First Day On The Job

November also brought about the beginning of my professional development in Europe. I started work at the end of October, but it wasn't till November that I really started to get a feel for my new company and what it was about. I'd be lying if I said that I came to London primarly for my job, but I did recognize that it would be a significant part of my life and I was hopeful that it would contribute positively to my experience and my career.

The first thing I noticed about my company was the difference in culture between this company and my last. My old company was a wireless service provider, a product company, if you will, whereas my new company is a consulting company. Our product is our people. And to be honest, I was REALLY impressed with the people when I joined. There was a sense of urgency in everyone and the widespread demonstration of self-motivation was something I hadn't experienced since my first job at Scient out of college. It was exhilarating at first, but then it got a bit intense. _Some_ people were a little too motivated if you know what I mean. Too strung out and too focused on their own job/career. It got scary for a second there, but after a few weeks, I realized that there was a pretty normal distribution of intensity in the people I worked with. I will say, though, that the average level of intelligence, motivation and intensity is much higher at my current company than i've seen in a while and that certainly appeals to my sense of growth, development and even a bit of competition. I think this will be a good place for me for a few years.

As I worked through some of my panic about the job during the early days, I came up with a few guidelines to keep things in line, and that I hope to keep them throughout my career. In truth, they are basic, but I think they are important. "Keep it simple", "Be yourself", "smile", "be proud of everything you do or say," and (thank you ghandi) "Be the change in the world you wish to see". I hope to keep a running list of simple but important lessons to help keep things on track.

As I reflected about work, I also discovered from where I have drawn my own motivation and skills, and I think it comes (not surprisingly) from my parents. As I was growing up, my mother worked at the Civil District Court in New Orleans. I don't know how or why she got that job, but our family needed the income and her job was very obviously a means to an end. I say that because I could see that she hated her job. She made the best of it, as she always does, and she had some great times, but more often than not, I saw her job bring frustration and sadness. It made me sad, and I swore that I would never have a job like that. In that, my mom has inspired me to pursue the things I love and enjoy and I am very thankful for that. I believe that you will excel most when you are doing the things you love. With my motivation coming from my mom, I would have to say that my delivery skills come from my dad. Being an engineer by trade, he was great with numbers (a skill he passed along to me), and had a strong appreciation for responsibility (probably too strong) and delivery. There is no question that his strong discipline and love for me has helped me to attain success I have had to date and I am thankful to him for that (despite all the hell I went through to get there).

Lastly, with regards to work, I re-entered the everlasting internal debate of technology vs. strategy. Do I look for technical roles where I can provide additional value with my analytical and people skills? Or do I look for project management, analyst or strategy roles where I can add value with my technical skills? I guess this is a good problem to have, but that doesn't make choosing easier. I have a feeling this will be an ongoing internal struggle throughout my career, but as long as I enjoy what I'm doing (and I enjoy both types of roles), I think I'll be fine (for those who are curious, I ended up with a technical role).