"Strategy"

One thing I noticed at work lately is that the word "strategy" is a little bit overused. What is the strategy for that? Can we talk about the XYZ strategy?  How do you envision the strategy of ABC? Either the word is used very loosely, or I've been more involved in big picture things. Hoping it's the latter.

Lenten Sacrifice

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40-day lenten season for us Catholics. We typically need to give up something that we love doing as a sacrifice during this season. Last year, I gave up red meat - I know, you vegetarians and pescatorians out there may just roll your eyes. This year, I thought really hard... I wanted this sacrifice to not just be doable, but also tough enough to be called a "sacrifice."

So this year, for 40 days and 40 nights, no beer and chocolate for me.

So what are you going to give up for lent?

Valentines Day Material Things

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. How have you showed your love/friendship to others? How have people shown love to you? I think I got a little spoiled this year...materially.

 

Flowers at work! :)

 

Surprise dinner at Le Cirque

 

 A weekend in Quebec City

Don't get me wrong. I prefer more meaningful experiences, but hey, I won't say no to any of these. Are you doing anything romantic this weekend? Pray tell. Happy Valentines Day!

Managing 101

In my role at work, I am given the opportunity to "manage" people. I manage our relationship with ad agencies, I manage an internal team, I manage up and I have someone directly reporting under me. Everyday brings different challenges so I try to balance the way I handle different people.

But, today was a little different. For the first time in my career, my direct report cried to me. It was during our status meeting. To clarify, I didn't make her cry. After going through the list of items in our agenda, she asked me if we can discuss her work situation (she reports to me and another person). She started becoming teary-eyed out of frustration because her other boss makes her send out UPS boxes. She's obviously very smart and driven. She didn't say it out loud, but I think she hated the fact that she has to do something as mundane and uneventful as packing and shipping.

I would hate it too. I didn't want to bring out the "when I was your age" card, but I've been through that crap in the past as well. I counted stupid sweepstakes entrees to the thousands, I had to Fedex/UPS hundreds of documents to clients, packed goody bags and do other things that do not require a brain. I thought at that time, how dare them undermine my knowledge and education by making me do these stupid things?

Obviously, there is something to learn about these experiences. It taught me humility and patience.

When you're young, you look at the world in rose-tinted glasses. When you're young and in-love with and in New York, you look at life with rose-tinted glasses while laying in a bed of roses. (Not exactly "cool" and "New York" when you're doing mailroom stuff.)

I listened intently and let her finish as her frustration turned into tears. I told her we all go through what she's going through, including me. We need to work through some stupid stuff to get to the meatier stuff. I told her she can look at this from a different angle. What can you learn and take out of this experience? Then, I gave her some water to calm herself down, paused... and then, I asked her how her boyfriend is doing - and she started smiling.

Our meeting ended on a good light. She's 21 and life outside of the four walls of school is just starting to hit.  But, I do hope that I taught her a little something today, while bringing her back to wear her rose-tinted glasses. I hope I become the kind of boss I myself would like to work with. Life goes on.

Social Media Week

I just wanted to share that this week is pretty exciting for people who have the same job as me. Why? Because it's Social Media Week!

But, on another note, I am unable to partake in all of the fun because of the other work that I have to do back in my cube. Totally not complaining. It's good to be busy, especially nowadays. There's food to eat and bills to pay. Has unemployment in NYC really hit 10.4%?

That's a Non sequitur, right there.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

I totally believe that statement. I see it in all levels of relationships. Does that mean we should escape familiarity to avoid drama?