THE REBOOT

How COVID made one manager re-invent himself.

BY DEAN JACKSON, CCAM-HR

Ever heard the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention?” Well, 2020 has turned into one mother of a year and it’s is forcing all of us, companies and individuals alike, to think out of the box and become both inventors and re-inventors. Every aspect of our work and our home lives has undergone a paradigm shift in the space of a few short months (though it feels like I’m writing this on August 52nd).

I have had to re-invent myself and my career, and I’ve learned a few things along the way.

Back in December I was the long-term General Manager of a high-rise building. Then I decided to embark on a new adventure, but I got sidelined by the shutdowns occasioned by the COVID pandemic. I found myself at home with my wife for over four months.

While the sabbatical resulted in a spectacular garden and some well-earned cooking skills, the job hunt was stymied by the fact that the world was on pause. I had to not only think outside of the box, I had to build an entirely different box.

I ended up working with the CEO of a management company to build a position in which my skills could fulfill a need within his company. After being proactive and recognizing a need that hadn’t been addressed, and that may not have been recognized, I was able to evaluate my whole skillset to determine how I could best take care of that need. I had to break down my career of nearly 20 years into its constituent parts.

I HAD TO NOT ONLY THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, I HAD TO BUILD AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BOX

A General Manager is more than just one job, it is comprised of many jobs. From contract negotiator or project manager, to budgeter in chief, or HR Generalist, once the wide variety of skills was put on paper I no longer had to be pigeonholed into that one position. Once I realized what I could bring to the table, I was able to see and explain the value that I could bring to the company and reboot my career.

For most of my career I had been reactive. Whether I was looking for a job or one sought me out, it was always about fitting the square GM peg into the corresponding square hole of an open GM position. There were a lot of great experiences and learning along the way, but very little re-invention.

The thing is, once re-invention became necessary, I found out that the sky’s the limit. I learned not to be defined by my job, nor by my lack of a job. It was a hard lesson, and one that I still have to re-learn from time to time. I have to remember to tell myself “you are the one that does the defining.”

ONCE RE-INVENTION BECAME NECESSARY, I FOUND OUT THAT THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Dean Jackson, CCAM-HR is Director of Project Management at Collins Management, ACMC.