Their Rubric, Your Destiny
For what feels like the 1,000th time in the past few years, I put on my “power” outfit and stepped into an interview room, ready to be judged by those sitting at the other end of the table. You see…I firmly believe that if you change nothing, nothing will change. So, I’ve spent my time and energy over the past few years putting myself “out there”, educating myself, improving myself, taking on new endeavors, in order to grow professionally. But, when the other people sitting across from you at an interview table are judging everything from your hair, to your philosophy on education, to your communication style, they don’t always get to see the changes you’ve made and the progress you’ve charted. In approximately 30 minutes, they decided whether I checked all the boxes on their rubric. And yet again, I came up short…in their eyes.
This whole process is utterly exhausting – growth and the pursuit of it. Writing and rewriting my resume, planning mock professional development, reading material supporting the potential job switch, and rehearsing my responses to hypothetical interview questions – this pursuit has left me blurry-eyed in front of my computer screen many days and nights. Sometimes I would find myself mulling over the best word to describe my leadership skills, only to return to my original wording hours later. Here’s the thing…at times I’ve tried so hard to complete their rubric and fit into their idea of a picture-perfect employee. What I’ve found…that as they judge, I have come to embrace my own quirks and imperfections. If I tracked my life based on their rubric I would be constantly grappling with my imperfections. So, I decided to flip my mindset - rewrite the rubric!
My husband’s new managing director asked him to sit down and write out two personal goals, two professional goals, and two financial goals…then he suggested that my hubby should come home and work through these goals with me. The fact that his boss is working with him and offered up the importance of working on these goals with his spouse – mind blowing! There are people out their who will, rather than demand you fit into their rubric – help you grow so that you become the best version of yourself. On a six-hour car ride home from vacation, my husband and I shared our goals. We are still working through the logistics, but the idea that growth is in his hands, in my hands - I feel like we get to rewrite the rubric and choose the destiny that best fits our family.
I may not have obtained the professional titles I’ve been seeking over the past few years or given the perfect “cookie-cutter” answers others were seeking at the interview table, but it doesn’t mean that the challenges they’ve presented me haven’t taught me anything.
Set goals, rewrite the rubric, evolve, and as the tide changes be open to the next wave of inspiration that is laying just beyond the curve in the shoreline. Professional growth isn’t the quintessential element of a satisfying life. Watch me…I’m going to dive through the breakers and head to open sea!