The Unwritten, Unread, Unknown Message That Won’t Be Heard

29 May The Unwritten, Unread, Unknown Message That Won’t Be Heard

A Letter to My Manager:

I know things are pretty chaotic right now. And you’re under a lot of pressure to hit your business goals. There are rumors that more structural change is coming.

Most of our meetings have become pretty stressful.  We all feel like we’re under a microscope – and we know you feel that way too.

I guess it all rolls down hill, doesn’t it?

If all goes well I’ll be out of here next month – I hope my new job will allow me to breathe freely again.

It might not matter now – but for what it’s worth, I’ve learned a few things over the past few years. Maybe the most important being – life is too short to waste it where I’m not valued or appreciated.

Part of that is on me. I know that.  I quit on this job long ago.

I’ve tried to apply what I’ve learned in my new job search – especially when I’ve met with the person I will report to. I now know a truth that I didn’t appreciate before. There may be nothing more important than selecting the right manager – the right boss – the right supervisor.

I ask much better questions now. I’ve come to recognize that an interview should work both ways – that it might be my only chance to better understand the character of that person that will have such a huge impact on my life.

And though those inquiries are still poorly formed I know in my heart these are the ones I need answers for.

Questions like….

• Are you credible? I ask this because I realize that stability in my life is a lot more important than I ever knew.
• Can you make me better? I’ve decided that affirmation is real – and it’s powerful – and I never received it here.
• Can you offer me a purpose I can believe in? Sometimes I think about that line at the end of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. “Remember Red, hope is a good thing…maybe the best of things.  And no good thing ever dies.” I wonder why it died here for so many of us.
• Do you care about me? I believe it’s almost impossible to fake compassion – and I’ve tired of the poor acting.
• Can I trust you? It’s amazing to watch the collapse of trust – and to see it replaced by suspicion and doubt. It’s just as sad to recognize that it works both ways – you shouldn’t trust me anymore either.

I wish you well in your future endeavors.

I hope you will read this letter.

I hope I do too.

Because the very same questions I’ve asked of you are the ones you should have been able to ask of me.

Maybe someday, somewhere we will both look back and realize what could have been.

Regards,

Your Employee