Thursday, January 23, 2014

Identity Crisis

I have spent the past three days locked in a room at GE trying to solve world hunger. Or, as we call it a Kaizen. 
It's really draining. You use all your brain power streamlining and creating for nine hours a day. 
There's a reason working in the "lean" function is not something I do. It's not that I can't be a big picture thinker or think outside of the box, but it gets really frustrating when people are trying to boil the ocean (buzz words). I don't think like that. I tackle one problem at a time. It just makes sense that way.
Today also made me think about expectations. When you participate in these events, the expectations are always high. The deliverables are expected to have the wow factor. I think that puts a lot of unnecessary pressure in people. 
To personalize this a little bit, I think I'm feeling a lot of pressure lately. I've been flying high lately. I feel pretty respected. I feel pretty in demand. I feel like I am on a pedestal. Which, maybe I put myself there and my high expectations if myself aren't even in the ballpark of what my senior leaders expect from me. In reality, I know my employees put a lot more pressure on themselves than I ever would on them. 
I'm doing well because I'm an expert. I know I can't be an expert at everything, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be. My fear is that I will look like a fraud or like I don't know what I'm talking about or that I will be less respected than I am now. 
I think everyone has a fear of disappointing someone or themselves. I think I'm afraid of both. I know I am not defined by my job. There's so much more to me. But it's one thing I'm really really good at. If I'm not the expert, who am I? 



No comments:

Post a Comment