The first room

I still remember the day of the first time I was in the room, at the head of the table; the person who was responsible for everyone else in the room. It was my first meeting as a formal supervisor. I was responsible for the engineering teams along with the metershop. I was the youngest person in the room and all but one other person, I had the least amount of time at the company. It was an odd moment for me as I started to question who I was and how it came to be I was responsible for a group of people far more talented and knowledgable in what we do.

There was a conversation in my head, one that even today happens more often than not. How can I be a leader of a group of people that I do not even know how to do what they do. It is a transitional moment for someone who is formally being called a leader. That conversation that happens for me usually ends when I remind myself that I am not here because I know the ins and outs of how someone does what they do. For me, it is my goal to provide an enviroment that allows others to thrive. While everyone has the capacity to learn how to do almost everyone elses job, in my opinion a leader fails when they believe they need to know how to do a persons job.

As I sat in my first room, looking at everyone that was around the table, I let everyone know that I did not know how to do their jobs and it wasn’t my goal to learn; but I would learn what they wanted me to know so that we could continue to serve our customers. I don’t know if was the best way to start my first meeting as the leader; but it was the way I did.

It was my first room

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