Dealing with disappointment

In 2011. I am serving in my company's women's leadership committee.  You might wonder why single out just the women but that has always been my heart so this seemed like a great opportunity to reach out among the masses to connect with a few great women.  I have never met a women who isn't great.  I have met many who believe they are less, live like they are less and except less than their greatness demands but I have never met a women who is not magnificent. 

Each year our women's council does a little event to coincide with International Women's Day.  This year we have asked hundreds of women across HP to contribute 100 word essays on a variety of topics dealing with our careers.  We offered up about 7 different topics for the essays to deal with and not surprisingly the topic of work/life balance received an overwhelming number of articles while dealing with disappointment received no attention at all.  I guess we all would rather not have to deal with life when it hands us the undesirable.  In those times though there is greater growth. 

When I started at HP in 2000, I had aspirations of being a people manager.  I did not want to spend my career locked away in a classroom teaching bits and bytes to learners who would have rather been elsewhere or who knew more about computers than I ever would. Trust me when I say that I pursued this career movement with a great passion.  I completed my advanced degree in Human Resources in order to make myself more marketable and then we off shored our HR departments.  I studied Project Management and prepared for the PMP certification test.  I was registered for the preparation class when it was determined that HP would no longer pay for your certification test. I interviewed for positions and was told I was in the top candidates and among the brightest and boldest of the talent at HP.  Yet I was never the top candidate and the job was never mine.  For 9 years, I worked hard and poured all my best into HP.  During that time, I developed the mantra "It just isn't the right time, YET!" Each time I would say it I was reminded that the current disappointment wasn't the end of the road but was just a stepping stone to my goal.  Each disappointment was a jumping off point for me to learn.  And I did learn.  I learned compassion for those who are working hard and cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I learned patience in spite of the obstacles. I learned running faster and jumping higher isn't nearly as good as running smarter.  I learned that when you stay the course eventually you find your way home.  And I did find my home, in a small little niche group called the ESOC, where I have been able in the last two years to nurture and cultivate a passion for learning in my employees.  My team is amazing, they are all I could have ever wanted in employees and yet when disappointment comes, as it always does, I simply whisper the mantra..."it just isn't the right time YET!"