In love

Absolutely enjoying myself in the new job, that I am doing covering someone else's maternity.
Love it.
Why?
- because it is about categories and brands that I've known and worked with for years, and grew to love;
- because there is a lot to learn, lots of interesting stuff;
- because the situation is appealing to me: we are suffering a bit, market going down, loosing share and people are not expecting a lot... I am the guy who can come from behind and unexpectedly deliver great stuff (the underdog! I love being in this position);
- because the guy who is my boss has a great depth of knowledge and is taking a very didactic approach, taking opportunities to teach his team;
- because also it is a good situation, not a lot is expected from me (just covering a maternity) so the pressure is relatively low;
- because there is a very visibile lack of knowledge in the rest of the company in this category... I am really a goldmine with the depth and wealth of insights and learning I have from having worked (through different jobs, functions and regionalities) with these categories and brands
- because I have colleagues! It's a team of 5 of us, reporting to 1 guy. We are all around the same age and experiencing the same things! Being in the senior team, I am also quite respected by the younger managers which is something I also appreciate... And also the young managers are cool, intelligent and nice (also to look at!:) )

And... I am loving it so much that I am finding huge ammounts of energy, I am amazingly much more positive and... contaminating everybody around me with this energy! I am also a lot more confortable taking and making decisions and... coming up with a lot more cool ideas.
It's amazing the difference it makes when you actually are enjoying a lot what you are doing. When you are passionate about it.

Ups and downs

It's been a week of ups and downs.
Mainly at work, some good stuff matched by some not so good stuff. End of last week the MD said to me how impressed she was in how quickly I had won people over to my side since joining. But this week I felt I was loosing people's confidence: the KAM responsible criticized my department to the sales director and he has been showing himself a lot less supporting and believing.
I guess he is probably under a lot of pressure due to the poor sales results.
With my team again mixed feelings. I sometimes wonder how serious and responsible they are, but on the other hand I had a good show of commitment from one of them in a meeting yesterday: passion, drive and commitment.
With the girlfriend things seem to really be chugging along: the bad weekend a while ago made us realize how much we want to be with each other and I think there are bigger chances we will go for it. We will probably plan our next moves this weekend, as she is coming over.

Better

Things are better.
Had a big presentation last week. It was in front of all the department, so I was talking to roughly 150 people. It was my first time with this group, so it was important to perform.
I'm really happy with the way it went. I do enjoy presenting a lot and I do put my heart into it. Making it this way does have an impact on people.

On top of the good presentation, another good benefit was that I gained quite a bit of credibility with the team. They were really impressed with the way I presented and my impact on the other people. I also mentioned all of them in the presentation so it was good for them. The result is much more room for me to work on, they trust me more.

I know this doesn´t last very long but it buys me more time! And the chance for the real me to come out.
It also gave me more confidence.

Motivations

My successor in the current job has been appointed... I know the guy, he's cool, I came into the company at the same time as him, we've recently even worked together in a project. He'll do well.
How do I feel? A bit f****d really... Even though it has been my choice, I am not really happy about it. I do think that I wasn't really that happy while doing that job but... I'm afraid that I will even like the new one less. I had my first meeting this week and it was a bloody nightmare. Total lack of efficiency, an intricate network of personal relationships and powergames... Christ.
I guess it happens everywhere, it is human nature. The thing at this stage is that I am not fully motivated and passionate about the new job. I am not fully convinced myself.
And I need to be. If I am, I'll tackle any issue and become a major success in this role. But is that role what I want to do?
It is paramound in today´s world that you are fully engaged in what you do. After all, what is the point? Life is short, you gotta enjoy it and make the most of it.

My struggle has been to find out my purpose. What I want to do. What will fire me up. I'll give a go to this new challenge and find out what I like about it.