Under New Management

I fired my boss.

She was all about long to-do lists and unrealistic expectations regarding the time needed to fulfill those lists. She fed on more and better and I wouldn’t mind her as a co-worker, but she sucked as a boss.

Her name is Ambition and she was shocked when I said “no more”. She didn’t grovel and she didn’t demand, but she did quietly attempt to reassert her position. But I was prepared. We have, after all, spent a lifetime together.

Up until now, it hadn’t occurred to me that I needed a new boss. I thought that self employment required Ambition… that without her I would wallow in my inertia… that I would never finish what I began… that I would not meet my financial obligations. But Ambition didn’t fix any of those challenges. She only added a sense of “not-enoughness” to my failures. And added items like self improvement to the lists.

Not that I don’t want to work on my self. I value inner work. I just want to do it in a different environment.

Which brings me to the real challenge. What kind of a boss do I need?

I have been drifting in a void since I fired Ambition. I am not familiar with any other form of motivation and in my either/or way, I imagine total chaos without her. But I’ve taken the leap now and I’m not turning back.

What kind of boss do you have? Does She/He foster collaboration? Establish reasonable timelines? Inspire you? If so, I want to hear how it’s done. I’m ready for a workplace change in the new year and I’m not going to make resolutions. That was the old way. Instead, I’m looking for a 2016 Intention and you can help.

 

7 Thoughts

  1. The movement of awareness from (8) ‘the Boss to (5) ‘the Observer can be a liberating but challenging move, it may require some imagined loss of security and control… those do not make very exciting bed-partners anyway… as strange as it may seem, you are loved for the ‘otherness’ that you are!

    1. That’s it exactly, Sara! What comes to my mind is the Good Mother: nurturing AND able to set reasonable limits and yet that still doesn’t have the equality piece of partner. But maybe we are getting closer…

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