I Changed Jobs! What the Hell Was I Thinking?!

People quit their jobs. In fact, global studies show that a whopping 79 percent of people quit their jobs because of a ‘lack of appreciation’. Though that number seems to be increasing, you’ve heard that stat before – people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. Here’s another scary high statistic: according to The Conference Board, 53 percent of Americans are currently unhappy at work. In your circle, that’s half of the people you work with. You might be able to name all of them. You might be one of them.

Whether they go out in a deconstructive roaring rage or laudably in a blaze of glory, people move on. I did…though my circumstances were a little different. In complete truth, the move I decided to make was actually five years overdue. I’d reached a point in my career where I had long since peaked in the contribution I could bring to my organization; I felt as if my creative juices were in a draught and the opportunities to do something new, different, and a little cutting edge had gone dull. However, the biggest problem was I too content, too entrenched in what I allowed to become status quo. I loved the team I built and fought alongside in what became our day-to-day trenches, but I kept peeking up over the ledge seeking a little more excitement.

The hard reality was if I expected and wanted my career to move, I was going to have to make the first leap. And I’ll be danged people if that’s not incredibly hard to wrap your head around! My experience and tenure at my job afforded me many advantages. For example, I knew what to expect for the “unexpected,” and the notion of rising to a foreign challenge made my mouth go a little dry. I knew the people I worked with like the back of my hand, and the idea of working with strangers made my palms a little sweaty. I knew the work we would be doing for the next three years, and already had a plan for all of it (only because we’d done it before), and the idea of creating new plans made my brain and heart race out of sync.

Deciding to change jobs is difficult! Leaving what you know to willingly venture into the unknown causes many bodily reactions. (These millennials who do it every other year certainly have more gumption than I do.) But there’s a great meme that I keep on my grounding board (← kind of like a dream board but, but with the opposite effect – it helps me remember everything will be OK) that depicts where the magic happens – out of your comfort zone. And I did it! I jumped right out of the mediocre environment I created for myself, where I was too comfortable to make any waves in that no wake comfort zone.

The good news is, I am continuing my communications career of 16 years on a whole new plane. The hard news is, sometimes I feel like I’m sucking wind at this new altitude as I am climbing the steep learning curve of a whole new audience, a whole new lingo and a whole new set of contacts. Sure, there are many differences, to which I’m still adjusting, that some days cause me to ask myself, “What the Hell was I thinking?!” So, in answer to that question, at my five-month evaluation I took a long look at what I’d accomplished…and survived. In this short amount of time, I have:

• Participated from a seat at the table in two extended days of organizational budget planning during my first week on the job
• Completed hours of training I never knew existed (bed bugs, hazardous chemicals and crisis de-escalation, oh my!) within my first month on the job
• Applied my refreshed First Aid training at my son’s baseball practice – little pitchers can have heat stroke, too
• Rode in a pitch black elevator – living on the work life edge (#Random but a noteworthy experience – Have you ever thought how dark those things can get?)
• Participated in a full-scale environmental emergency disaster training on my one-month anniversary – Where do you send the media when a tornado hits your hospital? What happens if a patient elopes during transport to the alternate location? How do you keep patients’ family informed? My head was swimming.
• Planned and  implemented an internal communications campaign for the Go Live of our electronic medical records system
• Broke a dress code rule, convinced decision makers to change the dress code
• Done more design work than writing – from an employee Dress Code Handbook to invitations, posters, and more this was a full fruit basket turnover for this copywriter and a welcome change for my desktop publishing heart
• Printed our logo on sugar cookies!
• Helped to redesign our logo – designed mockup in Microsoft Word (← Just wow, I know.) – and designed new identity guidelines, business cards, e-signature, letterhead, memos, and all the collateral things
• Coordinated a grand opening and ribbon cutting for a new outpatient clinic (my first ribbon cutting ceremony!)
• Visited the city’s Emergency Operations Center and learned about my role and where I’d be in the Joint Information Center as Public Information Officer
• And so. much. more.

So, what the Hell was I thinking? Full disclosure I was thinking I was scared out of my mind. Leaving my advantages and tenure to start over was a terrifying thought. But, I was also thinking nothing felt challenging anymore and I had become too settled. I was thinking I needed to diversify my experience and my portfolio. I was thinking opportunities for me to gain new experience and to move up the ladder were too few and far  between, if nonexistent. I was thinking now before I missed an opportunity to see myself grow, to become a stronger professional, and to share both my communications and leadership skills in a whole new application.

I was thinking what would be best for me and my career…and the pros, as difficult as they might come and their own due time, outweighed the cons.

About the Author

Kaley Daniel, MBA, BA, CCP is the new Communications Director of the Corporate Leadership Team at StarCare Specialty Health System. She is also a past Director on the National Board for AWC. Kaley is a member of the Lubbock, Texas professional chapter.

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