With Years Comes Wisdom
Twenty-five years is a long time. If you've lived and / or adulted that long, then you know that adding years to your life is about more than getting older. It is about learning new things and growing as a person.
Recently, I learned about someone's fifth year work anniversary. The discussion about the five year tenure was quite pleasant. There was a bit of a sparkle in the person's eyes. Honestly, I couldn't tell if the eye glow was about being proud to have been invited to remain with the same employer year after year or if it was an expression of surprise that they stuck it out that long.
Year One: You have to prove yourself
When I was the new kid on the block, I paid very close attention to what was going on around the office. When ever I'd try or suggest something new, I'd see a few eye rolls and side eyes. To add to my painful awareness that there was chatter going on without me, we had glass office dividers. I could actually see when everyone else was in a meeting that I wasn't invited to. I'd always wonder what was being decided without me.
Everyone was 20 - 30 years my senior. Though everyone else literally had children my age, we eventually all got comfortable with each other. We got to know each other and I learned that I was getting compliments (mostly) and they were working together to give me more responsibility. At the end of Year One, I was offered a full-time position. Since I had been hired only temporarily, this was truly a special moment for me.
How did I earn the "trust" of my seniors? I was not a perfect employee. However, there were a few things that I can remember doing as a new staff member. Here's some wisdom for Year One.
- Arrive to work on time and don't long breaks
- When you finish one project, volunteer for another.
- Be open to a flex schedule and work during special projects or events
- Embrace technology and share your skills with those who need a techie mentor
- Share suggestions that could potentially benefit the company
Year Five: share your knowledge
This sounds counter intuitive. It is true that you could potentially prove much more valuable if you know some stuff that other's do not. However, if you have to be away unexpectedly, not sharing what's in your head could be potentially damaging to your department or your employer as a whole. A few things you should share with co-workers:
- Tips for working more efficiently
- Best practices that you've learned on the job or during training
- Resources that can be used to do work-related research
- An overview of your weekly routines or apartments
- Opportunities to network with other people in your field
Don't be afraid to cross train others. If you're as good as you think you are, you're probably already in line for a promotion or a prime candidate for a bigger and better job somewhere else. Give your co-workers the opportunity to learn from you. They'll appreciate it and you'll feel pretty good about yourself.
Year Ten: step out of your comfort zone
After more than ten years of doing mostly the same thing, I moved into a new position. It was a very steep learning curve. Before I began, I assumed that the new job would be a cakewalk. I would be working with the same people. I would be picking up projects that I was already involved in. I knew all of the important players in the game.
However, I learned quite quickly that I was very wrong. I had been in my comfort zone for a while. Part of that zone included observing what others were doing. Unfortunately, observing people in passing and during staff meetings doesn't quite help you get to know them or understand their responsibilities.
I learned a bit about my boss, my co-workers and myself during this transition:
- Always use the magic words -- "Please and Thank You"
- Lunch meetings are about more than just what's on the menu
- Learning to do something new can be both difficult and intimidating
- People are often uncomfortable with change -- both anticipated and planned
- Understanding individuals makes it easier to work with them
Year Fifteen: reinvent yourself
I distinctly remember having a conversation with a co-worker about job longevity. She implied that I was going to be employed at the same place for a very long time. I remember saying "I don't plan to work here forever." And she looked at me with genuine surprise and said "Oh."
Well, fifteen years later and I was still hanging around. I absolutely loved my job. However, I was starting to question whether or not it was time to pack it up and move on. I had been doing a lot of the same thing for so long that I knew what I needed to do every single month of year. If someone asked me in January to put something on my calendar for September, I could pretty much say (without looking at my calendar) whether or not I'd be available.
Routines are great, but I was beginning to think that I couldn't do anything else. So, I made a few adjustments to my attitude that helped me to stop looking for the door.
- Try to learn something new at least once a quarter
- Challenge yourself to learn more advanced strategies
- Identify someone outside of your job that you can bounce around ideas with
- Request to be assigned to a new project that excites you
- Take a new employee under your wing -- you may learn something
Year Twenty: the rules of engagement change
The first time that I sat through a meeting where a "new" initiative was being rolled out I must have rolled me eyes really hard. The presenter stopped mid-sentence. Looked around the room and asked people to self-identify based on the number of years in the field. She instructed us to raise our hands if we had been around five years, then ten, then fifteen, then twenty, then twenty-five plus years. When she got to fifteen years, her body language showed us that the entire conversation was about to change.
She said how many of you were around for "XYZ 123" initiative circa the early nineties. All of us more seasoned folks raised our hands. We looked around the room and made eye contact. Then we all turned our eyes on her. At that point, she went on to share a little history about the trends she'd made it through. Then compared trend "XYZ 123" to the new initiative or trend "XYZ 456."
After twenty years of working in the same field or for the same employer, it is important to avoid cynicism. When a "new" looks like "now", Ignore the urge to make superficial changes that keep you in compliance and barely mask that you aren't doing what you've been instructed to.
- Be open-minded about the revitalization of an older trend or initiative
- Remember that even old ideas return with changes and ideally improvements
- Your customers may be okay with having access to the latest and greatest
- You remember the mistakes that you made in the past
- Second times the charm -- use your experience to make great stuff happen
Year Twenty-Five : TBD
I haven't made it to twenty-five years just yet. When I get there, I won't be anywhere near retirement age. Hopefully, I'll find myself in a position that I love and I'll be doing things that I enjoy. Until then, I'll spend my time continuing to learn new things and prepping to train my replacement.
I recently celebrated over twenty years of employment with the same company. I have met many people in the community; spent countless hours at the office in front of a computer and with my co-workers; and continued to learn new things. Cheers to more years!