Spoiled

I’m spoiled. I feel like it is ok to admit it. I feel like there won’t be judgement when I tell people that I am spoiled by my job. There is a Zen feeling that washes over me when I log into my company’s portal. Generally there isn’t a fire waiting for me to put it out. When I wander into my home office (because I’m spoiled), I know what tasks I will need to complete, I know the expectations and I have a fairly good idea on what the outcomes will be.

After years of working in the retail sphere, of learning the dance between company expectations and customer demands, I’m working for a company where the demand is that I help out the customers. There is no disappointed visits from bosses or screaming customers or co-workers that drive you to throw boxes in the back room. Just help out customers. Give them the best service we can. Work to fix whatever issues they are having. Make their experience with us awesome.

What a novel concept.

I’m also spoiled because I work for a UK company. This company flips my understanding of expectations on its ear. They care about me. They care whether or not I’m feeling alright, or if I’m taking my PTO or not. I cannot even imagine my last companies even asking that question. What a novel thought to be working for a company that I am excited to work for and do well for. Don’t even get me started on health insurance. So I’m spoiled.

The other day, we had a meeting where the heads of the company discussed their wishes for the rest of us. What they want to see, and it was all about making sure we are well, and taking the time we are supposed to be taking. Celebrating our wins and forgiving others for whatever shortcomings happened and working with them to improve for next time. The term they kept using was, don’t have short toes, which I believe essentially means, don’t have an ego. Don’t worry about other people stepping on your toes, just work through the problem together and make it awesome. There was more that was said, examples given and roadmaps drawn, but by the end of the talk, not only was I excited to see what the next iterations of the company would be, I was teary eyed by the emotion I felt, the connection to my co workers and to our goals. I can honestly say I have never been in a meeting where I was inspired by my company’s leadership. Where I was inspired to go make the world better. Where I felt driven to check on my peers and make sure they felt as amazing as I did.

In my past, when I would interview someone for a job, I would ask them to think about their best boss and their worst boss. And I would tell them, ‘without naming names, tell me about your best boss and what you learned from them. And then tell me about your worst boss and what you learned from them.’ I would use that to determine what that individual would need to be the best versions of themselves in the job, and what did and did not motivate them. I would also use it as a mirror for myself, if I had had a rough day, I would ask if I had been someone’s best boss or worst boss. Near the end of my time in my last retail management job, I could no longer ask myself that without becoming disappointed in myself. I had burned out.

With this job, however? The leaders of the company break the mold and rewrite the role over and over again. I am lucky to work in a job where they have meditation time built into a meeting to remind us to treat ourselves better. I am lucky to work for a company that provides us with a professional development fund and then expects us to use it. How humbling to work for a company that is actively investing in me. I am spoiled to work for a company that believes in me, not what I can do for them, but in me as a person. It only drives me to do better day in and day out.