Things I Have Learned...

...Since I was promoted.

• Tele-conferences are boring. The only way to add spice to a dry meeting talking about banking products is a goofball supervisor who likes to play with the toys in your own manager's office.
• Letting go of old job responsibilities is difficult. Now that Steve (my team lead) is back from leave and feeling better, maybe I should stop doing his job for him. He'd probably look less bored.
• My email Inbox will never be empty again.
• The To Do list never gets smaller.
• New people will get there and it takes infinite patience. Our team will struggle every time we get new people.
• Employees will tell graphic details of their illnesses to their supervisor. No, I don't need to know the details about the intestinal blockage. Telling me that you are sick will do.
• My desk will never be clean again.
• Budgets do not stretch as far as one would think.
• Since cloning is not a possibility, I will feel like I'm being pulled in 20 directions at once at all times.
• High expectations do not stop at the banker level.
• Respect is mutual. Give it and you will get it back, eventually.
• It feels good to be missed by an old team.
• People do appreciate it when you believe in them.
• It is not worth worrying about a team lead being 5 minutes late every day. He will learn that I do notice when he walks in the door.
• Everything I ever say is remembered. Being true to my word is more important and admitting error goes much farther than changing tune.
• People, as much as they say they do not like micro-management, love attention. Positive attention goes a long way.
• No matter what my opinion of a person is, it is always better to have the person believe that I believe in them.
• Employees inherently want to please.
• Getting up early is hard and can drain a person quite quickly.
• Prevention and preparation goes much farther than dealing with a problem only after it happens.

The past month and a half has flown by very quickly. My new team, the bankers that started from scratch, are starting to perform marvelously and it is starting to feel more like fun than like work. My team lead has returned to work (and worked more than a week now!) and having that extra person really helps. I can delegate a bit better (I'm working on this) and doing his job for him did put a strain on me. Sleeping odd hours each night and eating irregularly did not help me kick this cold as quickly as I should have, but I see a more consistent sleeping, eating, and socializing schedule arriving soon.

Starting next week, I have more new bankers and our team will probably take a dip in performance again, but that is okay. I have proven to myself that it can be done, we can be a great team. My confidence is high and I've learned little lessons along the way.

My blogging has decreased quite a bit over the last month. I have not been commenting or reading as much as I'd like and my daily posting has fallen away. This is something that bothers me, if no one else. I write here because I want to get things out and I've been holding feelings in because I don't have the time or when I do have the time, I don't have the energy. Once my schedule returns to normal, my blogging habits should resume.

There's a million posts in my head. Half written posts line my notebook and stories are waiting to be told. They will come. If for no one else but me.