This was my first week back to work after seven wonderful weeks at home with my family. My feeling toward work is very odd because it seems like I have been out of work for a very long time. However, it doesn’t seem like my seven weeks at home was very long at all. My first week back has been mostly catch-up with some new meetings/projects sprinkled in. On Thursday I attended my monthly “Emerging Leaders Program” (ELP) meeting. ELP is a program designed to take associates with leadership potential and provide a program that builds on those leadership skills by providing proven leadership framework material. I missed the last two meetings since I couldn’t come into work during my Paid Family Leave time.
I usually have an odd anxiety going into each of these meetings. I can’t explain the anxiety because every time I leave at the end of the day I have a renewed sense of purpose and confidence. The only source I can think of are the two minute leadership experience speeches. For the first part of the year we had to speak about a leadership experience from the previous month. However, this Thursday’s meeting was the first time we tried something different. Our ELP coordinators decided they were going to write topics for us to choose out of a bag. We then must give a two minute impromptu speech on the topic with the only time to formulate our ideas being the time it takes to walk to the front of the room.
My time to speak fell about in the middle of the fifteen member group. I was getting a good feel for the types of questions, which usually sounded like “explain a time you had to use the supporting behavior situational leadership style.” Easy enough, right? My turn came up and I pulled a piece of paper out of the bag that seemed slightly larger than the norm. I started to read the paper out loud to the group:
“Your good friend and co-worker of six years recently told you that he’s gay. Another co-worker found out and he let you know that he is uncomfortable working with the gay associate on a project team due to his values and beliefs. How do you handle the situation?”
WHAT?!? They threw me a monster curve ball here. I’m talking one that started above my head and just dropped straight through the strike zone while I bailed out of the batter’s box. I took a deep breath and walked (a little slower than normal) up to the front of the room. Keep in mind there are company senior leaders in the room and I missed the last meeting where they covered diversity and inclusion.
To my surprise, I nailed the speech. I deflected some of the tension and uncomfortable air in the room by relating to the discussions I have had with gay men and the challenges they face. Then I said this specific question is about a gay man, but the sentiment from the uncomfortable co-worker applies to almost any situation where a person is different be it sexual preference or ethnicity. I discussed the fact that the root of this fear is typically a lack of knowledge or incorrect information. I talked about referring the co-worker to the many programs our HR department offers annually. In the end I took a very difficult question at face value and gave a successful, eloquent speech.
On another note, let me explain how excited I am to come home every day. I drive home with a smile on my face knowing I’ll be holding my son soon. I walk into the house and am greeted by a huge smile on Jennifer’s face. Motherhood really agrees with Jennifer and I wish I could make it work for her to stay home. That’s for another post, I suppose.
I also rode my bike into work today. There is a group of people that bike commute in the office and with gas prices so high the group is getting larger. I tuned my bike up last night and met the ELP coordinator at the river bike trail. The ride is about nine miles, so it’s not that bad at all. Let me qualify that… the ride THERE isn’t bad, but wait until I have to face the 100 degree heat this afternoon.
