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Today I sat at my new corporate job and thought, 'I'm one of the lucky ones'. This week marks my seventh week in position. I have a corner cube right next to the window. So far I've been flown to a 5-Star Resort in Paradise Valley, Arizona for a week long sales conference, I've shaken hands with every important acronym and attended a Baby Shower, Wedding Shower and an International Dish Day all sponsored for my department, by my department.
I've been treated to fancy bagels and kitschy items by hotels who want to see more business from our team.
I got a gift certificate for my 'amazing work' on creating a training manual for the position.
I even burned a bridge, and I liked it.
Here's what I haven't done yet. I haven't worked longer than 8 hours a day. I haven't felt like what I'm doing is a challenge. I constantly ask myself if this is really what they mean by WORK? This can't be that shit Dilbert complains about.
Hmph. I could've had a V8.
I'm comfortable being a good employee, but I'm more comfortable being a smart one. I'm grateful that I'm both and set up a meeting with boss. He's a Harvard grad, and he's black. I mention that he's black for two reasons. One, there's not a lot (read: hardly any, if any) black Harvard grads in the hospitality industry. He's unique and should be recognized as such. Two, having a black boss makes me feel more understood. And for me, feeling understood is key to being 100% candid.
I started out with, "I know I may sound like a bit of a Martian..." and made sure the ellipses were just as present in my tone as they are on this post. When he didn't react, I felt at ease and finished my thought: "but there's got to be MORE to it than this!!!" You better believe I made sure the exclamation marks were just as present in my tone as they are on this post. Unofficial expression is powerful.
I started on a passionate tangent about sacrifice and urgency. I was preachy and calculated. I was using buzzwords like 'change management' and 'economic times like these' more times than Nancy Grace says "Tot-Mom" in her syndicated show. It was well considered and well executed. My manager nodded his head in agreement, chimed in every once in a while but ultimately he sat back and just listened.
So I kept going.
I ranted about how the culture of our department could use a dose of my 'git-er-done' personality. I pledged to eat Wheaties EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING. I said I would do anything just to try and make a dent in the complicated legacy of this industry. And when I was done, I felt like I should scrape my hair back into a sloppy dancers knot and stick a ballpoint pen right through the middle of it just to indicate how ready I was. If that didn't work, atleast it would pre-occupy my hands from cusping my cheeks Home Alone style.
My manager, in his cool and calm Harvard voice, simply responded: "That's exactly why we hired you...now are you 'bout it or are you not?"
Perfect response. I fully plan on inserting some modern relevance into this job.
A few weeks ago there was some interesting dialogue on the 'net about what makes a job "cool". For me, cool is doing something that's been done to death and doing it differently.
Retail. Blogs. Love. And now hospitality.
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