In my previous position, I had a direct report. She was an admin I inherited with the job. In my transition meeting with the person I was replacing,  our discussion about the admin was basically “she’s been on a personal improvement plan, but the issue has mostly cleared up, so I’ll close that out before I leave.” That’s not exactly an auspicious start, and truth be told, it was not really an auspicious relationship.

Do not get me wrong, she was a nice enough person, but I never felt like we were working together. Instead, it mostly felt like me trying to minimize the damage she was causing and my expectations.

Maybe my expectations were too high. I had been hired into the company at the exact same position she was, and had had two promotions. When I was at the level she was, I was at the start of my career. She was at the end of hers. I saw the admin position as a stepping point, to make the connections I needed to do more. She saw it has the ending point, a position (per her stories- I have some doubts about their veracity) she stepped down to as she was preparing to retire.

But what it worked out to was that I spent my time having to be “the boss” and keeping her in check. (The worst of her conduct violations all occurred when I was out of the office.) It was not what I wanted, what I expected, or even a reflection of what my time as an admin had been. I hated being her boss, and when she left in the first round of layoffs, I was honestly relieved. I had to take on some additional work, but that was so much less stressful that managing her, that I was thankful for it.

Now we fast forward to my new position. I have a team (kind of, sort of)- three staff members who will be reporting to me about 50% of the time as we ramp up our new unit. In a few months, they should report to me full time.

Every interaction I have had with other people regarding my new staff has been positive. Everyone has great things to say about them- how good they are at their jobs, what a good team they are, etc. And I must say, that makes a huge difference.

Last Wednesday, I had my first chance to sit down with my team and just talk to them. We talked about ourselves, and our backgrounds- how I have no experience in the work they do, but was brought on due to other strengths. I talked about my management style (such as it is) and my communication style. I wanted to get to know them, and they were excited to get to know me and talk about the work we are going to be embarking on together.

It was, quite honestly, one of the best experiences I have ever had in a work environment, making it the complete opposite of every meeting I ever had with my last direct report. I left our little meeting feeling energized and excited about the people I am going to be working with. I left that meeting feeling like a leader, not a boss. And all I can think of is how lucky I am to have such a great team.

I cannot wait to see what we can do together. And how awesome is that?