A photo of 12 Original Glazed doughnuts from K...

Having a new guy at has helped me realize a few things about myself.  With my usual circle of family, friends, and co-workers I tend to start making assumptions about people.  About what they know or what they don’t   About what they think and how they should act.  With someone new it has made me realize that I cannot make any assumptions about him or anyone else.  There have been a few cases where he has been told something and then a day or so later doesn’t recall it.  I am making assumptions that he heard it or even if he did hear it, he may not have heard it the same way that I did.  I can take that insight back to how I treat the people that are close to me.  I have to drop all assumptions and expectations.

Along with this, I have caught myself trying to determine for some reason if he is a genuinely nice guy or if he is pandering to different people.  Last Friday he asked if he could bring in bagels or something.  My boss then told a story about how when he was 18 he went with Outward Bound and was dropped in the middle of a forest for a week.  When he got back, his mom and dad met him at the airport with a dozen glazed Krispy Kreme and a dozen cream filled.  He devoured them on the way home.  And the next day the new guy brought in a dozen Krispy Kreme and a dozen cream filled.  He is from New York, so I pretty much figure that he really wanted bagels, and that is what he mentioned first.  He does lose points since they were bought from a grocery store and not an actual Krispy Kreme (Hot and Now is the best).  With all that analysis, I did start to ask myself, what does it matter.  Can’t he just be the new guy trying to fit in?  Does he have to be playing an angle?  And if he does, what does that matter?

Overall, this was a good week.  It was rainy M-Th, but today was super nice.  I almost put the top down on my Jeep.  Still a bit nippy, but I may do it this weekend.  I was pretty productive at work, and I am feeling more confident in my skills.  I am trying to be more patient in all aspects of my life.  Everything is happening as it should.  This is not a new revelation, but it is one that I forgot and buried when I started to doubt myself.  My youngest son is starting to get sick, so it isn’t all sunshine and roses, but I am trying to take that in stride too as something that is happening as it should.

I have been thinking more and more about how I would like to move into management.  I would really like to be in a position where I can help guide other people and help them to realize their potential.  I have been mentoring one of my co-workers, and he is making great progress.  one of the hardest things for me is to step back and let him try things on his own.  Sometimes they are not how I would do them, and I want to step in and correct, but it is better to give up tight control.  I can still help guide, but ultimately he has to make the decision in order for it to stick and for him to improve.  It is also difficult to give up some of the cooler assignments, but I am getting over that too.  There is still room for me to learn.

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