Lessons from Giraffes Can’t Dance….my favorite book to read to my kids when they were younger.
“Gerald the giraffe has thin legs and crooked knees. At the Annual Jungle Dance he watches the other animals dancing but when he tries to dance they laugh at him.
Gerald leaves the dance and meets a friendly cricket who advises him to listen to the sounds of nature and follow his own rhythm. The cricket starts playing his violin and Gerald starts to dance like he has never danced before. The other animals are amazed and ask Gerald how he learnt to dance like that.”
This week at work, I got recognition from my boss….basically for staying healthy for the month of December and showing up to work at a busy time for our department….but positive recognition nonetheless.
This fairly minor event got me thinking a lot….as I do…about my job history.
Five years ago, I was in a job that was not a good fit for me. I was not very good at it and didn’t enjoy it. I was surrounded by great people and given a lot of training, but the situation was just not good for me. I can remember having monthly one-on-one meetings with my manager talking about ways for me to improve; mentoring, job shadowing etc. But I never did improve or feel comfortable, and eventually left that job.
A couple more jobs followed…
Now five years later, I’m still the same person. I have not gotten smarter, or changed my work habits… but I’m in a job that felt comfortable from day 1. I quickly became a valued member of the team. There has never been a conversation about me needing to improve and I’ve become a trainer/mentor to new employees.
“We all can dance when we find music that we love.”
I hope my kids find their own music and dance!
