Out Of Sight. . .Can I have that Report by Thursday?
I live and work in Salt Lake City. Well, I work in Salt Lake City, but I live in Pleasant Grove. Well, I work in Salt Lake City most of the time. Other times I work in one or our other offices. My boss lives and works in Raleigh. Well, it works in Raleigh, but he lives. . . You get the idea. The point is that we work in different cities. In fact, different states. And if you can say that Utah is “West Coast” (we’re only one state away, but it’s California) then we can say that we work on different coasts. I once had a terrible manager. (My Manager From Hell.) Unfortunatley, it was early in my career. Not only did he ruin my time working on his team, but he scarred me for the rest of my career. I have this issue with my managers. Not all managers. Just my direct manager. It got to the point where I didn’t want to hear from my manager. I did my job, but I really would just as soon avoid dealing with my manager. It was a phobia. Of course, it was a phobia, or it was PTSD. I hesitate to use that term, considering how many soldiers come back from war having endured horrors that I cannot even imagine. Whatever it was, it had very littler to do with my managers and everything to do with me. So, you would think, if I become nervous interacting with my direct manager, that having him on the opposite coast would be ideal. And yet, it’s not. Because, like a kid afraid of the monsters under the bed, there’s really nothing to fear. I know that. And the fact is, my manager is probably the best person I’ve ever worked for. He has given me everything you can ask for in a good manager. He’s assigned me interesting tasks. He trusts me.I got an email today letting me know that he wants me to attend a leadership conference he’ll be leading at our Savannah location later this month. I find I’m torn. It’s almost like approaching a whitewater rafting trip. It will be fun, but it also has an element of uncertainty, of anticipation. So, now in addition to 30 year old issues with managers, I have to learn a whole new skill. Where before I had manager in close proximity that I didn’t want to spend time with, now I have a manager who’s not in proximity that I want to spend time with. Life has a funny sense of humor.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2018 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
