Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Culture of Animosity 1/19/05

It seems to me that a culture of animosity pervades so much human interaction, whether corporate or individual. We’ve been in a state of constant sparring with our primary licensee, who happens to be, at least for now, our sole source of income. I am certain that both parties would make considerably more money if we could work together, supporting each other. I continue to advocate a more cooperative approach to our relationship, not just because I’d rather interact directly with their management than have our lawyers firing shots across each other’s bows, which I would, but because I know that it’s the best way to jumpstart sales on both ends, if we supply our expertise to their sales force and if they wholly support our sales efforts and those of our independent representatives, without paranoia, secrecy and jealousy. In the meantime, between trying to manage the relationship with this licensee and all the relationships related to it, and trying to close some new business, which feels impossible and takes forever, and doing all of this with new independant living arrangements, I continue to look for a job. Today I saw a new job posting for a very interesting administrative position with a university in another part of the state. They advertised for the same job early last summer, and I applied for it because it sounded quite wonderful and, while a bit of a stretch into the academic arena, it seemed to otherwise be an excellent fit for my skills. In retrospect, I did not follow up on that application last summer with enough enthusiasm to demonstrate my desire. Although I was very interested in the position, the notion of a move was daunting and I had not yet begun my job search in earnest, as we were working fulltime on an immediate sales opportunity. Even with most of the right skills, I’m not really qualified for this job in terms of experience, but, it seems to me that the fact that they’re running the ad again indicates that whoever they last hired, did not work out, so they might just be willing to take a chance if the chemistry is right. My problem is that I’ve set my mind on something I really want. It’s a modest and, some think silly, aspiration, and I have no idea if they’ll have me, but I have a hard time mustering the excitement for a new application for a revived opportunity, when I’m mid-stream in the interview process for a job I really, really want. There’s something fake, almost unfaithful, about it. That said, in the spirit of cooperation I’ve been so avidly pleading with our licensee to embrace, I think I’ll muster a candid, open cover letter for the revived opportunity and see what happens. I’ll dig out the writing samples I sent them so I’ll know not to duplicate, and send a new, improved assortment. I’ll try my best to communicate clearly to them who I am, and trust them to know if there might be a possibility of a fit. I will follow up, with enthusiasm. I am different now. Since I first considered this, I have come very, very close to getting a job that would have required me to move to another town, so I’ve had the chance to really think about it. In fact, the job I want might require me to move to another state, but it would likely only be for a relatively short time. I’m comfortable with that, although I realize it would put a strain on my youngest son. We’ve talked through it extensively and he fully understands the nature of my needing to find work outside our family business. There’s a wide array of things I could and would like to do. My skills could be adapted to any number of career paths in any number of industries. Of course, by definition, someone would have to take a chance on me because of my age, but I am certain that if I just keep looking and sending out letters and resumes, I’ll find the right fit and be of service to some venture. I do know that I’ve learned from my recent experiences that a corporate culture that respects each individual and a belief in cooperative interaction are of paramount importance to me and that I would rather remain unemployed than go to work someplace infected with a culture of animosity.

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