Turning Corners

As I write this post, I am turning another corner in my career life. For the first time, ever, I have been asked to resign from my position. This is a first for me and I am in the midst of navigating uncharted territory. Not to say that I am some kind of perfectionist, it is just that I have been fortunate enough to be proactive and be the "dumper" not the "dumpee." Now for the first time, I am in a transition that I didn't plan for. What a rollercoaster! My emotions have ranged from despair to lividity. I have been concerned and worried about my direct reports and pissed off that they didn't protest and walk off the job in support of me when they found out.

The last time I felt cast adrift like this was in 1994. I had just found out I was about to be a Dad. I went to work to share the news and was informed by everyone there that the company had gone into receivership and I was out of a job. At that time, I was still pursuing my theatre career and I was working part time at an Art Supplies store. It was then that I decided to shift the focus of my career from the arts to business. You can take the boy off the stage, but you can take the stage out of the boy. I was lucky that this shift happened at about the same time that the Internet was starting to take a serious hold in my home city. I took a couple of courses and stepped into Business Life.

What I soon discovered was that my Theatre training didn't leave me. If anything, I was using this experience in "the Business" to survive in business. I was applying my skills and talents for character analysis to learn more about my co-workers and superiors. I was using my creativity to help in brainstorming meetings. I was leveraging my comfort in front of an audience for presentations and I was constantly utilizing my skills of improvisation to handle unforeseen challenges with people, technology and even office furniture.

I am now embarking on an adventure in corporate training. I am going to be tackling a wide variety of topics related to Business Communications. The past 11 years in business has put me in every setting imaginable. I attribute this to the incredible pace that most people in the Internet related field have been allowed to grow. I have worked in private, public, and institution (post-secondary school) business. I began at the entry level (on a Help Desk) and worked my way into management and executive level positions.

Now I want to share the stories from the past 11 years and take you on a trip of an actor's life in business. Think of it as my pot of spaghetti and I am throwing it out there for anyone. Some of these stories will "stick" others won't. Some might inspire and others might make you laugh. Ultimately, I hope you will come away looking at your life in business a bit differently.

OB