Missing Mama, boss stuff

When life is truly shared with another person it is difficult, or rather uncomfortable, to go through our days without that person. I am not speaking to the loss of a spouse in death; I cannot begin to relate to that, but rather just being without the one you want to be with. Such is the case when I have to do things without having Mama with me. The work I do not necessitates my travel, sometimes overnight, to take care of the offices I have responsibility for and as much as I thought when I was younger that I enjoyed being alone, I really do not.


As I was leaving the office in Decatur last night to check into a local hotel I thought about what I would do if Mama were with me; check out the town, drive to Costco or to the Outlet mall, eat a nice dinner and fuss about watching HGTV. What did I do? I filled the truck with gas, got some take out food, went to my room and was in bed by 8 p.m. I have to admit to being well rested which is really what I needed – just not what I wanted.

This boss stuff is a little overrated. As we went through our reviews yesterday I could see the need to better document the work actually done by my team so I can provide useful feedback, but I also saw that what I am doing is only slightly different and much easier than parenting – there is no potty training involved.

The one review that we were dreading actually went well. The person who received a bad review was not expecting to be congratulated for the work done last year. She had very honest expectations and the fact that I have already relieved her of the work that caused the bad review and put her on a completely different career path was a relief to her.

I believe her attitude – which I attribute to her faith in the Lord – had a profound affect on the person here who had been her supervisor this past year. In my opinion, when an employee receives a bad review it is a reflection on the person who should have been enabling their success; their supervisor. In this case, my employee is set to have a good year if I can give her the tools to prove her abilities and promote her success.

By God’s grace, I will have the insight to help all thirteen of the people I am responsible for to do very well this year.

By His grace, I will have the insights to help my children – my real children – succeed this year also. Time will tell on both counts.