My job has been a lot lately.
From the outside, recruiting probably seems pretty simple. We have people to recruit, we have goals to hit, and we need to get people through the door and into the Air Force. But there is a whole lot that happens between those things, and most of it isn’t stuff you can control.
People change their minds. They don’t show up. They decide they’re not ready. Someone gets disqualified. Something gets delayed. A testing site closes. Then you look at the numbers at the end of the month and you’re still expected to hit the goal.
That’s probably the most frustrating part of the job. You can do a lot of things right and still have a bad month.
At the same time, there are things that are completely within our control, and those are the things I have a harder time letting go. If someone isn’t communicating, isn’t following through, or isn’t doing what they’re supposed to do, that’s different. Those are the situations where you have to have the uncomfortable conversations and figure out what needs to change.
I’ve also had to learn that being responsible for a team doesn’t mean I can fix everything myself. That’s something I still struggle with. If something isn’t getting done, my first instinct is to just jump in and do it. It’s faster, and I know it’ll get done. But that’s not really helping anyone in the long run.
My job is to get the team to where they need to be, not personally do everyone’s job for them.
There are definitely days when I leave work frustrated. Sometimes it feels like I’m spending the entire day fixing problems that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Then there are days when something goes right and you remember why you care about the job. Someone finally gets a win, the team hits a goal, or you see somebody you’ve been working with start to turn things around.
Those are the days that make the other ones worth it.
I’ve been doing this long enough to know there is always going to be another problem. That’s just the job. What I’m trying to get better at is leaving some of it at work.
I have enough going on outside of work. I’m training for a 70.3, getting ready for the NYC Marathon, coaching cycling, spending time with family and friends, and trying to have an actual life somewhere in the middle of all of that.
Work is important to me. I care about doing a good job and taking care of my people.
But at the end of the day, it’s still a job.
Tomorrow there will be another email, another problem, and probably another number someone wants me to explain.
I’ll deal with it then.