What Was I Thinking?

Sometimes I act before I think. Sue me, I'm a guy and that's how I roll.

Often it gets me in trouble and the last couple of weeks has been no different. What has been different is that this has effected my professional life, where most of the time I'm screwing up my personal life. Need proof? Just ask Angie.

Although I've always thought about my career and where I'm headed, I've started acting on those thoughts. In many ways it is because I've landed at a great company that rewards success, because I work for a boss and my boss's boss who both are genuinely interested in the advancement of their people, and because I truly have a mentor off of whom I can bounce ideas. (That mentor is also the gentleman that I am going to Alaska with next week - stay tuned for adventure stories and pictures).

So, a couple of weeks ago I had a skip level meeting with my boss's boss (our SVP who is an OUTSTANDING LEADER - check his blog here). I told him that I thought I could add additional value in his organization and I gave him ideas on how I could do that. He agreed, and before the end of that day, he was sending an e-mail out to his staff informing them of a presentation I was going to give proposing a new function. I gave that presentation this week and it was well received. The net for me - more work, but a great opportunity.

During that skip-level meeting, I also asked for his guidance on potentially doing some speaking or publishing - you know, getting my name out in the field kind of stuff. There happened to be a conference coming up and I thought I might be able to speak there. He agreed with the idea and said he would make some phone calls. Within the next couple of days I was being contacted for my bio, publicity photo and abstract of my presentation. I'll be speaking at the Service Strategies Industry Summit in Las Vegas in October. I'm already nervous.

All I know is that it is great to work for people that aren't only interested in what they can get out of you. When I shared that with our SVP, he said that he much rather be discussing my advancement than doing all the other work he had on his plate.

I believed him.

SL