When you accept your gifts…………….
I’ve been in corporate America for about 30 years now and I can say for the first time in a long time I was pleasantly surprised. Covid 19 has wreaked havoc on our lives, personally, professionally, socially, financially and economically. There is no one that has not been touched by this invisible plague. Like many, I have had to have some difficult conversations in the last week about the structure and re-organization of our company. Furloughs, job eliminations, cuts in hours – all of it – difficult to deliver and digest. From these tough conversations however I have been reminded that the gifts we all have come to light at different times. The gifts we don’t feel are truly valued or appreciated because they don’t line up sometimes with the rules and regulations of corporate America.
I have always thought I would not move as far up the corporate ladder as some others because of being me. I fought being me for a long time thinking it best to emulate those I deemed successful or on the path I was searching for. Comparison is a horrible thing and truly the thief of joy. I am good at what I do and have the skill set and experience to do a great job but my personal self just didn’t look like the corporate leaders around me. Fighting it was exhausting and I finally realized I could only be me and lead the way I knew how and the way that worked for me. I had to bring my entire “self” to work with me every day – my faith, my joy, my belief in people coming first and the enthusiasm many find over the top some days! No apologies, just me embracing me.
Well last week during some of these tough conversations ME being ME was actually a good thing. It was necessary and sought after and I realized then that I was necessary – it was more than just my skill set it was who I was and what my total package brought to the table. What a refreshing reality for me to feel appreciated and accepted for just being who I was. Not Leslie the buyer, the negotiator or manager of money but the person was what mattered most. There is nothing more gratifying than that. Being accepted for who and what you are and recognizing the value in just that. A gift indeed. Embrace all of who you are and realize you are indeed a gift, just as you are!