Today marks four years since I left my former company. Four years since I worked within the corporate structure for a Fortune 500. Four years since my success was tied to one stock price. Four years since I had a team surrounding me. Four years since I had a boss. Four years since I received an official performance review to reflect the value of the work I had completed over the last 365 days.
Four years can be a long time. And four years can go by in a heart beat.
While there are parts of the first paragraph that I do truly miss, I have fallen in love with my new life in ways that words can’t articulate. I love working with clients to help them perform within their corporate structure. Corporations and organizations fascinate me, but I find myself at my best in objectively assessing them from the outside vs. living with them on the inside. I love watching a client’s stock price climb and seeing their value increase on the Street, knowing that a small piece of what I am doing is reflected in that number. I do miss having a team surround me, but I love forming close ties with my clients and feeling a part of the teams they are creating. As for four years without a boss and a performance review, most of us would wish to make that statement true, but I have to tell you there are parts of it that I do miss. What do I miss the most? Making a boss proud to have me on their team and hearing them tell me how much my work is valued. I am fortunate to work with some great clients who take the opportunity to do this for me, without it being an official performance review. My absolute best professional and personal moments combined are when a client reaches out, well after our time together has ended, and tells me how much our work meant to them.
Why do I share all of this with you today? I know that many of you are on the verge of new beginnings. I also know that not all of them are planned. Change, whether imposed or intended, can be scary. It can be intimidating to change the way you work and the structures in which you have always existed. For 21 years, I worked within two corporations with a stock price, a team, a boss and a performance review. For the last four years, I have built my own company. I am grateful for each person who encouraged me to take the leap from one way of working to the next. I am grateful to each person who believed in me every step of the way, especially my life partner. I wanted to remind all of you today that four years can be a long time or it can go by in a heart beat. Much of that depends on you.
To new beginnings, I wish you the very best as you explore them. I am ending this week grateful for my own.
