Role Model

I met my previous boss after work tonight. I did my LNHA (licensed nursing home administrator) internship with her, and I remember being blown away the first day I worked with her. She was just opening up a brand new Care Center, and the Nutrition & Culinary managers were in tears in her office from a long list (pages!) of complaints they had received. My boss sat and listened calmly and then stood up and started putting the complaints into "buckets" (quality, presentation, personal preference, etc). The result was that most of the complaints fell into the "personal preference" bucket, and she helped put things into perspective for her three tearful supervisors.
I remember wondering what I would have done if that were me in her position, and realized that I would've probably started crying with them! Oh, I have a lot to learn, and she was an amazing teacher. It's neat that I no longer work with her, yet she still takes time to meet me for happy hour. It's a pretty big high when a person in a high profile position confides in you and tells you things that you know can't be repeated. And then actually asks for your input.
As a young looking, soon-to-be twenty-six year old, I find that I'm not taken seriously in the workplace more than I'd like to know. It's nice to know that not everyone thinks that way.


(Wow, this is probably the most "serious" blog I've written.)