Thursday, January 17, 2013

What I Know About Work Now That I'm In My 60s


This is an excellent article written by Ann Brenoff of The Huffington Post. And it contains excellent career advice. For those women, or men, in their later working years, you will likely relate to it. I could easily write my own story, with examples, under each of her titles.

This one is a truth that I found difficult to accept when I was in the corporate world, but you can, if you put your mind and multiple talents to work,

"4. Sometimes, you just have to navigate around the assholes. Not every boss will be someone you admire. Not every boss will be nice, understanding, supportive of you and your career. Not every boss will be as smart as you, let alone someone you can learn from. None of it matters. All that matters is that you know how to navigate around them. It's a skill you should have picked up in kindergarten when Billy wouldn't share his crayons and then told the teacher it was your fault. What did you do then? You swallowed hard and then went home and told Mom about the injustice that befell you, right? So swallow hard and go out for drinks with your co-workers. Crappy bosses either self-destruct or get promoted but eventually you will be rid of them. They are a blip, just a blip, in your life. Don't empower them to be anything more."

I had many bosses over the course of several careers. Some of them were good. Most of them weren't. Many of them were downright awful. One was a true star, who was pushed out by someone who wasn't. And just when I thought I couldn't possibly be assigned to a boss who was less competent, I'd find myself proven wrong, again. I resented the extra effort it took to navigate around them, because it wasted so much precious time, and the end result was often compromised. But navigate I did. It's a life skill.

If you are in your twenties or thirties, take what you can from this great article, because as Ann says, "what you do for a living is just of part of who you are."

And by the way, having sewing as a hobby will help keep you sane.