The Most Unexpected Things Happen At Exactly The Right Time….

Yesterday as I was on my computer doing whatever I was doing, I got a notification on my phone. I looked at it and saw a name I haven’t seen in about 17 years. It was an old boss of mine, and I had no idea why he would be messaging me as we parted on not the best grounds. I opened the message to see a lengthy and thoughtful apology. Let me back up a little. In 2002 I was working for a great company and I was up for a pretty big promotion, but it did not come, instead my boss who already had the job got the promotion and was assigned to two positions. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed, so what did I do? I went out and started my own company and competed against them, and I have no problem saying that I kicked their ass almost clean out of the state. When I left that company they had about 15 employees in that district, I had myself and one guy I stole. Within 18 months they had 3 people and I had 4 yards and 30 employees, so my revenge was sweet, especially since I apparently wasn’t even qualified to manage a yard.

Now back to the apology. As I suspected back then, and was the case my boss at the time did not communicate my skills up the ladder to ensure I got that position. His words. This is really a sugar coated way of saying “I needed you and wasn’t willing to let you go even if it meant furthering your career and making my job tougher.” That’s the hard truth of the matter. He then told me he had been carrying this guilt with him all of this time, and that’s why he reached out to apologize. I found his apology sincere and thoughtful and truly appreciated it, I also apologized to him for making his life hell when I left, we both agreed we were young at the time and are now much wiser.

Now comes the interesting part of the story….for the last couple of months I have once again been waiting to hear about a promotion. I have an amazing job now, much better than 18 years ago, but I’m still hungry and climbing that ladder. I thought for sure I was the person who would get this promotion, but I was cautious because we have world class talent on my team and no shortage of highly qualified individuals, and this was/is to me a big promotion, but just another rung on the ladder in my career. Last week I found out I did not get the promotion, but I did get a different one, just not as big. This news came with much frustration and grief, and I began looking for a professional resume writer and LinkedIn page creator. My thoughts were “someone will recognize what I have to offer, even if this company doesn’t.” My frustration comes from this being the second time I failed to land the promotion, as well as most of my co-workers reaching out to me telling me I am getting hosed. Whatever. What’s important to note here is that I do have a great job that most people would do about anything to have, what’s also important to note is that I’m not most people, if I’m not moving up I’m moving on, I always find my own path to get where I want to be. The interesting part though is that while I am upset and fed up, I get this message from my old boss apologizing to me. It’s almost as if someone knew I needed to hear it and made it happen. To read his message and see those words, “you were the best, brightest and toughest employee that ever worked for me, and I’m sorry.” in an instant made me forget about the current situation. I guess I have been seeking validation of some sort, I don’t know. To hear it from someone I worked for so long ago didn’t really matter, it still felt great, it made me feel like for once someone was acknowledging my contribution. The most unexpected thing happened at just the right time, once again. I have realized that this has happened a few times in my life, I have also realized that every single time I wanted something really badly, it would have actually hurt my career in the long run had I gotten it. So I can only assume that this is the case still today, and me not getting this promotion is probably simply an opportunity that I haven’t recognized yet. I guess in conclusion, what this means is I still will not wait for opportunity, I will still seek it out and find it wherever it is, but while I am doing that I will not beat myself up or feel sorry for myself when it doesn’t come when I expect it to. Based on history I can only assume one thing, and that is something unexpected will always happen at just the right time.