Very interesting this graphic came up in my social media feed earlier today on what would’ve been my 17th Googleversary.
Just minutes before it popped up I was thinking about a sailboat metaphor a former manager shared several years back during a career development chat. The advice given was along the lines of needing to choose a specific destination to focus on and intentionally navigate to, rather than just letting the wind steer my boat. After reflecting on the same metaphor (𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦) recently with the help of a fellow xoogler, I now realize that my ability to be flexible + agile + resilient to go wherever the winds may steer my boat (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰!) is a skill/gift unto itself. As she put it, “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.”. I never thought of it that way before, but I much prefer that take!
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After all, that’s how I ended up at Google to begin with (𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥) and also how I began and flourished in my role as a Contracts Manager (𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦). Neither of those opportunities were even a blip on my radar before they came about, and yet, I’m so glad I followed the possibilities in the direction they led me.
Similarly, I’ve made the best of being laid off as part of Google’s Reduction In Force by devoting my time to volunteer for causes I am truly passionate about, and in the process I’ve been growing my skillset by taking on stretch opportunities and collaborating with incredible people I might not have otherwise encountered — none of which I’d previously planned for this year!
Only time will tell where my boat brings me next . . .
