Good Vibrations
Training sessions on payroll and benefits can be such a drag, right?
One of the most eye-glaze inducing things to sit through for sure. And it can even be considered a form of torture - the likes found in the Pit of Despair.
So when I was told last minute that I had to go to one of our other offices to do a training session, I thought “how the hell?!”. Because each office has their own methods, means, and ways that you don’t just roll up in your Prius to interrupt. I would surely upset someone’s apple cart without even looking or breathing near the apple cart.
As I pulled in by palmetto trees and bubbling fountains, I decided to reinforce myself with a bit of truth - just show up, woman. I could choose to arrive bruising my mind with fears of messing up if I didn’t present everything just so or I could choose to go in there showing up as me sharing details of what I know while being open with zero ulterior motives. At least it would be my truth if I went with option two (I suck at playing office politics because I don't know how to play).
Showing up as just Karen giving the most boring (yet vital) of information in real language without reading off of a prefab PowerPoint would be a huge success to me.
And I think it ended up being just that.
During the first 120 seconds I had some nerves (especially seeing the fancy chair I had to fit my ample hips in), but then there was a shift. We went from conversations, to not following the PowerPoint provided, to some of us laughing, to “oops, I need to add this bit of info”, to sharing how we’re all adults and Payroll staff are not here to hold everyone’s hand to remind, plead, and beg for time sheets to be turned in on time (we’re in the South, not many have fluency in kind bluntness). And just like that they were learning, laughing, awake, and even appreciative. They may even remember the stuff we went over.
Today my confidence in training others not as a cog in the machine or a group to lecture to from a podium, but as flesh and blood people, felt fantastic. I’ve done this before, but it’s just been lying dormant for the past couple of years. It was the reminder I needed of how I love educating people in a way that flips the script on how the work gets done.
The after show?
I didn't get completely away from office politics. There were people who were a bit elite in their vibe. People who wanted to make me very aware how their office does such and such differently because they are a larger office, etc. I reacted genuinely with my megawatt smile and communicated how I love visiting other offices to learn and see how everyone does their thing. I wasn’t going to join in the pissing contest (that’s just gross).
This may surprise you (insert sarcasm), but in the medical field there can be waves of elitism that make people like me feel the need to shrink because it just seems easier to react that way. But today, I chose to push past the usual reaction to shrink and just did me with zero shrinkage while being respectful of each person.
I know this may seem small to you who are changing the world in grander ways.
But today, I felt closer to me.
Today my abilities and the knowing of my abilities merged.
I learned I haven’t lost my desire to engage with people from a place of truth.
Today I gained a bit of clarity on what I love to do.
Today I stood up. I didn’t shrink.
And that was a much needed and refreshing cosmic shift that came from such a small vibration.
