20 October 2009
10 October 2009
Stories Before Bedtime
As my brain adjusts to the fact I left my job today, my mind is free to roam, gathering distance as it moves away from the year behind me. I felt superb walking out of that door. All is well, even as this blog dies.
Now I'm about to crash for a bit before catching a train to NYC in the AM for a few days' retreat but I stumbled across this story, which hooked me and made me want to be sure to follow it. Yet I'm oddly grateful I can now turn to some short thing by Shirley Jackson to ensure it's not the last crazy story I read before closing my eyes.
Now I'm about to crash for a bit before catching a train to NYC in the AM for a few days' retreat but I stumbled across this story, which hooked me and made me want to be sure to follow it. Yet I'm oddly grateful I can now turn to some short thing by Shirley Jackson to ensure it's not the last crazy story I read before closing my eyes.
06 October 2009
A Dying Blog
You're looking at one now whether you know it or not. But for the few remaining visitors, I do feel a handful of bits and pieces will be coming in these final months before I launch a site I hope will generate a bit more traffic.
Not that any of you don't already know this but I am leaving my job this week and Pennsylvania at the end of the month. Things I've recently learned include never give more than two weeks' notice to any job regardless of the circumstances, especially if you have a boss who doesn't show up, literally and figuratively. I have never wanted to take a baseball bat to someone's physical being until now. But of course, I never would actually perform such an act. Imagining it isn't even satisfying.
Here I've been, running a global university recruiting program for the better part of a year on my own w/no support, no guidance, no insight...and for what? I've received a surprising amount of praise from the majority of those I've worked w/while inside I've felt that due to the dysfunction and toxicity surrounding me, I've never been able to actually show anyone what I can deliver. I've merely been trying to keep my head above water while constructing a mansion out of toothpicks, some of which are on fire.
It has been physically, emotionally and mentally taxing w/no end in sight to the stress these past 13 months. I knew within weeks of arrival that it was going to end as soon as my year-long commitment (thank you, non-negotiable, non-pro-rated relocation agreement) came to an end but I cannot say it was a mistake on my part. Even my ineffective boss admitted to me after I gave my resignation that the whole affair was a bait and switch, unconscious or not on their part. And yet the evidence is everywhere at this company that it's their M.O. Almost everyone I work w/has been given the ol' bait and switch and w/yet another reorganization on the horizon, I know from experience that the taps on the brain drain are about to hit full blast in the months to come.
At any other job I've left, there has been a decent transfer of knowledge as well as a proper transition to prepare everyone w/a fairly seamless experience. Not where I work. And not at a time when anyone who understands university recruiting would recognize that leaving at this point in time (i.e. right at the cusp of the full-time hiring cycle) will in some degree jeopardize the company's efforts.
As I now see the end less than 72 hours away, three weeks after resigning w/no leadership interested in maintaining or continuing all the work I have done, it leaves me even more convinced that there is nothing worse, nothing more poisonous, and nothing more emblematic of why our country's business sense is down the toilet than the fact that lazy, short-sighted, greedy tactics are now the rule of the day when it comes to management. Undoubtedly, there remain a few spots where progressive thought and true development of talent exist but they are few and far between.
I, for one, cannot predict what path I'll end up carving out for myself and I know there is no such thing as a perfect job, but I truly believe I am done w/corporate life for good. Low-paying education jobs w/boggling amounts of bureaucracy--here I come!
Not that any of you don't already know this but I am leaving my job this week and Pennsylvania at the end of the month. Things I've recently learned include never give more than two weeks' notice to any job regardless of the circumstances, especially if you have a boss who doesn't show up, literally and figuratively. I have never wanted to take a baseball bat to someone's physical being until now. But of course, I never would actually perform such an act. Imagining it isn't even satisfying.
Here I've been, running a global university recruiting program for the better part of a year on my own w/no support, no guidance, no insight...and for what? I've received a surprising amount of praise from the majority of those I've worked w/while inside I've felt that due to the dysfunction and toxicity surrounding me, I've never been able to actually show anyone what I can deliver. I've merely been trying to keep my head above water while constructing a mansion out of toothpicks, some of which are on fire.
It has been physically, emotionally and mentally taxing w/no end in sight to the stress these past 13 months. I knew within weeks of arrival that it was going to end as soon as my year-long commitment (thank you, non-negotiable, non-pro-rated relocation agreement) came to an end but I cannot say it was a mistake on my part. Even my ineffective boss admitted to me after I gave my resignation that the whole affair was a bait and switch, unconscious or not on their part. And yet the evidence is everywhere at this company that it's their M.O. Almost everyone I work w/has been given the ol' bait and switch and w/yet another reorganization on the horizon, I know from experience that the taps on the brain drain are about to hit full blast in the months to come.
At any other job I've left, there has been a decent transfer of knowledge as well as a proper transition to prepare everyone w/a fairly seamless experience. Not where I work. And not at a time when anyone who understands university recruiting would recognize that leaving at this point in time (i.e. right at the cusp of the full-time hiring cycle) will in some degree jeopardize the company's efforts.
As I now see the end less than 72 hours away, three weeks after resigning w/no leadership interested in maintaining or continuing all the work I have done, it leaves me even more convinced that there is nothing worse, nothing more poisonous, and nothing more emblematic of why our country's business sense is down the toilet than the fact that lazy, short-sighted, greedy tactics are now the rule of the day when it comes to management. Undoubtedly, there remain a few spots where progressive thought and true development of talent exist but they are few and far between.
I, for one, cannot predict what path I'll end up carving out for myself and I know there is no such thing as a perfect job, but I truly believe I am done w/corporate life for good. Low-paying education jobs w/boggling amounts of bureaucracy--here I come!
26 September 2009
Feeling Madonna
Two weeks have passed w/no new entry--tsk, tsk. What a shame. I will write more soon but I was cleaning the house this morning and suddenly found myself in a Madonna mood. She has another greatest hits collection coming out this week (boring) but she's also put together a fairly attractive collection of her videos over the past 25 or so years and I may have to pony up for it. This one, however, remains one my favorites.
15 September 2009
Perilous Times
'Liberals who want to ignore the populist anger do so at their political peril—the frustration at Washington overspending is real, a reflection of bailout backlash. People are frustrated because they are expected to pay their bills and balance their budgets, but both big business and big government seem arrogantly exempt.
But Republicans are playing a dangerous game. They are benefitting from all this anger in the short term, but they have tapped into something deep and ugly that they can’t control. Calling the president a communist or even Hitler is something far beyond simple incivility or street theater—it is an accusation that intentionally stirs the crazy pot. It is ultimately an incitement to violence.'
-- from a Daily Beast piece by John Avlon
14 September 2009
13 September 2009
Tonight's Fortune Cookie
More details to come in the weeks ahead but the little cookie from my meal tonight couldn't have been more prophetic: 'Time to break out of that corner, unstuck that rut.'
11 September 2009
Ain't It the Truth?
'Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.'
--Robert Louis Stevenson
--Robert Louis Stevenson
10 September 2009
07 September 2009
'I didn't evolve from you'
Woke up this morning to Patsy Cline, which ultimately reminded me of an old Jan Hooks/Willie Nelson skit from SNL back in the 80s. Sadly, that clip is not available online but I did find this gem.
06 September 2009
Un conte de Noël
It may seem odd to watch Arnaud Desplechin's film (A Christmas Tale) months before the season but I've been anxious to see it since I missed it last winter and I finally got around to it this afternoon. It's a messy movie in the best possible way as it focuses on a dying matriarch and her moody brood of children and grandchildren over the course of the holiday. Much like Desplechin's Kings and Queen, it's not necessarily how matters get resolved but what occurs during the conflict that keeps us engrossed.
05 September 2009
Adventureland
Greg Mottola's bittersweet trek down memory lane breaks away from the pack of films it most resembles on the surface w/top-notch performances across the board and a smart script. It's a keeper.
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