I was the Company Commander for my Army National Guard Company (~60 people) last weekend (when the bosses went off and played at a central party) and it got me thinking....
I never thought I would ever be in a position of authority like I am for both my civilian and military careers. I know that I when I was a kid? Never really crossed my mind. I never dreamed or imagined that anything more than a few people would ever consider me to be their boss (maybe a small programming or engineering team). It.... never... even... occurred to me.....
But I look at where I am now, being an Executive Officer for my Army Company and a soon to be GS-14 for my government job (where I manage a 24x7x365 shop with 30+ people with a budget in excess of $6-7 million) and I had that moment, like from the song "How did I get here?"
Obviously on some level I must have searched it out. Particularily on the military side where I spent 2.5 years working to to get my commission. I know that some of it comes from a strong sense of duty, where I look around and ask myself, if I don't step up, who will (or worse, that someone who is less qualified than me steps up and doesn't do as good of a job as me). And while I have taken very little in the way of management courses I think I can see where others made mistakes (and successes) and what I do not (and do) want to do when I am placed in situations where I must lead.
I just think that it is funny that for someone with very little ambition when I was little ended with so much, and in the future I will probably have more.
1 comment:
I never really thought about what I would be when I grew up - I had a few wishes (flight attendant, Rockette, child psychologist) but I never really thought any would work out. I definitely never pictured myself in the life I have now.
It sounds like you're doing really well for yourself. Congratulations!
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