There is this great quote that sometimes pops into my
LinkedIn feed:
“Great companies don’t hire skilled
people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them…Unless
you give motivated people something to believe in, something bigger than their
job to work toward, they will motivate themselves to find a new job and you’ll
be stuck with whoever’s left.” – Simon Sinek in Start with Why
Sinek is a smart man (I’m not just saying that because we share
the same alma mater, Brandeis University) and that sentiment is so true…and so
lost on most employers today.
When I started in the working world, I thought I would work
someplace for my entire life. My uncle had, my dad had, my mom had. That was, until
2 out of 3 didn’t have those jobs anymore. Loyalty in the workplace, as I would
soon find out from life experiences, was a thing of the past.
But I’m not a total pessimist in this subject matter because
of one company: Astron Solutions.
Let me back up a bit and say how I got here. It’s a bit
convoluted.
Through my first three summers of my collegiate life at
Brandeis University, I had an internship at a big, international bank. For my
three undergrad summers, I would intern there and I thought that would happen
for a fourth summer in between my undergraduate and graduate years—and then I
would get hired there right out of college and go on to work there for 50
years.
Except, at the last second, they didn’t have an internship
for me that last summer. I had some other good interviews but no offers. So at
the last second I scrambled to find a summer role. I ended up at a local real
estate company thinking that would be good experience to learn about real
estate (at least that’s how they sold it).
Boy was I wrong. My first day was spent doing a whole lot of
nothing. The second day was promised to be more exciting, and that ending up
meaning that I got a chance to use the copier. Except that I couldn’t use the
copier without instructions on how to use the copier and multiple check-ins. 22
years old, about to earn a Masters degree, and I had to have multiple check-ins
to make sure that I was using the copier correctly. It wasn’t that I was an
unmotivated person (I actually think of myself as highly self-motivated—even to
a fault) but to say that this role was going to be inspiring me was a huge
stretch.
I decided to take a walk at lunchtime (to decide how I could
possibly do this any longer) when my cell phone rang. It was Jennifer Loftus, the
Founding Partner and National Director of Astron Solutions. We had the best
interview of my entire life a few weeks before and I had been bummed not to
hear back.
“I wanted to offer you a Summer internship,” she said.
“Hopefully you didn’t take another role, though!”
“Actually I did take another role,” I started to say as I
heard Jennifer start to sound upset, so I quickly stammered, “but I was
thinking of quitting anyways so this is perfect timing!”
“Okay…” Jennifer said. “I’m sure there is some story here
that you’ll have to tell me. Looking forward to you starting.”
I walked back into the office where the person who “taught
me” how to use the copier was waiting to scold me for trying to copy too many
pages at once.
“We’re going to have to go over the directions again,” she
started to say.
“Actually, I’m sorry to let you know that today is going to
by my last day,” I said. “I received another offer that is more in line with
what I want to do this Summer.”
“Well,” she said, “if you’re going to have so much trouble
using the copier, I’m not sure that you’re the best fit here anyways.”
With that very weird exit, I got a chance to join Jennifer
and the rest of Astron Solutions.
At the end of the summer internship with Astron, I was
bummed as I thought my time there was done. I had a great summer and felt like
I had been a big contributor to Astron but like the bank before (and like many
jobs to come), I thought my time had come to an end.
But Astron had other plans for me. How would I like to
continue working for them on some of their marketing or social media material? For
someone who was about to become a poor college student for another year, this
was more than enticing financially. But, more significantly, for someone who
didn’t have a ton of faith in the working world, this gesture was really
important to restore that faith.
So for almost 10 years, I got to be a part of the Astron’s
tight-knit family, despite the fact that I was, at best, a distant cousin. I
got invited to every holiday party. I got all the company updates. I even got
to take part in their supplemental insurance plan (and walked into Aflac in a
different role many years later with that fact to help close them as a client).
Despite the fact that I didn’t work a day in their office in 9 years, I always
felt like I was a part of the team.
That wasn’t because of some fantasy world I lived in—it was
because the team at Astron Solutions made me feel that way. When I showed up at
the holiday party, it was like I just worked in a remote office. In fact, I had
better treatment at Astron than a job where I was actually a remote employee. I was inspired to do a good job not
because of some pep talk or seminar I went to, or because I had some financial
carrot dangling in front of me; I was inspired because I wanted to help contribute
to this incredible group.
And because of that will to help, I didn’t want to outstay
my welcome. Now in my fifth job since that internship summer, I’ve come to the
point where my primary job made doing this amazing secondary job pretty much
impossible.
So it’s with great sadness that this serves as my official
notice that I am resigning my role as Blogmaster and Social Media Specialist at
Astron Solutions. I want to thank Mike and Jennifer for almost 10 great years
of employment, which extended to Brendan and John who provided 10 years of warm
smiles and laughs, and lastly to Cassandra who has been the first smiling face
I see when I stop by for the past few years (and provides your great
Astronology articles). You five have built a fabulous organization and you’re
all lucky to be a part of it—I think my biggest sadness now is that I won’t
officially be part of this family going forward.
So with that I leave with great thanks that Jennifer called
me back that one day (and that we’ve been able to keep this going so long). An
extra callout to Jennifer for serving as a mentor, friend, and overall calming
influence over the past 10 years through my other 5 jobs. Thanks to all the
blog readers and everyone who helped contribute along the way. It’s been very
educational and a ton of fun.
Until we meet again.
