(Disclaimer: This blog is slowly becoming a love letter to Lever. I am not ashamed.)
Vancouver was a trip and a half. My inner “red” came out, and I learned that traveling with six very different people is incredibly trying and unpredictable.
I came into the office yesterday breathing a tremendous sigh of relief. I was still catching up on sleep and not exactly in a “IT’S 2016, GUYS, LET’S GO” mood. But I was still happy to be back in my element and routine (well, as much of a routine as you can have while working support).
Today, I was a bit more on my game. We were kicking off 2016, and everyone was in high spirits, decked out in #grayongray and black.
(Photo: Jen Kim)
We covered the usual in our kickoff: highlights of Q4 2015, big sales deals. But the bigger story was how Lever got to 2015 and what 2016 means for us.
Aside from continuing to double in size (headcount, customers, bookings, everything!), this is the year we show our prospects why we’re the best solution on the market and validate customers who’ve taken a leap of faith on us. This is the year we make big shit happen and stop giving people any reason to doubt us.
As we neared the close, our CEO Sarah threw it back to last August’s retreat. I’d almost forgotten that we gave awards at the end of that week. It was only my second week at Lever, and I still barely knew any of the winners. I knew that Zeus was the guy who poured his heart out on the first night about doing everything in his power to level everyone up -- he had won the Panda Spirit Award. I knew Réal from my onboarding class. He had started a few weeks before I did, but already acted like a pro -- he was a shoo-in for the Veteran Award, given to new Leveroos who fit right in.
Apparently, we had decided to institutionalize these awards and make them a bi-annual tradition.
Well, lo and behold, I won the Panda Spirit Award!
The Panda Spirit Award is for someone who embodies the Leveroo, well, spirit -- someone who’s cross-functional and walks across the aisle.
When I got up there, though, Sarah had more specific praise for me...most of which I honestly don’t remember. (I think I blacked out from embarrassment. What am I supposed to do with my face as you tell me how awesome I am?!)
But I will say that being recognized for representing our customers, elevating the product ops team, and having a strong Slack GIF game says a lot about what we value at Lever.
My best friend congratulated me, telling me that my long hours had paid off -- but he had it all wrong.
The way I see it, we’ve chosen to appreciate the traits people exemplify, as they work to make Lever a high-quality product and the experience of working at Lever a cohesive one.
I like to think that today, I was recognized for being me.
And holy crap, that is one powerful gift.
Thank YOU, Lever and Leveroos. You see me. You get me. Very few of you know what I’m like outside of work, but that doesn’t seem to matter. You still think I deserve this award. You still support me because you speak my language.
Every Meeting Monday, we pass on the panda as an expression of kudos. This week, I received my first panda, and it was from the sales team, no less! I was really surprised because I'd always expected my first panda to come from someone I worked closer with.
I was thanked for helping Polish Party run smoothly. Polish Party is our quarterly one- to two-week break to pause on major feature development and focus on the little things that bother our customers and therefore the product team. It's an endeavor primarily for engineering and product, but we share updates company wide. I wasn't sure how much other people really cared, other than showing support in Slack after each Polish Party release -- until I got that panda.
The phrase "cross-functional empathy," or "XFE," is thrown about on the Lever floor often. But it’s more than a buzzword; it’s how we function and I’m so grateful for it. When you work several late nights in a week, it’s nice to think back on the panda-pat on the back.
This Thanksgiving, I’m very tired but my heart is full. Joining Lever has transformed my life satisfaction, and I’m thankful to have eventually found my way back to the hustle and grind.
