Daily Good: Day 13
Before I was in my current department, I worked in another one a the same company. I work for a large company, and each department has its own subculture. The culture of the overall company where I work is built on tenants of servant leadership, and as a result, there is a lot of people willing to mentor others.
When I took the position I have now, the man across the hall from me told me he wanted to stay in touch. We had worked together on projects, and he was wise. He would often tell me what I did not want to hear; he was great at telling you where you failed in a way that didn’t make you feel like you were a loser. It was through those lessons from him I learned much.
Not sure why he decided to take me on as a mentee, but he did. When I left my old group, he sat me down and told me it was my responsibility to keep a monthly lunch on the calendar. The first time I had to cancel, he sent me a text (not an email) and said, I needed to reschedule. Honestly, I was nervous the first few times we went to lunch. He had won a prestigious award in our company and was very well thought of as being both talented and a little kookie. I rescheduled, and our friendship began. He has given me more tough feedback than anyone, and that is how I knew he was a real mentor.
My mentor turned friend is retiring from our company soon. We had our last lunch at work this week. And as I drove off from it, I thought about the feedback he gave me and what I had learned. There is good in each of his lessons. My favorite was when he told me “your yolk is your privilege” — meaning, that many others would love to have your job, so don’t waste what you’ve been given.
There is good everywhere, we only need to pause long enough to see it.
This is a social experiment I’m doing. Each day for 30 days (not necessarily consecutive), I’m going to find something good and write about it. These posts won’t be lengthy. The point is that if we look hard enough, there’s something we can see good in each day.
You can find the previous days here:
— Day 1 — The morning high five.
— Day 7 — The school receptionist.
— Day 8 — Funeral homes are weird.
— Day 9 — Five little blackbirds.
— Day 10 — Choosing to see the flowers.
