I find myself\nspending more and more time reflecting and thinking back on past events in my\nlife. At first I attributed that to age, what I thought was a natural\nby-product of growing old. Hah, no\u2026.not the final \u201clife flashing before your\neyes\u201d myth per se, but reflection on your successes and failures is, I believe,\nnatural as you age. But I now think otherwise; I suspect it is because I have\ntime to think, to reflect. My work was so focused and so intense for so long,\nthat I think I just never had time to look back and think about things \u2013 always\nneeded to be forward thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I sense that this\nbehavior, howsoever unintentional, is due in part to my mind\u2019s concept that all\nis now done: the fat lady has sung, the cleaning crew is picking up the trash,\nthe flag has been lowered, the lights have been turned off, the band has packed\nup their instruments, and a trumpet is playing Taps. Done. Finito. Finished.\nYou go to school for years to learn the skills to work and then you get a job\nand work your whole life. It is what you were seemingly born to do. And then\nyou stop \u2013 you retire \u2013 and you don\u2019t work. And the mind knows little more how\nto handle it then to assume it is the end and time to start reflecting on how\nyou did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inevitably when you start looking back, the mind automatically initiates a grading system. Initially it is a wide and broad assessment of your working career aimed at answering the question: \u201cdid what I did matter? Did I make a difference?\u201d At least for me it has always been important to excel and achieve; to make a difference, to leave a mark. But not so much for future generations \u2013 it\u2019s not like I wanted to have a wing named after me for all to remember. It is more about the here and now; it is that competitive streak that makes you want to finish higher than lower. You want the people you know now to recognize your worth more than future people you do not know. Or I do (did) anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But truthfully that\nis only part of it, on the bigger flick what mattered most to me was actually\nbeing \u201cthe guy\u201d \u2013 about making a difference, about making things better, and\nabout making positive change. Much of what I did in my career was done without\nmany people knowing about it, especially in Facilities where everything I did\nwas intended and designed to make the plant better and safer and more energy efficient.\nAnd I did most of that behind the curtain, so to speak. Oh I was recognized for\nmy work from time to time and that was great, but the motive force behind all I\ndid was the betterment of the facility. And I know I made a difference, that\nwhat I did mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you do this\nthough, sooner or later you begin drilling down into those devilish details and\nbreaking it into smaller and more finite details. So the initial review is: \u201cdid\nI pass or did I fail?\u201d But once you go through that exercise you want to know\nabout all the individual classes and subjects. And that is exhausting and\nfrankly can be depressing. Because when you are done, and when you are reflecting,\nand when you determine that you did not do something as well as you might have\nhoped, you become upset that you didn\u2019t meet your expectations and want to go\nmake it right. But you can\u2019t \u2013 you\u2019re done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example: upon reflection of my years as a manager, I am certain that I was not the manager I should have been. Believe me, I took it seriously and I thought about it every day and I read about it and did all I could to learn about it. But upon review I did not perform as well as I wish I could have. And that bothers me because it was an important job and was my last job and you hate to leave on a negative. If you\u2019ve been paying attention, you\u2019ll know I left as the manager of Quality and in nuclear submarine construction, which is a critically important role. And I did the quality side of it to my satisfaction; I left behind a QA organization with the depth and resources to be prepared for future success. Training could have been better but I think we left with great improvements to training literally on the precipice of implementation. And of course, the ships always came first \u2013 the safety and well-being of the ship and her crew was always foremost in all I did \u2013 that we did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I did not excel\nin was caring for all the people in my organization. They came to work daily\nand wanted and tried to do their best, but I do not think I did all I could in\nenabling their success and growth. It was my responsibility to help them achieve\nand grow, to teach them, train them, enable them, and elevate them. I tried to\nexpress my gratitude and appreciation but I don\u2019t think I did all I could. Interestingly\nenough, my vision of my role in Facilities was different, especially as a\nsuperintendent
\n(as I was only manager there for a couple of months). I was a bit of a prick, a\nhard ass. I had a bark and at least a bit of a bite. I felt it was a job\nrequirement. But even at that, I valued my people and tried to show them that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Happily it occurs to\nme that it is not done, not over. My working days are (I fervently hope) are\ndone, but that does not mean that I am done. I have this blog through which I\ncan express these thoughts and hope that someone out there reading this takes a\nthought or idea on managing people and can use it to help themselves grow and\nbecome a better leader. And to that end, I have to implore you to try to never\nlose sight of the fact that your people are your most valuable asset, your best\nresource, and your most treasure customers. They deserve every ounce of you,\nevery day. As a manager you do nothing but give your team the goals, the tools\nand resources, and the training they need to go accomplish the task. They get\nit done \u2013 not you. Give them your all \u2013 they deserve nothing less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I reflect, I am\ntempted to hang my head a little; this because I was trained my whole career to\nfocus on what you did not do correctly and to largely ignore what went right.\nPerform, assess, evaluate, correct, repeat \u2013 that was our mantra. But I am not\na fan of this approach when looking back over a lifetime; it is severe and too\ncritical and affords no chance to implement the final two steps of \u201ccorrect and\nrepeat\u201d. Looking back over the finished product you have to cast a gentler eye,\na kinder heart, and a softer evaluation. And in doing so, I think I find myself\ncontent and proud for what I accomplished overall. Hopefully these words strike a chord with\nsomeone out there and will help. Push yourself every day and at the end of\nevery day, assess and evaluate so in the morning you can correct and repeat. Do\nit for your people\u2026..they deserve the best of you that you can give them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I find myself spending more and more time reflecting and thinking back on past events in my life. At first I attributed that to age, what I thought was a natural by-product of growing old. Hah, no\u2026.not the final \u201clife flashing before your eyes\u201d myth per se, but reflection on your successes and failures is, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n