Hello there, stranger. Welcome, welcome...
Real name is Sheena.
Foodie, caffeine-dependent, and has a tendency to write run-on sentences. 😂
Loves to read, write, and play the guitar.
Cheers to you and I hope you learn a thing or two from my rambled rants and endless wordplay.
Enjoy reading!
Earlier this year, I met a few close friends of mine who used to also be my colleagues when I was still starting out in my training profession. It was one of the most wonderful and productive conversations I've had in a while because getting surrounded by people who have the same passion for training as me was scarce in the corporate jungle I navigated back then.
While exchanging updates about work and our personal lives, one of the two asked me what my real goal was. I gave him a puzzled look. The question seemed trivial, but I honestly could not form the words to answer such a simple question.
He hit me with rhetorical questions, "At your age right now, I believe your main goal is still to move up the corporate ladder, yes? Titles are still important to you, isn't it?"
I responded with a brief, "Yes", and our conversation hit its end and we shifted to another topic.
As I got home, I started to wonder if my YES answer still held true. I contemplated the direction of my career and if titles were still that important to me. Was that really all there was to it?
Was moving one step higher and getting a coveted title attached to my name my overall goal? I pondered on this over and over that night.
And then it dawned on me. It wasn't.
My genuine goal is to give my family a comfortable life. I no longer want to live from paycheck to paycheck. I want to be financially capable of retiring early.
But I also want to give my family the best version of who I am. A life where I actually get to spend time with my kids and create core memories for them to treasure as they grow older. They need a mom who is actually present; someone who can play dance mode, play kitchen toys, and sing along to Taylor Swift songs like a choir with them to their hearts' content. So, spending 12-14 hours on the job, killing myself to chase a title I cannot take to my grave doesn't seem to align with anything.
Right there and then, I realized, what will my titles mean if they don't take care of what my true goals are?
That month of self-reflection gave me weeks of sleepless nights and a ton of caffeine intake.
But it was also that pivotal moment that was the catalyst for me to change my direction. No one else will do it for me. I should be the one taking charge.
And so, I did. After a long and painstakingly nerve-racking time, I finally took the leap.
For the last couple of months, I’ve had one on one sessions with the boss of my boss which was their idea of mentoring me into my new role in our organization.
In the most recent meeting we had, my mentor and I were in the last five minutes of our discussion and with the lack of anything else to cover, we ended up doing small talk about things that kept us interested outside of the corporate jungle.
From our common interests on Marvel movies, to binging to multiple fantasy and medical-drama series, my mentor still hits home on the leadership wagon as he shared to me this television series called: Ted Lasso.
While he was describing it to me, I did a quick google search and was a little adamant on whether I was going to like a series about football. But my mentor piqued my interest when he said, “This is going to be highly relatable for you especially since you’re new to your position.” It took a little more convincing on my end, so I watched a few clips on youtube and then finally I decided to binge watch the show.
And my god, it was worth every single second.
I’d love to narrate about the beauty of the cast and the redemption stories of every single character in there, but honestly, the largest influence this tv series had on me was its ability to produce insights on the leadership of a flawed man.
Ted Lasso as a character is a natural optimist that was built to have multiple undertones in his personality. And yet, you can’t stop routing for him personally and professionally because he’s no glorified manager. His imperfections make him real and relatable. He has personal demons he had to get over with on his own pace. He was a fish out of water, he was far away from home… but he was brilliant in bringing out the best in the people he worked with and worked for,
My key takeaways after binging over Ted Lasso:
1. Sometimes leading people to become the best version of themselves only takes your guidance. The rest of the work is entirely dependent on them. You can pave the way, but until they’re ready, there’s nothing else you can do but wait.
2.Managing your team to greatness sometimes requires getting them uncomfortable. Some decisions you make may puzzle/ confuse your team but it’s the end result they will be thankful for. So don’t 2nd guess.
3. Acknowledge that even when you’re the leader of the pack, you’re still human. You’re allowed to feel overwhelmed; you’re allowed to not be your 100% at times, you can have a bad day. And more importantly, you’re allowed to commit mistakes. It’s how you bounce back from those that makes you grow in your role.
4. Lastly, don’t be afraid with messing with hope. Believe that continuously hoping things will get better is exactly what will make you reach that best version of yourself. As Ted says, “If it ain’t great, it ain’t the end yet.”
Overall, it was a television series worthy of a weekend binge. Go ahead and watch it!
I sit in this little space in the office, hoping for a tinge of life in my gray-colored routine. It has been the same for the last two years, office work- domestic work- a wink of sleep--- and I wake up, cursing the world around me and I get ready for work again.
Life. Motherhood. And just the full load of in betweens.
I love my kids. They are worth every tear, life-threatening pregnancy, and lost hours of sleep. But once in a while, a little part of me just wants that extra hour of sleep, that extra 5 minutes to bathe, and that impossible day all to myself.
So many wishes but no time to be weak... Hold on tighter, there's more to come.
