The Meeting
To a limited extent I set my own hours at work. So when a bout of insomnia puts the kybosh on my 9-5 day switching to an 11-3 day isn’t a big deal when my only commitment is a meeting at 2pm. However recently that was not the case.
As I sat down on the bus I heard a rip. Sure enough it was my pants. A small tear on a seam, hardly noticeable if you’re sitting down I figured some strategic holding of a clipboard would get me through the abbreviated day.
I arrived at work early thinking if my meeting ends early I could justify sneaking away early. Within seconds of replying to my first e-mail the phone rings. It’s my boss. That presentation I’ve been waiting to give the CEO since February is a go for today after the meeting. I was supposed to have at least a day’s warning to prepare but whatever, I come from Ops so curve balls are common place.
I go searching for a needle and thread. My pants are green, the closest colour thread on-hand is gray. A little creative repair work and the pants look good as new, well enough to last out the day at least. Then I prepare for my presentation.
The CEO agrees with my top picks and helps come up with a creative and less expensive method to make it happen. It’s not in the bag yet, some work still needs to be done before I get the final okay but his instincts and wishes are completely in line with mine. In fact he went searching 4 years ago for something just like what I presented but didn’t have as much luck.
To give you an idea how awesome our CEO is he said to me early on in the presentation “just show me the options you believe in, I don’t want to waste your time and I’m not going to go with something over your objections“.
If all goes well (and with the CEO in your corner how could it not?), not only will I have circumvented a bad unpopular decision but I also would have secured what even the CEO calls “perfect ops equipment“.
I’m not saying they’ll throw a parade but to many I think I’ll be a hero. And all this on 3 hours sleep with barely any warning and ripped pants. Not to oversell myself but I honestly believe this will prove to everyone that not only can I do this job well but I can improve things for my old comrades in arms in Operations proving that improving conditions for the team is still and always has been my central goal.
If I can’t make things better, make a difference, for someone else then I have no business in the job. Thankfully I think I do the picture on my desk proud.
(Some housekeeping issues: The queue has been purged and I was poised to return to blogging in real time again…but I got sick so posts are running a couple days behind again. Also due to some complaints received during the playoffs I will not be blogging about hockey until further notice.)
