New beginnings

Have you ever been the new kid at school? That’s what starting a new job kind of feels like.

After ten years at the big O I turned in my id badge and corporate Amex and started a new job farther north – not north enough to be in San Francisco but closer, getting closer!

The first day I arrived everyone in the organization was getting ready for a big event in New Orleans. It was a flurry of activity and my sole action item was to stay out of the way. I huddled in my small beige hamster hole of a cubicle and listened to the buzz around me – admittedly somewhat jealous that I wasn’t part of it – as I poked my way through the various intranets and tools until I could call it a day. I was officially the smallest, most insignificant fish in a whole new pond.

The next 2 days I was told to join a sales training in process for Account Execs and Sales Engineers. I was able to follow half of it but got lost on the product deep dives and demos. I sat quietly in the corner taking notes, fighting the urge to fall asleep. When we broke, I exchanged some small talk just for the stimulus of hearing my own voice but they were deep into a week-long bonding session and they had more interesting things to talk about with one another. I left with greater knowledge and more introductions, to be fair, but it was a long 2 days of being a fly on the wall. 

Monday was a holiday. Hurray!

And for the rest of the week, the entire marketing organization was in New Orleans.

Since I didn’t have clear direction on what, if anything, I should be doing (think George in Seinfeld when he shows up for a job without knowing if it was actually offered), I stretched out the days after a new hire orientation, working on documents and plans for project intake, vetting, alignment. I repurposed things I’d created earlier and crafted new templates based on my limited understanding of my role. I tried to fill the days with work focus but there was only so much I could do. I succumbed to the down time, sought out the sun and strategized my new work wardrobe.

My first full week finally arrived.  Day One: A team gathering! A cruise on a catamaran in SF and dinner at Epic. The morning got me 1 for 3 in meetings but I was making some progress. I still wasn’t contributing anything but the social activity allowed me to meet more people in the organization and figure out who does what. It also gave me a chance to connect personally a bit more to find common grounds. I’d like to think the afternoon was arranged partly for me but apparently they plan these types of activities monthly and besides, no one made any grand announcement of my addition. The Oscar-worthy “say a few words about yourself” speech I’d memorized would have to wait.

Day Two and Three: Full day meetings with my larger team and other marketing teams. These were high touch, key priority meetings that uncovered a lot and left just as much to action. I finally wrote up an intro email for my manager to send out to the org so that people wouldn’t keep asking me what my role was when I asked questions. I dropped a sexy reference to Oracle Team USA and a bunch of sporty stuff in a short blurb about me, where I came from, what I did, and what I’m going to do. It’s not going to win me any dates, but it garnered a handful of friendly “welcomes”.

I was still going to great lengths to look pulled together – the hair, makeup, wardrobe thing - finding long lost jewelry that had gone dormant in my working-from-home state. I got a few compliments on a necklace, a couple on a skirt and one on a silver temporary tattoo I wore. Nothing as effusive as my best buddies from yore, but it was progress – I was being noticed! Peeps were saying hi and starting up idle conversations.

Day Four I got an invite to lunch! A colleague whose husband I worked with previously invited me to grab a bite and catch up. Never mind that I’d already snarfed my lunch down – I was being included! And I was getting out of the cube! 

Day Five was a good one despite the fact it was the first Friday I'd been in an office in possibly 7 years. I was asked if I wanted to be included on a food run! Someone in another row over was taking orders for Korean BBQ. I couldn't remember his name but he included me, made a run with 3 other guys and brought back surprisingly awesome food from a place called Bart Grocery and BBQ. Who knew? I also had a key meeting that helped shape a direction for me to take in pursuing a series of key initiatives, got an invite for the next team activity - a Giants game - and visited the free gym in the lobby for a makeshift Crossfit session.

So after a cumulative 10 days, I'm thinking there's a place for me here. I hope. I've been on the other side - too busy to offload or explain anything to someone who could help. But I'm not here just to offer assistance - I'm here to lead and shape and guide and kick some ass. At least that's what I think they hired me for. I just needed an inkling of a direction to jump on. I'm trying to enjoy my under-the-radar fish status while I have it but it's definitely not something I'm used to. Starting over is a good shake-up to the ego.