By Kim Greth, Training Coordinator, Tero International

The past is where you learned the lesson.  The future is where you apply the lesson.  Don’t give up in the middle.  – Unknown

I love this quote that is expanded upon in Chapter 70 of Your Invisible Toolbox: The Technological Ups And Interpersonal Downs Of The Millennial Generation titled Do You Remember When…?

I am pondering these words and recalling two pivotal times that I felt very much “in the middle” and for me the middle seemed to last forever.

There have been two major changes that pertain to my professional life. The first was in the beginning of my professional career as I worked for a large corporation after graduating from college.  I was in the first stage of my job, perfecting my technical proficiency, taking on training responsibilities and looking forward to a managerial future.  It was exciting, rewarding and proceeding exactly as I had planned.

Then I made a personal choice for a change.  I started a family.  When my first daughter was born, I gladly returned to work ready for a break from this new uncharted territory of motherhood.  She had an amazing grandmother watching her full time so it was a perfect scenario.  Everything seemed perfect until my daughter called grandma “mom” first and not me.   All of a sudden, my work goals outside of the home took a backseat to a new role as mother.  I wanted to reallocate those 40 professional hours back to being a mom.

It was a bit more than I had bargained for.  While I didn’t miss the grind of driving downtown in rush hour traffic, I did miss dressing professionally and enjoying a Friedrich’s coffee while gearing up to exercise my mind for the day with new mental challenges.  After having a second daughter, my most strenuous mental challenge now consisted of singing Raffi songs just to get the girls to brush their teeth.  My main focus became learning patience and negotiation with toddlers which made previous workday crisis seem much more important and rewarding.  I would meet other working mothers or people without children who asked “What do you do?” I would answer with “Oh, I just stay at home.”

What had I gotten myself into?

It literally took me five years of small daily changes to embrace this new lifestyle that I had embarked upon. After countless hours volunteering at school, creating arts and crafts and hosting birthdays and sleepovers, I felt so fortunate that I had been in the position to have made the change from working outside the home, to being a homemaker.  I was full of warm memories of raising both my girls to become the amazing women I know today.  I taught them a love of cooking, gardening and animals.  I’d traded the potential to manage in a professional environment to managing a home and family.  I’d embraced the change and would proudly announce that I was a stay at home mom and successful homemaker.

My second personal choice to change arose organically from the fact that the kiddos grew up.  They no longer needed my daily attention no matter how much I tried to offer it.   I was ready to ease back into the workforce.  I was fortunate to run into a colleague from my former professional life that connected me with Tero International and their opening for a Training Coordinator.  It was a great fit for me.  I was able to draw upon my well-honed homemaker skills and apply them to office management. Meal planning and shopping became catering training luncheons, school registration, taxes and tracking health insurance became coordinating training workshops and most of all my hospitality skills were able to shine to a larger, and often more appreciative audience.

What was unanticipated was how behind I was on technology.  A lot had changed in 15 years, even email platforms.  My hardware and software knowledge was out of date, I’d rarely used internal servers, and my Microsoft Office skills were non-existent. Feeding a family of four was certainly not the same as catering for large groups even if I wasn’t cooking the food myself.  How could I assure on time delivery and account for everyone’s tastes? It was a bit more than I’d bargained for, creating a sense of déjà vu.

What had I gotten myself into?

Your Invisible Toolbox suggests that I “borrow from the past.” “Whenever you’re faced with change and feel the need to proceed cautiously because the change could be threatening, remember how much your life improved as a result of the change…”

I drew upon my five years of small daily changes to adapt to staying home full time and remembered how rewarding it had felt to accomplish each one.  I closed my eyes when I was frustrated with a computer application and remembered the sense of achievement that I’d felt when I calmed a temper tantrum in public by one of the girls.  I could certainly calm my own internal urge to stomp my feet in frustration and smash the computer. When I felt overwhelmed at catering a lunch for 25 people I smiled because it seemed less daunting than getting the kids to eat their peas.

I am now five years into my Training Coordinator position which seems to be my cycle of acceptance for change. I’ve researched, purchased and set up costly computer equipment. I face Microsoft Excel without fear and I can navigate our server like a pro.  I have also hosted successful work events with elegant food like shaved beef filet presented on a Himalayan salt block for 100 people. These new skills are exciting, but I still smile at my artfully dyed green spaghetti noodles that formed the seaweed bed for an octopus shaped hot dog.