I had a thriving 2. November 12th, I was on my way to Detroit for a business training. My baby girl had just turned 8. My plane was still taxiing, not even at the gate yet. The moment felt surreal, like I was having an out of body experience. I sat there frozen for a moment, trying to come to terms with what I had just been told. Then I flew into action. I got the flight attendant to call a gate agent to meet me with a ticket for the next flight back to Denver in 30 minutes.
And then I called my operations manager. You see, nothing else mattered. My daughter had cancer. I told my general manager that I would see her in a few months? Maybe a year? Maybe more? It has been more than 2 years since that awful day, and I am happy to report my daughter is doing well, as is my company. And I have truly never gone back. This has all been possible because the work we had already been doing in the 4 years prior to diagnosis day.
In , I was beyond burned out. I felt like my company was sucking the life out of me. We were stalled right around 1. I decided it was time for a general manager. My first attempt went very, very poorly. I hired someone who looked fabulous on paper β she had a resume to die for!
I was over the moon. I spent 3 weeks training her, and then foolishly went on a 3 week vacation, feeling it was finally my time to take a break. What happened while I was gone and over the two months following still makes me sick to think about. She hired and fired more than 80 people in an 8 week period. I lost NET clients in addition to what we would have normally expected to lose through natural attrition. They like to know what they can expect from your company.
And she had changed everything. She even painted and redecorated my entire office while I was out of town! After about 4 months I let her go and stepped back in to right the ship. After a few months we were stable, but I was still burned out beyond belief, so I tried again. I wanted freedom! We fumbled along like this for about 9 months. Eventually she left and I stepped back in, again.
