Back to work & worry

Well, maybe not so much worry...it's simply an old saying my Dad used.  After some brief research I conclude it comes from a quote of Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe)
"It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction."

In any event, it was back to work today after a short night.  I guess sleeping in yesterday wasn't a particular good idea. :-(

There were a couple of major announcements today, the first was our big boss' announcement of his upcoming retirement. He's been talking retirement for at least a year, but with the major changes that occurred over the summer and fall he held off.  Though today's announcement wasn't unexpected, he's be leaving very soon as he plans to leave at the end of January and use up some of his earned vacation he hasn't taken over the past several years.

The next announcement, received within an hour of the first, let us know who his replacement (at least temporarily) will be.  This was definitely a more interesting message and evoked a number of conversation.  CB will be returning to our office after several years working in our regional office.  She transferred because the opportunities within our office were few and far between.  Since then she's steadily been promoted and as a result, she'll now be our boss - if she'd stayed I suspect she might be a supervisor as I am.

Before she left our office, she and I worked together on the same team and at the time we were both going through issues with our parents.  When either of us needed to be away, the other would cover the workload that needed to be done, so neither of us came back to a pile of uncompleted work.

So I'm thrilled for her, and excited to have to the opportunity to work with (for) her again.  There are those, however, that are not feeling as I do.  Most of those are individuals who are, for lack of a better term, jealous of her success. They cannot see her as anything but the entry level employee she was before she moved on.

When I  became a supervisor I had some difficulty gaining the acceptance of those I had worked with previously who now reported to me.   I suspect CB is going to have similar, but bigger problems, as those who will report directly to her were once her superiors.  The old boys club is still alive and well in our office, more the shame.

I think she'll have to make a bold move, perhaps  by addressing some of the residual issues left from the recent changes, or better still dealing with some of the problem employees whose behaviour has been left unchecked for far too long.

All I know for certain, is there are interesting times ahead!  No worries....