The dizzying reality of this process is now beginning to sink in, as this week I had the task of notifying colleagues of my intentions. This was difficult because I consider them friends and not just work colleagues. I also feel a sense of loyalty to them that my actions are about to betray.
I elected to speak to them individually rather than as a group because I had slightly different things that I wanted to say to each of them. I was perhaps a little surprised to find that the reactions I received ranged from disappointment and sadness to bewilderment and shock.
The range of reactions is driven by the fact that I work within a family business and have done so for around twenty years. Consequently, I’m sure people expected me to be there until the end; a lifer as they say. The truth is I expected to be that person myself and on the face of it I look happy in my work. However, I have long denied a sense that something was not quite right and as I said in my earlier posts, acknowledging this has been the key to making a change.
Having let people know, it’s a strange feeling to think that I am part of the companies past and present but I am no longer part of the future. That shift in tense represents a huge step into my new reality.
J.
