LESSONS MY BOSS UNWILLINGLY TAUGHT ME.
A month ago I came back from vacations and started a new job. It was an instant offer from a person that hired me to do some writing for his business. He says he liked my vibe and thought that we could work together.
I must admit I did not feel the same about his vibe from the very moment we started talking. I needed the job, and so I took it.
My boss is a goal setter and go-getter; I just think he forgets about the other important aspects of life from time to time… like other human beings.
It’s sometimes said around the office that the business makes us cruel. Don’t get me wrong, the film industry can be rough; but I think it’s people’s interpretation of their circumstances that makes it better or worse for each individual.
I also believe this is true for any type of job.
These are the lessons that have made it all worth it so far.
Compassion: I’ve always dealt with my ego and my pride. I was known to be hurtful with my words and thoughtless when it came to giving people my opinion.
I am seeing first hand the way I affected people, and it’s a painful mirror.
Venting about my boss took me nowhere at first, and then I realized the reason. I was forgetting compassion.
I forgot about my inner child and how she was the one I was always protecting behind the Resting B*tch Face. (I still have that one, but I think it’s because that’s my face’s auto mode now.) So maybe my boss and I are more alike than I thought at first.
Today I choose to be compassionate with the people in my life, because I don’t know their stories and might never learn them.
Self-love: It took me a while to get to the point at which I started loving myself. For a long time everything was an instrument of self-harm, alcohol, food, exercise. It all came down to not loving or accepting myself enough.
So I guess it was a shock to be told on my first week, “We only have to fix your boobs, your waist, your thighs and your cheeks; your face is pretty tho.”
Living in a world that’s obsessed with instagram, followers and likes, can get tricky. We sometimes confuse self-esteem with vanity and vice-versa.
Self-love comes hand in hand with self-acceptance, and self-acceptance allows us to rid ourselves from judgment of others.
When I face similar situations I’m reminded we all have our battles and struggles, that I don’t owe myself to anyone and that my main mission is to take care of me.
Confession: I take the occasional selfie and freak out when there’s a pimple the size of a volcano on my face.
The glorification of busy: This is a very fast paced business, but it’s also very unpredictable. We work full weeks of 18 hours a day or have nothing to do, just waiting on some material to come from an editor. We try to keep busy and achieve as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.
There’s just something that irks me the wrong way when I start getting texts and emails from the office… 2 hours before I’m supposed to come in.
My lesson on busyness it’s clarity of speech.
When we don’t express the need to have our schedules respected or our free time honored, we risk burning out. It is hard telling the owner of a company that you need a nap at 2 pm everyday (it happens when you come from being a freelancer, back to a traditional job,) but if you are able to explain, compromise and negotiate, he/she will understand how it affects productivity.
Things I do: I make sure I sneak away at least 15 minutes every afternoon, and I turn off my phone before I go to bed until it’s time to start my commute to the office in the morning.
Treat your employees like family: This is a mixed lesson from my boss and my mother. And what I’ve learned from the very opposite ways they treat the people that work with them is simple, and it can be summarize on a phrase that has gained some popularity.
“People quit their boss, not their job.”
Employees are the vertebras of every company. Getting to know the needs and dreams of the people around you can and will make an impact on your final results.
I am sure there are a lot more lessons, but I still have some time to go before I discover them all. In the mean while, I’ll hold on to the idea that everything we do in life is a decision, especially the person we become.
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