Why do you stay?

I celebrated my work anniversary yesterday at Community Partners of Dallas.

12 Years.

Of course, I had forgotten about it.  Luckily for me, my assistant Danni is in charge of recognizing all staff members' work anniversaries, so I had a card and a sign and everyone at the office saying nice things and/or emailing me.

I need to explain that prior to coming to CPD, I had never been in the same place longer than 2 or 3 years.  While I loved many of my past jobs and bosses (still do -- some of them are my best friends), there was always something missing. 

And I hate to admit it, but the thing that was missing was me. 

My old jobs were jobs -- by that I mean that I showed up (most of the time) and did what was required.  Some days were inspiring, but mostly it was rote.  Come in, make coffee, do what was required, and watch the clock until time to go home. 

You may be thinking -- well, that is probably because in those other jobs Paige wasn't the boss, so yes of course it was rote because someone else was telling her what to do.  And yes, there is some truth to that, but CPD was not my first job as CEO for a non-profit.  And in one of the jobs I even started my own company and was my own boss, so nobody was telling me what to do.

I already told you -- I was missing.

When I came to interview for this job I just knew it was for me.  I knew I could do what was asked of me by the board.  I knew how to tell the story of our kids.  I knew how to evaluate programs and decide how to make them better.  I just knew I was in it.

I wasn't missing anymore.  When I'm not at work, I'm thinking about it.  And I'm grateful to have found a whole lot of great people to join me here -- both staff members and volunteers.

Twelve years is a long-ass time, but even now I'm still in it.