The “Best Boss” Surprise
Last week I received a text from a former team member. She had accepted a role on my team before I was selected to lead it so we were new to each other in many ways. While I was aware of the folx who populated the org chart that I saw during the interview process, she wasn’t yet on it.
I joined that team during a challenging time for the organization and we were responsible for holding its voice – brand and communications. We needed to get our act together quickly and that’s what we did.
Over the next several months, we worked together to realign our processes and workflows. I revised old job descriptions, upleveling them to be relevant to the work at hand and shifting people into roles that both acknowledged their strengths and paved the way for professional development. We reviewed our vendors and asked them to ensure their teams were reflective of the diverse communities we served and that their services were provided in an exemplary manner. When they didn’t, or couldn’t, deliver what we needed, we selected and onboarded new partners. I found the gaps and brought on new partners and new team members. And, we called upon our colleagues across the organization to share what they needed from us to bring clarity to their work and amplify it inside and outside the organization. This team was fabulous to work with and I’m happy to say that I remain in contact with many of them.
All the while, my new team member found ways to contribute while listening and learning. Her enthusiasm for our mission and our day-to-day work made my days brighter. Along with naïve suggestions and solutions that were quite valuable, she brought joy and humor to our team meetings. She was filling needs here and there until we landed on who we needed to be to successfully fulfill the needs of the organization. And when we landed on our new org structure and operationg model, she found her spot. And we were all grateful to have her with us.
Because she reported to someone who reported to me, my interactions were limited. However, on both our parts, those meetups were intentional. I wanted to be sure that I knew all of my team members; and she wanted to be sure that I knew her. Our time was well spent as we shared family updates, musical tastes, stories of recent excursions balanced with my vision for the department, how I saw her work evolving, observations of her performance and where new opportunities may be for her. And I answered her questions. In other words, we shared.
All the while, she was soaking up how I was leading the team, empowering them in their decision-making and inviting them into conversations designed to level-up their thinking about how we could, and would, move forward.
The text I received was one of gratitude for my presence in her life and for inspiring her to do her very best. She thanked me for teaching her “so much”, shared that I was her best boss ever and her hope that life was treating me well. Let me say that she also shared that her boss at that time was quite fabulous, too, and I totally concur! (shout out to Sarah Lee) What a lovely text to receive at the end of a busy week and a reminder that everything we do as leaders matters.
Who is this wonderful soul, you ask? Her name is Hannah Cardenas and if you want someone incredibly loyal, hardworking, inquisitive, creative, energetic, collaborative and supportive on your team, please consider reaching out to her. I know for certain that you’ll be glad you did!
Thank you, Hannah Cardenas, you made my day, week, month... and more.