Since March I’ve been privileged to be working on a project which aims to make my department not only a fabulous place to work but also an environment where people want to come to work every day.

Trust me, this project has been challenging.

It involves many intangibles. People issues. Dealing with culture. Team dynamics. A lot of ‘fuzzy’ issues that you can’t exactly put your finger on, but you know they exist.

As the months have gone by, the project has lost traction and as team member’s workloads have increased, the project unfortunately has taken a back seat. There appeared to be a lack of commitment as meetings started to drop out of diaries and initial plans fell by the way side.

This week, the team re-convened and set out with a renewed commitment to getting things done.

Something was different. The team dynamic had changed. A new team member had joined the project. She sat in our first meeting dead quiet, not saying a word, just listening (note to self: learn this skill).

However, today, she came to sit at my desk and we started talking about the project. Within 20 minutes, she had inspired me with over 10 different ideas. Simple ideas, but awesome ones! I couldn’t contain myself at all the amazing possibilities that exist and what we could be capable of achieving and more than anything, what it would mean for my colleagues!  It’s going to be so awesome!

But what amazed me more is that we had been working on this project for so many months, and it took one person, with fresh eyes and enthusiasm like I’ve never seen before to pull it all together.

I smell success. I smell fun! I cannot wait to get this going. But more than anything, I cannot wait to start working with her! She’s such an inspiration that you don’t often find every day!

I urge you to seek out people like her. They can make all the difference.

I have very mixed emotions…

Having “survived” another tough week emotionally, I am trying to get my head around whether or not I love or hate the corporate world. You see, my whole career has been in the corporate sector. I started working a month after writing my last matric exam. No gap year or break for me. It was go, go, go! So while most of my friends went off and studied fulltime at Wits etc., the next couple of years of my life were spent studying through correspondence as I launched myself head first into the harsh corporate world.

I say harsh because that’s what corporate life is all about. It’s tough, ruthless, cruel… where only the fittest survive. That suited me when I began my working career. It pushed me, drove me. I was very ambitious and within the last 15 years, have managed to climb the corporate ladder, having worked at the top mining company in the world, to where I am now middle manager at one of the top banks in South Africa.

Lately, however, the environment in the corporate sector has changed my views. The harshness that used to drive me, inspire me, push me, nowadays seems to kill my spirit, suffocate me. I find that I have become a very different person. Hard, cold, driven, selfish. All of these qualities which you most definitely need if you intend to “make” it in this environment.

But when do you stop and say, I’ve had enough? Is there an expiry date?

I was introduced to a new colleague earlier this week. A soft-spoken gentle looking girl, and as I shook her hand, the first thought that entered my mind was, “You will not last 6 months in this place!” (Only those who understand the corporate culture will “get this” statement.)

You see, the thing is this… If you intend to make a career for yourself in the corporate world, you had better be prepared for some tough days. In fact, the way the world has moved into a place of uncertainty and constant change, expect many days when you don’t know if you are coming or going.

But isn’t that the one thing that has kept me going? The thing that has fuelled my passion and made me love it so much?

Because I do love it… well, parts of it.