noun
1.a person who has control or direction of an institution, business, etc., or of a part, division, or phaseof it.
3.a person who controls and manipulates resources and expenditures, as of a household.
I’ve been struggling a little at work the past two
weeks. I’ve got a new client, and for
the most part, I’m learning to love my job again. I’m more engaged and organized than I have
been in a long time. That said, the past
few weeks a number of smaller internal jams that have just been irritating,
like a splinter under my skin.
My initial reaction to all of these separate incidents was
anger, and annoyance, and resentment when ultimately the “blame” or maybe more
accurately the final responsibility, always ended square in my lap, even when I
had placed my trust in my coworkers to do their jobs without me hounding them,
or hanging on their shoulder.
I’ve been fuming, and really jacked that even when other
people fail to complete their tasks, I am being held accountable and they are
not. I was feeling like I shouldn’t have
to be chasing down my own people. It’s
one thing to have to herd clients, in my mind, that’s my primary duty. Herd (read: guide) clients through the
process. What I have since realized in
what can only be described as a major moment of clarity, is that my job title
is “Account Manager”. My focus has
always primarily been on the “account” portion of that title. I’ve never given a single thought to the “manager”
portion. But now, here, in this moment,
I realized….if I am MANAGING the account, then my job really is herding my own people. My job, as manager of what happens on this
account, is to MANAGE all the people that touch it. Internal AND external.
So: what does this mean in terms of my life? Well, obviously, Rome wasn’t built in a
day. But something fundamental in my
outlook has changed. I’ve always been a
team player…a don’t rock the boat, toe the company line kinda girl. When I look around at the people that I
consider being truly good at what they do here…they might not be everyone’s
favorite coworker. But that is because
they chase down their stuff. They MANAGE
their projects, and the people that touch them.
I’m making a checklist.
I currently have a project related checklist…things like estimate the
costs. Update budgets. Submit forms on such-and-such date. My new checklist is full of the things I
never thought were “my job”. Follow up
on requests that are taking longer than usual.
Ask to see contents being packed in a box before it gets shipped. And if that makes me a little less beloved,
well….sorry. I’m tired of having my butt
on the hot seat.
