Celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain. We’re climbing two by two, to be sure these days continue. These things we cannot change.
There might be some change in my life. I have been exploring several job opportunities, the best of which is T-Mobile. I have been really impressed by their building, organizational structure, managers, and recruitment process. If they really impress me with a job offer and nice salary I will leave DirecTV.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I love my job now. DirecTV has been really good to me and taught me a lot in the way of call center business. For that I will be forever grateful. If I am offered a similar position at T-Mobile, how much more then could I grow? I would have the chance to learn a new perspective, and get to know new people.
I am really excited about how my interview went yesterday morning. I thought it went really well and hope to hear back from the Hiring Managers soon. But for the first time in my life I am not stressing about an interview. I do not need to stress about it. I do want the job, but, if I am not made an offer, I still have a wonderful position within DirecTV.
I am in a slightly better mood today. It is a good day. Nice weather and no work.. I think I will go eat some sushi.
Yah. Sushi it is.
Call it a lesson in sociology. As a way to help gauge my performance as a team leader I decided today to hand out feedback forms to my current team. Today was my last day with them, as I will be moving on to another team tomorrow. I figured it would be a great way to get honest feedback and improve my leadership style. I genuinely crave good constructive feedback. This was my second team since I was made team leader and my first team in the ACDT call type. I know I have made many mistakes. I have learned so much since I was first upgraded. The learning, I am sure, will never wane.
I expected too get a lot attacks on my “micro managing” and dogmatic coaching. Instead I received a lot of unexpected compliments and constructive feedback. Most explained how they appreciated my openness and humor. They explained how they valued my willingness to help out in any situation, even when I was busy. They appreciated how I made sure we had fun every day. I was really impressed with the level of feedback I received. A lot of my team members even cited examples and gave ways they think I could improve. They were all very specific and simple suggestions. I greatly appreciated all feedback.
Except for one.
One of my team members said I was rude, unapproachable, condescending and had a poor management style. That was pretty much the gist of it. No examples. No suggestions. That is not constructive criticism. That is destructive criticism, and I must say I took it pretty harshly, as I am sure was this person’s intent.
People, whom know me, know that I am not those aforementioned things. I am very approachable. In fact I had several comments on other feedback forms that pointed out how my approachability was an asset to my leadership. I am sure that my dry sarcasm can come off as rude and sometimes condescending. It is a perception issue that I agree I need to work on. This perception is usually fixed by talking to me for about 5 minutes. People who work with me have learned to appreciate this humor; however I will admit that not everyone has bought into it. Apparently the person who filled out the destructive feedback form is not a fan of my work.
This brings me to a revelation. Perception is paramount. We all have perceptions of everyone. Have you ever stopped to consider how accurate that perception is? What is the perception of the person in the office next to yours? How about the person who just cut you off on the freeway? How about the elderly woman behind the counter in a small town?
What are thier perceptions of you?
Actually I had some really good fish. Went to Sakura Japanese Steakhouse in Boise. I went with a couple members of my team, Vance and Tabitha. I went to work to catch up on some coaching logs. They met me in the lobby. Vance had never tried Sushi before, so I figured today was as good a time as any. You see I love sushi. I recommend it to anyone that has not tried it.
I had a great time. I hope Vance and Tabitha had fun. I am not quite certain Vance enjoys sushi as well as I do, but he did say he liked it.
This weekend was much needed. I have spent most of the weekend just lounging around. I am ready for another week. I know I’m not bulletproof, but I’m feeling real good right now.