Ok so as of the beginning of this week I started to be my teams leader. It’s been a two year long road getting here and I fear this position I have now (which I’m trying very hard to both be good at and get the heck out of) might be cursed.
So Sherman let us hop into the way back machine and hope that this type of post is allowed as I tell this rather depressing story. Let it be a cautionary tale to some of you.
It all started April of 2019 when I transferred from one business sector of my company to another. I interviewed with the person who would be my boss, let’s call her Nancy, and her boss. It turns out this business sector has been growing and Nancy’s position has now grown enough to need a full team. Cool. I start getting the hang of things and then March 2020 rolls round and covid hits and Nancy quits.
I liked Nancy so at some point I looked her up on Facebook to stay friends. Turns out she had a bit of a mental break down and now sells art for a non-mainstream church. Odd but I thought nothing of it and went on with my life.
We stay without a manager (despite one or two of my coworkers applying for the job) for quite a while. A business analyst decides to help our team out (we are supposed to be 5 people but are currently 2) and take over some of the more business side things so we can worry more about the stuff we were actually hired to do rather than worrying about paper work. Let’s call him Sam. Sam helps us out and functions as a temp manager for us for a while. Then one day we get an e-mail stating Sam will be taking an extended vacation due to troubles with his visa. Not a huge deal. Then in December 2020 we are told Sam is getting deported due to his visa not being renewed. So that’s 2…
Still things happen. We stay without a manager for quite a while again then in late 2021 we are told that they hired a guy from one of their non-American business units to be our manager. Not a big deal he’s nice, and good at the role. Beginning of 2022, he takes over full time, and in this passed March he moved to the US.
Now it’s important to understand that under this latest manager the team thrived. We hired 2 people, lost one to promotion, and he, let’s call him Frank, has done wonders for the teams quality of life. He has gotten long standing headaches fixed, refined our processes, and generally proven to be a really good boss. However it also means I’m second in command and the most knowledgeable person on the team as far as what we actually do day in day out.
So we come in Tuesday and first thing is an urgent meeting schedule by my bosses boss. Turns out over the weekend Frank was in an accident and passed away. So that’s 3.
And as senior member it’s fallen to me to take hold of the team and manage it till they find someone to replace Frank.
I’m making light of this a bit, but honestly I’m heart broken cause I really liked Frank, and worried I might be next all at the same time…