Feeling A Little Discouraged?

Tired manager wondering if his customers will ever be happy

Perhaps you sometimes think you don’t want the responsibility of running the ES department. If so you are not alone. When I transitioned from Supervisor to Manager some years ago it was like this. In the beginning, it was a challenge of transitioning from being an employee to running an organization, of being lonely and complete work / life distortion. However it did not take long to get organized and develop personal routines that helped me be calm enough to hear God’s instructions for success.

And when I say challenge, I mean I had to change my way of thinking about everything. Even though I had different life experiences to help, I sometimes had thoughts of, “what exactly did I get myself into”? That is when I had to remember we have a lot more help then we often realize. Adversity provides the resistance necessary to develop the strength to overcome great obstacles. This strength consists of self-confidence, perseverance, and, very importantly, self-knowledge.

As I have found many things becoming easier then other challenges arise and the responsibility and possibility of it all tries to paralyze me more than I want to admit. And I have to spend more time in prayer to get through it. Really, given the opportunity to change the world, would you take it? I believe those of us in this business think we would, but it is so very hard to look in the face of what you truly want and take it. It is very hard to fight the war of what really mattes and look past the fear to what possibilities lay ahead.

As the people in our departments change, we will find that many we have hopes for are not always stepping up. And those who do often think about stepping right back, because unless you are in the fight to make change, it is difficult to know how hard it really is. Keep encouraging them and believing in them so they will work with you to make your facility and department better.

This year will probably be one of your hardest. There will be days when you don’t want to strategize, or build relationships, or be so obsessed with seeing the ER floors looking awesome. Just remember you don’t always buy a thousand rolls of toilet paper at a time. Some days you have to be normal and just buy six rolls at the supermarket. While that is ok, remember “being normal” gets you fifth place, and you know you want to be in first, and all successful people take risks that normal people would not. But it’s the follow through that’s hard, the follow through that builds your character.

You will find that as you stay with it, you will be able to muster strength from somewhere you didn’t know you had. Every setback you encounter in life contains valuable information that, if you study it carefully, will eventually lead you to success. Without adversity, you would never develop wisdom, and without wisdom, success would be short lived indeed. When you make a mistake, say, “That’s good! I’ve gotten that out of the way. I will never do that again.” You will no doubt make other mistakes, but they won’t bother you nearly as much when you treat them as learning experiences.

During it all, remember that you are not alone. You have all your staff that together make up your team and you have all your peers here at ASHES to talk with and share ideas. Stay current with the changes that are happening and keep an open mind as the challenges come your way. Don’t be afraid to try something different, to think outside the box or to challenge the status quo. Keep your head up above the negativity and you will be ok. We all have within us the potential for greatness, and when your standard of performance is based upon being the best you can be-for yourself-you will never lose. You will only improve.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply