T-SQL Tuesday #163

Happy T-SQL Tuesday! I feel bad that I’ve missed that last several but I’m glad I’m able to jump back in.

Thanks to Gethyn Ellis ( t | b ) for hosting this month. Gethyn asks us for the best Career Advice we’ve ever received.

Here’s the background story for mine:

I was still at my first job out of college. I had recently been promoted to the office network admin from sales assistant because they saw that I was technical and had really understood the software that our sales team was using. We were a small office of about 25-30 people total. We had just been sold off by our parent corporation and were being merged into a brand new company with a few other companies that also just been bought.

One day, I was asked to sit in on a conference call. It was an afternoon call that went for several hours. As I sat and listened, I got very frustrated because I could hear that the suggestions being made didn’t match how the sales team worked. It would disrupt their workflow as well as ask them to enter information that they may or may not be able to get. I didn’t say anything as part of the call but just took notes for myself so I could report on the call the next day.

The next day, I had a chance to speak to my company’s president about the call. I told her how frustrating it was because what was about to be implemented wasn’t going to work. I must have mentioned that I didn’t feel like I could say anything. I know one of the reasons that I didn’t speak up is because I felt like I was still new and inexperienced. I was 2 years out of college so why would they listen to me when they had consultants guiding them as well as years of corporate and sales experience? But as the president explained to me, I worked directly with the software and directly with the people using the software. I did have the knowledge and experience that was needed. More importantly, by being in that meeting, I had a seat at the table and I actually did have the power to use my voice and say all of those things. I just didn’t recognize it.

That story has stuck with me all of the years. I can’t remember how exactly it was phrased, but I feel like I walked away with two pieces of advice that I have taken to heart when it comes to my career:

• Recognize when you have a seat at the table and use your voice when you’re there.
• Trust your instincts – you may have a better insight to issues than you realize.

I make a lot of jokes with coworkers about how I have opinions. If I’m at the proverbial table and it’s appropriate for me to say something that I think may be useful, I will say it. If the timing’s not right but it’s still something I feel strongly enough about, I may find a way to share my opinions later.

I also try to trust my instincts. I find I have more problems if my gut is telling me one thing and I don’t push for those to be heard. I still recognize that I need to stay open to compromises or other opinions because I know I’m not always right or I may be missing something important. But I’ve really learned to trust myself over the years.

As these are principles I try to follow as I go through my career, I still struggle with these. When it comes to using my voice. I’m worried that I’ll say the wrong things or it will be taken the wrong way. I want the things I say to be helpful and if it’s critical, that it’s framed in a way where a solution can be found but I always worry if that’s how it’s seen by others. I still don’t always recognize that my experience is a valid one when compared to someone else’s experiences so it’s trying to find a way to be open to hearing other’s opinions while still recognizing the validity of mine. In terms of trusting myself, there are times where I’ve decided to ignore my instincts and just trust in the other path and hope I was wrong. I’m usually left wishing that I had pushed for what I needed to do so I still feel like I’m learning when I should push more when my instincts are telling me something and when it really is OK to let go.

I love hearing all of the different career advice that everyone gets. I would add that the hard part isn’t getting great advice, but implementing it. This is why I feel like it’s important to say that I still struggle with that at times. But it’s also about finding the right career advice for you. What works for me may not for you and that’s OK too. But here’s the best news, this community is here to help you figure things out.

I’m looking forward to hearing the career advice from everyone else who participated this month. Thanks again to Gethyn for hosting!