Time To Bow Out

This morning, as I checked the inbox of my work email, I saw an invite to a 10:15am meeting. And the subject was "Compensation Update". With everything that's going on within our department, and within the company, in general, meetings, such as this, scare me. This one did.

I asked my peers if they had any idea what this meeting was all about. But no one knew. It was everyone's guess.

10:15 came, and we all quietly headed to our boss' office. The atmosphere was somber. Once settled, she dropped the bomb. She was "retiring". Well, she corrected herself and said that her position was being eliminated and that she decided to retire.

True? Well, she said so.

My Boss

At this point, I don't want to really talk about it. I took in the news as I heard it, and I won't put any other meaning to it. And that's for this post. I will keep it clean and free of any intrigue or speculation. For those in the know, you know. Period.

But I do want to tell you that my boss was (and will continue to be) a very principled woman, who called it as she saw it. And it probably caused her dearly. But deep in her heart and in her mind, she knew she did the right thing and can sleep comfortably at night. I admired her for this.

In the 7+ years that I have known this lady, there have been occasions where I saw her as a normal person, and not as my boss. I remembered the very first team activity we had at her house. We cooked, drank, ate, and interacted. It was my first glimpse of who this lady was outside the work environment. And we would have more of these kinds of interactions over the years.

We shared a lot of ups and downs as a team, and she was there to make sure we continued to function as one unit. It was tough, but I knew she tried. I guess we were just dysfunctional. The last few years had been challenging, but, to a certain extent, she had managed to maintain the peace and (in)sanity within the group.

For me, I had my share of frustrations and disagreements. But I would like to remember my relationship with her as being healthy -- an overall general satisfaction with a tinge of contentiousness. I guess it's having worked and lived in NYC that had allowed us to keep discussions on a professional level and not take things personally.

I am sad for my boss. We've talked about it and had seen the writings on the wall. But this was so sudden, even she was surprised. On the other hand, I am happy for her because she can move on to the next chapter of her life and begin doing counselling work. Having worked in the corporate world for more than 35 years, I think she needs an extended break.... and a couple of martinis perhaps.

God speed, Cathy. Wishing you all the best. You will be missed.....