Today I participated in an interesting exercise at work. It was called a Mentoring Circle. They asked three of us to be on the panel to talk about our work experiences and how we got to where we are.
I was the odd "man" out. The other two people on the panel were both much more senior than I am. I wondered about that, but the organizers told me when I got there today that they wanted leaders from all levels of the organization. So I guess I qualified. The other way that I was different from the other two is that I am new to my company. Both of my colleagues were "legacy" people - that is, staff from one of the many companies that my company acquired over the years. On the other hand, I didn't work for any of those companies - I'm not "legacy" anything.
Both of them were also what we call "in the line"; that is, they work directly for customers. On the other hand, I am "G&A" or overhead. One of the things that seems to be important for growth in our company is working directly for a customer. It's important to perform for a customer. It helps prove your worth to the company, which gives you a leg up for promotions. Something for me to think about in the future.
Finally, both of them have well-defined jobs and roles. I do not and never really have. In fact, I've had essentially the same job since I started at the company - at least officially. But my job has been more all over the map.
So I felt a bit like the children's game "Which of these is not like the other?".
And yet we had some things in common. Being open to new experiences. Being willing to take risks in our work. Being good performers.
After the end of the session, one of the participants came up to me and thanked me for coming from a different place. She too is relatively new to the company. Her role is nebulous. And it was good for her to know that there were others like her.
Maybe I'm not "like the others", but maybe that's okay.
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