A new adventure is closer than you think

Corporate Life

Well it seems that one should listen to one's own advice. It was only a couple of posts ago, where I said that it was important to "keep moving" in order to survive in the corporate jungle. But it's easy to become complacent in what we do everyday - while the tasks at hand may be difficult, they are known entities. You already know what you need to do; it's just muscle-memory to get the job done. But it's not just doing the job, is it?

Ok, I've known for months that I was just going through the motions. Don't get me wrong - I was more than just getting the job done - but nothing was new, and aside from a rewarding working relationship with a few key people, friends really, I wasn't interested in continuing with what I was doing. Sure, I was fielding offers from head hunters, some for substantial amounts more than I was currently making, but they were all roles similar to what I was already doing. i.e. Schlepping someone else's widget to the same customers who care more about improving their CV qualifications than solving real business problems.

Enter the intra-web. Internal job postings... why not have a look? I typed in "virtual office" as the location, and got a single hit - Business Development. Huh. As I read the job description, I started thinking, "this is me!". A quick email to a friend, and bingo - the hiring manager has my résumé and an endorsement from another confidant (recommendation: constantly keep in touch with your personal network, and ensure they are up-to-date with your status). Three short weeks later, and I'm the new Business Development Manager for North America.

Sure, it took me a while to divorce myself from the past position - in my new role I'll never be completely removed from the local activities - but every day is a new adventure. I'm working 100% at home now, so that's a bit of an adjustment, as are the early morning concall and video meetings. But what I've given up w.r.t. local personal interaction, I'm more than making up with working with high-calibre marketing, channel and other business unit individuals. As a field sales individual (for the last 22 years), its easy to forget that there's a nexus of smart people somewhere that makes shit happen.

What's the moral of this post? I'm not really sure there is one. Perhaps its that there comes defining moments in everyone's careers - turning points where you realize and take advantage of new opportunities that change your life. I've had four of these - the first came when I left Big Blue to work for a relatively small Silicon Valley telecom firm. The second, when I joined Sun Microsystems, and became part of what I considered a religious corporate culture... at times, it truly felt like you were engaged in a holy war. My third epiphany was when I took my package, and embarked on my new "individual" journey. Now, this feels like a whole new chapter in my career - one in which I look forward to each day's adventure.