Today you headed back to the office after a two week hiatus for the holidays. I’m guessing you were dragging a little and maybe even apprehensive about having to show up and be productive after such a relaxing break. One thing I am sure of is that your motivation to get out of bed this morning was that you got to reunite with one another. So while today I officially hang my virtual “open for business” sign and stamp “entrepreneur” on my LinkedIn profile, I spent most of the day thinking about how much I’m going to miss you.
I’d been at my job for nearly five years. Some of my you were there before I arrived and others started just six months ago. All of you made your marks on my life and I am incredibly grateful. And lucky. I know from previous jobs that your coworkers can make or break your work life. Not only did you give me a reason to come to work every day, but we actually wanted to hang out even more after we’d already punched the clock. It didn’t take long for you to become so much more than colleagues
It sounds like a line from a cheesy movie, but I learned a lot about who I want to be because of you. I won’t always recall every painfully useless meeting we endured together {most of them}, or every inside joke we came up with {swoop and poop, HOP, Mean Girls, and on and on and on}, but I will always remember the things you taught me about being a good coworker, friend, mother and wife. Here are my top 50:
- Collaborate as often as possible
- Brainstorming sessions will improve the quality of your work
- Delegate when you can
- Ask for help
- Show appreciation
- Don’t take credit for something you didn’t do
- Handwritten notes have not gone out of style
- Family comes before work always
- Take time off when you can
- Let the little things go
- Pick and choose wisely what colleagues you decide to become Facebook friends with
- Apologies go a long way
- Change happens
- No one has done everything
- Think twice before you hit “reply all”
- Be on time
- Vacations are time well spent re-energizing
- Don’t leave a meeting without a plan of action
- You’re never too old to learn something new
- Sometimes you need to pick up the phone
- You don’t have to like everyone
- Not everyone is going to like you
- Hair lice can keep coming back if the mother ship doesn’t get exterminated
- Always go to the funeral
- Be fiercely loyal to those you care about
- Teen boys smell really bad after dancing
- Know when to voice your opinion
- Know when to be quiet
- We wear pink on Wednesdays
- Holding a grudge is unattractive
- When you build a website, you will dream in code
- Make fake award certificates for yourself if it motivates you
- Random gifts can brighten someone’s day
- Bring food to the office for any reason or no reason at all
- If you have the opportunity to drink a purple cocktail made with champagne, just ask for the champagne
- Own up to your mistakes
- Win graciously
- Lose graciously
- Sometimes you just need to ugly cry and be hugged
- Takeout Chinese food for lunch can turn a day around
- Don’t keep your basement refrigerator stocked with liquor if there are teenagers in the house unless it has a lock
- Traditional white lights aren’t the only way to decorate for Christmas
- Some people are cold literally all the time
- Those people travel with space heaters
- If you say you’re going to do something, do it
- People mellow with age
- Don’t lie to your employer
- You get out of it what you put into it…it being work, friendship, marriage, parenthood or anything else you decide to do
- Mayo and sriracha sauce make a great dip
- Distance makes the heart grow fonder
I know there are many more {and I hope you call me out on them}.
So while today I am enjoying the peace and quiet of my new home office and the comfort of my yoga pants, I know that some days it will feel more like loneliness. So, dear coworkers, my Mean Girls, I hope you weren’t quite done teaching me lessons yet, because you can expect to see me often.
I miss you already.