When I was working I had a conversation with a customer who shared that her department was reading a series of books and had I read, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job? I remember laughing and asking her if she was giving me a hint? She then laughed and shared that it was a book similar to, Who Moved my Cheese? and that I might enjoy reading not only this book, but the whole series.
I have always loved to read, but hate being interrupted when I am in the midst of a cliff-hanging sentence. So, once the children began to crawl...I could not become absorbed in a book and needed to focus my reading time elsewhere...
The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, (authored by Patrick Lencioni) was by far the best book I have read in a long time. OK, so my comparison would be a Harlequin Romance, but seriously; when I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down and by the end of the day, I had completed this 200+ page "novel".
I then sent an email to this customer thanking her for leading me to this book and that when (if) I return to the workforce; "I would be a better employee and/or manager because of it."
Since July, I have had a lot of time for self-reflection and if there is one thing I've learned from my past 20 years of working; I NOW, wouldn't change anything. I grew as a person; both personally and professionally and I know I was a great employee and manager; but not perfect.
My subjective feelings of my past work situations have become objective. I like being on the outside looking in and I owe my gratitude to Mr. Lencioni.
I wish I could say I regret not being able to implement Mr. Lencioni leadership practices...I don't. However, I am grateful for the knowledge I gained through reading; it has provided me with the healing I needed and I am almost done with the whole series.
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