Goodbye – Hello

Today is my last official day as an associate in corporate America. I spent almost 9 years as a vice president of information technology at a financial services company, leading the IT Help Desk for 10 direct reports in support of 2500 associates and however many clients we have using our online products. While I was never the most technical guy, I was the person who made sure our customers were happy. Every day I was at work, I gave things 100% of what I had, no matter what else was going on in my life. I’m going in today, my last day, to take care of business…again.

My job was simple: To help our IT organization increase employee & customer engagement. To be unafraid to screw their computer up, because they knew our IT department could fix just about anything they did to their computer. I got to encourage folks to stop being afraid of technology, and to realize that it wasn’t really about the tools. Instead, I helped them understand it was all about the conversations they had with their clients, with their co-workers, with those they serve, and that what really mattered was the connections you created and cultivated.

I (along with everyone else I worked with) helped drive our bottom line to be a larger (geographically, profits, and overall revenue) company from when I started on November 19th, 2001 until today, May 28th, 2010. We’ve expanded into lots of new markets, and we’ve been recognized the last 7 years by Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 places to work.

So it is with great sadness I say goodbye.

Goodbye corporate America!

Goodbye to the same paycheck every 2 weeks, no matter what happened.

Goodbye to health insurance, dental insurance, pre-tax parking, matching 401(k) contributions.

I’m not saying goodbye to my co-workers though. Most of them are not just co-workers, but friends. Friends I will miss dearly…though I expect to keep in contact with many of them.

Hello to full-time Make IT Great!

I’m doing something completely different, but exactly the same:

I’ll be helping IT organizations increase employee & customer engagement. Help them show their customers it’s really not about the tools; instead it’s all about the conversations you participate in and the connections you create and cultivate. Teach them to leverage the technology instead of just using it.

Only now, instead of focusing on making just 1 organization great, I can increase my scope and help many organizations see the value of making smart technology investments.

Hello to no guaranteed income.

Hello to finding my own insurance plan, parking in my driveway, setting up my own individualized savings plans.

Hello to a whole new world of possibilities.

It is with GREAT joy and awareness and discovery and anticipation that I move forward into this new world, full-time, starting Tuesday June 1st.

There’s a lot of anxiety, to get it started, and to move forward.

I’m a little nervous about the change. Only a little though.

Maybe that will change as time goes by, but for now, I’m only a little concerned.

Thanks for coming with me this far on the journey. I hope you’ll come back, and join me as this next chapter of my life gets written.

Goodbye – Hello.

The best is yet to come.

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