Reflections On Transitions and New Beginnings

Our company currently has three job openings posted after some unexpected departures.

Watching people leave our company is a bit like watching my oldest daughter finish high school and graduate, with the same mix of pride, joy, gratitude, sadness, and loss.

There’s the pride of seeing people advance in their careers and move on to new opportunities, and the sadness of knowing our connection will inevitably change and diminish. There’s joy in watching them thrive and gratitude at the time we’ve had to work together. There’s the loss of their contribution — missing the unique perspectives and talent they offered our team.

All of this is happening at once: the graduation and the team departures, so the mix of emotions I’m experiencing is present in huge doses now.

There’s also, unexpectedly, excitement and passion, showing up at unexpected moments.

It’s exciting to be able to incorporate new team members and anticipate the possibilities represented by their unique talents and perspectives. New people bring new energy. As some people leave and new ones come, we’re forging a new team, with long-time team members challenged to pour into and onboard our newest members.

As people join our team, there are a few ideas I hope they pick up quickly.

It’s okay to be human here. It’s ok to be real here. It’s okay to be messy here.

I want to hire real people, who are willing to talk openly about themselves, including their interests and passions but also their emotions, both positive and negative. I want to hire people who are willing to ask for help and admit mistakes and limitations. I want to hire people with whom I feel comfortable sharing my own emotions, shortcomings, and frustrations. We will work better together when we know each other and give each other room to be real and human.

We work hard here.

Our work is fast-paced and requires diligence and discipline. There’s not a lot of time to waste or down-time. But we all share the satisfaction of work done well. I want to hire people who are willing to work hard and pitch in to help with tasks, even ones not included on their job description.

Our work is always changing and growing.

We adjust our tactics and strategies to reflect the way our world is changing; we see projects start and end; we pursue new initiatives and ideas. As a company, we look for ways to improve, both our internal processes and our service to clients. I want to hire people who are excited to change and grow and willing to offer improvement suggestions and ideas.

We truly care here.

I want to hire people who care about their work and each other, who partner with me in this work because they choose to and want to. We care about each other’s success at work, and each other’s happiness outside of work.

The next 10 days will bring so much change, both at work and at home. These changes bring the mixed and bittersweet emotions, joy and pride, sadness and loss. Following those is the excitement of creating new opportunities for others and watching my daughter head out to the next chapter of her schooling.

Tell me something: what emotions are present for you right now?

 

Interested in joining the Weaving Influence team? Check out our latest job postings here!