Monday, January 26, 2009

befuddlement

it's funny how, when you think you finally have life by the tail, things happen to muck it up.

i'm sure this is the feeling Gov. Blagojevich has as he begins his round of PR/reputation recuperation interviews with major outlets this week (look for him on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Larry King.) i know i said that i wouldn't malign those with genuine mental illnesses by calling him crazy but his behavior befuddles me.

when he's impeached (and there's no doubt that he will be impeached by the end of this week and Pat Quinn will be our new governor by the beginning of February) will he refuse to leave his office? will he force security to eject him from his cushy digs in Springfield? will we be entertained/mortified by a videotape of our impeached governor yelling and screaming while being forcibly ejected from his office? or will he accept his fate and entertain/mortify us with a final press conference which includes a dramatic reading of Whitman's elegy to Lincoln? (O, Captain, my Captain!)
...
spent Friday with LTF. i brought back a souvenir from the Inauguration for him (he's a huge Obama supporter) and as i was taking a cab up to his place i couldn't help but think of how this was something Don, from "Mad Men," would do: come back from a trip and bring his long-neglected mistress a little something to make things better. i might as well accept it; this thing with LTF befuddles me, too.
...
on the work front, my mentor has taken a leadership position with another very large non profit here in the city. on one hand, i'm glad for her. on the other, i'm WTF!!

what does one do when one's mentor moves on? professionally, i recognize that i enjoyed a special kind of privilege because of her willingness to back me up. her departure leaves me vulnerable. when the new CEO comes, her strategic agenda could be very different and the structure of the agency could shift - and not necessarily to my advantage. needless to say, the impending need to navigate tricky office politics leaves me feeling...befuddled.

hmmm...read the tea leaves with me.

this week, the interim will be chosen, it'll take at least 6 months for a new search for a competent CEO to conclude, so i'm estimating that it'll be absolutely crucial for me to have my next leap planned and in place by june - which is also the end of the fiscal year and whatever agency-saving cuts need to happen will probably take place around there, anway.

(and since i'm all overhead, no matter my success with earmarks and appropriations this year or how generally kick ass i am, i'm on thin ice.)

looks like my New Year's resolution to Be Prepared will come in handy.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. A new CEO could mean a hug shift in a lot of different ways.

It's a tough time to be having to contemplate leaving as well.

I lost my mentor recently too - we've both been really motivated to keep the relationship going, which has been great. It's not the same as having her there every day, but it is still a really good and helpful relationship.

Delia Christina said...

i wouldn't say that i'm thinking about leaving, but i need to know what my professional trajectory is. what the end game is - is it to stay with this organization but at a different level? in a different region? is it to stay in non profit, in govt relations and communications?

or is it to go back to the private sector with non profit experience under my belt? or is it even to go into the public sector, working for a political office?

i'm hard pressed to figure this out.

for me, professional satisfaction has always been about learning more and hitting higher and higher targets for myself, challenging myself.

4 years ago, i made the jump to non profit; 3 years ago, i was promoted; and this year, promoted again. with each change, the challenges grew a little bigger and i met them. this year, the challenges are even bigger and i look forward to meeting them but i also can't deny that it would be short-sighted to think that i can stay here forever.

(the lack of paycheck is also sort of getting old. i mean, really. i got paid a helluva lot more being someone's frakkin' assistant!)

my mentor was supposed to help me figure this out! waah! like you, i hope i can keep the relationship going. she's been the best coach EVER.

Anonymous said...

FYI, Blagojevich already was impeached, on January 9. Now it remains to be seen whether he'll be convicted, and thereby removed from office, after the Senate trial concludes.

I agree that there's little doubt he'll be outta there soon.

Delia Christina said...

and ...he's out.
thrown out of his office on his keister today. heh.

long live Gov. Quinn.

meanwhile, let's settle in for a long, bitter, ugly fight in the GOP for the Governor's office. Blago just gave them their best reason why not to elect another Dem.

who wants to bet that Alan Keyes makes another crazy appearance?