Apr 26, 2007 | blog
This is a difficult post for me, and an exciting one as well. There are many good times that I’ll remember from working at Michael Foods, and I have to admit that I’m going to miss working with such a great group of people. Anyone looking to join Michael Food’s IT department couldn’t look for a better team of people – seriously, the people are great and the environment is a good one – don’t hesitate.
So why am I leaving? Because it’s time. I’ve been with Michael Foods for a total of 9 years, the first two as a contract employee, the remaining as an FTE. The experiences have been numerous and varied. It is simply time for me to take the next step in my career – my goals no longer match the needs of the position I held, I simply need more room to grow in the directions I want to pursue. Simple as that.
So, to my former coworkers, and friends that I leave behind on a day to day basis I need to say goodbye. I’m sure that I’ll get a number of calls and questions on a number of topics, but for many I’ll probably not be in touch. While this is a shame, I look forward to the possibilities of working with any of my former coworkers again someday in the future. Simply to all, I want to say thank you.
There have also been many, several people that I want to thank individually – and I couldn’t fit it all in my goodbye email, so here it goes.
- Jon – For patience & answer for every question – you’re a good friend
- Pat – For teaching me how to appreciate individuals potential & look for new ideas
- Jimmy – As a mentor in leadership & team building
- Craig – For the importance of bandwidth, details, & the big picture
- Pete – For project management & planning
- Deb – For people skills & career coaching
- Guy – For a different perspective & approach to things
Again, to everyone else I’ve worked with at Michael Foods, both in IT and the business – thank you for 9 great years. It will not be forgotten. Best wishes to you and your future endeavors.
Bring It On
Sincerely,
Rick Mahn
Jan 23, 2007 | blog
Its a good question that, of course, I have no answer to having never really been a telecommuter. However, I have an intense interest in becoming one. 😉
In my pursuit to become a better blogger, there is always a thought in the back of my mind about being able to do more remotely. Becoming more focused on writing than on the “day job”. It’s always a temptation to move in that direction.
Some of the comments on the post at Web Worker Daily relate to experiences of lack of office politics, or more involvement by managers simply because you’re “out of site” and its not obvious what you’re working on. The aspect of lack of advancement to me is a non-starter as the farther up the ladder I move, the less interested in the ladder I become.
Personally I think that a person should find the right mix of work and life that is unique to them. While that should be obvious, it is way to easy to fall into the “corporate ladder” mentality. That is, once in that environment, it has the potential to become the most important aspect of your life. That’s something I’m struggling with at this stage in my career – what is more important, the career or simply doing things that you enjoy (and still bring home the bacon).
Via: Web Worker Daily – Does Telecommuting Kill Your Career?
Jan 8, 2007 | blog
If you use LinkedIn and would like a connection from a professional career coach, don’t pass up this offer from David V. Lorenzo, author of the excellent book Career Intensity.
Via: Career Intensity Blog – Please Link to Me
Dec 20, 2006 | blog
My blogging gloves that is. Its not that I’m going after anyone or anything in particular, but I’m going to be tackling more blogging content. I’m after expanding my writing and content creation skills in 2007 and I’ll be starting during the Christmas & New Years holiday break (I’m taking two weeks off of work).
Things to watch for in the coming weeks will be tweaks and improvements to my blog, with more opinion oriented comment on my favorite topics of blogging, technology, mobility, and leadership. The goal, quite frankly, is improving my marketability ending ultimately, in a career change sometime in 2007.
Frankly, the corporate technology environment that I’ve been working in has become way too stagnant, redundant, and predictable. I’m interested in finding more fast-moving, nimble solutions to the current problems that corporations are experiencing. This means more items along the line of “Enterprise 2.0” or enterprise solutions based off web-based, AJAX, centralized service-oriented software.
I’ve got to admit up front, that the company I work for (Michael Foods, Inc.) is a great place to work, really focusing on and supporting employees and their career development. This is one reason they have really smart, creative, go-getters working for them.
For me however, technology is no longer the end-all be-all thing it once was. Its still cool and fun to work with, but there are bigger challenges and more entertaining opportunities in other areas.
So that’s what I’m targeting in the coming weeks, a change from the casual blog that you’ve been reading to a more focused, more content-rich (dare I say professional) blog. Have an opinion? I’m interested in hearing it!
Dec 19, 2006 | blog
I’m starting to finally (after several decades) getting past the idea that I need to figure it all out. Every time I try to do something new, I immediately start “diving deep” trying to solve the first puzzle, problem, or question before moving on.
One of the biggest things I’m learning in project management is that I don’t need to do it all. Moreover, that I can’t do it all or shouldn’t even try. In fact I don’t even need to come up with the idea, just be able to implement it – whatever “it” is.
Its a really difficult concept for me – mainly because I’ve been a great problem solver for most of my career. To get my head around this one concept has (surprisingly for some) taken me an enormous amount of thought.
The reason this was important enough for me to blog about is that it is a key pillar to me taking my career to the next level. The hard day-to-day part will be remembering this fact as I do different things that are outside my comfort level and stretch my skills in new ways
So I’m going to be looking for ways to apply this new found idea, mostly how to apply it to my personal benefit. That has always been a stumbling block for me moving forward. I think that will finally be one less thing in my way.
