Today is the last day of a girlfriend from work. Even though she is not a close friend, I am saddened by this. I have a lot in common with her. She is my age, we both graduated with our MBA's from Santa Clara University last December 2000 (although we never met in school), she is half-Filipino and she loves to engage in fun activities. She put together our company's team that participated in the 2-day Providian Relay a couple of years ago where I had a blast.

She quit because she was no longer being challenged by her job. I half-joked that that didn't stop me! She is joining a start-up firm that will surely get her more excited and give her less heartaches. We have had a significantly high turnover lately. Although our company has always struggled and has never really taken off, beset with all the corporate woes you can think of, its employees have generally been happy and genuinely liked one another. Recently I have been seeing a lot of new faces though. It feels like a different place, with a different vibe and governed by different rules. That's why I'm not surprised to see her go. And I expect more to follow.

As for me, my job is too comfortable for me to look for the proverbial greener pasture. Having read Stephen Covey's First Things First, I have learned to discern what's important from what's urgent. The nature of my job screams urgency all over, but being challenged at work is not that important to me.

What's important to you?


half of our team members after the exhilirating providian relay

Vangie Fuhrman got cold on 7.23.2004 10:15 PM. |