Epic Work Transition Post .... I am very grateful for continuing my career post transition and after thinking about conversation I have had recently on this topic ... the idea was thrown out there ... when it comes to work --- it is not about the I ... it is more about the We ... This is indeed the case and let me share a small glimpse into my own work transition. It has been almost 6 months now since I have been working and living full time as Hannah. Those of you that know my story might say ... Hannah you have a strange transition story on the job ... it is like a fairytale and I wish I was so lucky to have that happen to me and I am not sure I believe you Hannah that everyone was so nice and it just worked out. Hopefully my story begins the norm as the world moves forward ... but the question continued to nag at me ... why did it go so smoothly? Yes they were accepting and yes I work hard ... but this one was kind of one was particularly smooth. Upon reflection I think it is because the process became as much about the company culture as it was about Hannah. I was able to get out of the way of the process and let go as it moved forward ... this is the start of an exploratory thought about a transition lecture that is being prepped for being shared in April. 2014, I transitioned from male to female and became the first openly transgender employee at my company. Although that idea fits into one sentence, in all fairness it could fill a few pages in terms of what it means to me professionally. In order to perform our best on the job we need to have a combination of different conditions converge. These include opportunity, background education, skill set, ability, readiness and an internal steadiness to perform at our best. Getting past staff acceptance, My transition process was elegantly designed by HR to create minimal work interruptions. Of course, I use the term minimal a bit tongue in cheek. My personal goal asked a lot from the organization and also asked for a large scale coordination which could only be brought to life if everyone worked together. As most of you may probably guess ... everything went smoothly during the transitional process and I was back at work as I am today without too many interruptions. I will be writing detailed info on how some of these goals were accomplished and some of my internal mindset characteristics both helped and hurt this cause. Through a monumental effort of getting everyone on the same page ... I returned to work and returned to life. Through the year I have had countless employees come and tell me what an inspiration my story was/is to them, but that was not the takeaway that really hit me. Although I appreciated the compliment, the next line out of their mouth was always something like ... I think this is an amazing company to help and what a great place to work, wow ... so awesome! Your manager is amazing, I knew he was fantastic but wow ... I just so love this company. Dont you just love working here Hannah? Because of the bravery and coordinated efforts of my manager, HR, the entire executive team, co-workers, the entire company and myself, it did create an opportunity for me to finally return to work as myself, but what I hadnt expected was to hear the outpouring of love and renewed commitment so many had for the company where I work and which feels like my second home. The strength that was needed as an organizational foundation to support my change had also simultaneously created a renewed love, passion and appreciation for the organization and the company culture. I have been working for just over 5 months as myself and the momentum continues to carry forward and I am assimilated smoothly into our culture and daily grind and interact interact with many on our staff as we are over 600 strong. When we all moved forward together, the outcome was not one of acceptance, but it was one of support and helping me to begin my life fully as a professional woman while simultaneously creating an additional thread of transgender acceptance and support with hundreds of employees that work side by side with me . Ultimately, I thought the big win would only be for myself and my team as I would settle into my new life, but the larger winner was the culture of company, the company and the entire transgender community. This was one of those a moments where a personal achievement on the job met professional job achievement and simply simply went right. oh yeah and the uber cute geeky web girl got to keep her job! Self serving shameless plug! I simply realized the only thing I truly had to lose by not trying this ... was myself. I believe we become what we think about ... so you can approach this process with fear and a mindset of having hatred, friction and loss while trying to run the initiative solo ... or you can approach it with a fierce can do attitude and desire to tirelessly look for solutions and harness the power of the entire organization and your own community to accomplish your goal. If this goofball trans-woman can find her way ... I am hoping you can as well!
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:04:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015