New year, new career.
It's been one week...since I dove into the new job. It's been almost six years since I felt that sense of anxiety - the need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I remember when I started at TU that I missed the comfort of my previous institution, the knowledge of the players, systems, structures, and knowing what was expected of me and how to contribute. That came within the first six months or so at TU but it definitely took a minute. The saving grace at TU was that while the institution and the players, systems, and structures were different, the work was somewhat the same.
Enter the new job. I left behind a career in higher education to embark on a new one in health care. I'm an Org Development Consultant within HR for a local health care system that is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and a team that turns three this year. Our work is simple (more or less): focus on driving culture and building and sustaining organizational development for a system that includes 5 hospitals and almost 10,000 employees. My specific role on the team focuses on employee recognition and engagement, building curriculum and delivering trainings and workshops for employees, and supporting leadership development for managers.
In my first week I visited three of our partner hospitals, learned about our recognition app, met with key players, settled into "cube-life," and sought to soak up as much knowledge as possible. Most days were overwhelming. Like drinking from a fire hose. Trying to process everything. Phew! At the end of the week, I told my team lead the highlight of my week was the feeling of affirmation that this was the right, next step for me. I may not have a clue what I'm doing (yet), but I'm confident this role is one I can thrive in. I miss the comfort of TU. I miss my amazing team. I miss feeling competent and confident, and I miss the environment. But I forgot what it felt like to be stretched. And gosh, I needed that. Badly.
So here's to a new adventure. I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel in the next 30-60-90-and-180 days. Rome wasn't built in a day and I know I won't feel fully comfortable in the role for months to come. But week two kicks off tomorrow and I already feel infinitely better than I did starting week one. Progress. Let's do this.
Enter the new job. I left behind a career in higher education to embark on a new one in health care. I'm an Org Development Consultant within HR for a local health care system that is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and a team that turns three this year. Our work is simple (more or less): focus on driving culture and building and sustaining organizational development for a system that includes 5 hospitals and almost 10,000 employees. My specific role on the team focuses on employee recognition and engagement, building curriculum and delivering trainings and workshops for employees, and supporting leadership development for managers.
In my first week I visited three of our partner hospitals, learned about our recognition app, met with key players, settled into "cube-life," and sought to soak up as much knowledge as possible. Most days were overwhelming. Like drinking from a fire hose. Trying to process everything. Phew! At the end of the week, I told my team lead the highlight of my week was the feeling of affirmation that this was the right, next step for me. I may not have a clue what I'm doing (yet), but I'm confident this role is one I can thrive in. I miss the comfort of TU. I miss my amazing team. I miss feeling competent and confident, and I miss the environment. But I forgot what it felt like to be stretched. And gosh, I needed that. Badly.
So here's to a new adventure. I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel in the next 30-60-90-and-180 days. Rome wasn't built in a day and I know I won't feel fully comfortable in the role for months to come. But week two kicks off tomorrow and I already feel infinitely better than I did starting week one. Progress. Let's do this.
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