When to bite your tongue…

Being the new kid on the block, you have to pick and choose when to speak up, when to question things and when to just go with the flow.

When I heard the entire company would be spending eight hours offsite talking about goals and planning for the future, I bit my tongue and did not point out what I thought was obvious - there was no way we would need an entire day to ‘plan our goals.’ Didn’t we have more important things to attend to – like answering emails, speaking with clients and scheduling interviews? It wasn’t exactly my idea of a productive day.

What happened was truly shocking: the day wasn’t about cheesy ‘team-building’ games or being told what to believe in. We each got a say in what we thought was important and I learned a lot about my co-workers in the process. It was a real motivator to start my first year off right and put into perspective what I really want to accomplish. I also learned it’s easy to get distracted by ‘goals’ that don’t really count, even if they sound lofty. Focus on 3 that matter – to our clients, and to me, professionally – is usually best.

To follow: Honest update on how I’m faring in Q2.

- Posted by Jackie D'Andrea