Patience In Business

vs. restlessness

Taking the time necessary to work through a difficult situation

To practice Patience I will:

• change the things I can change and accept the things I cannot
• keep trying until I succeed
• make the most of my wait time
• not interrupt
• not complain during delays

The Career Pyramid

by Jacqueline Schmucki,  reprinted from March 2019

Most consider Patience a virtue, though it seems practiced by fewer and fewer in this day of instant gratification. We purchase something online and must have it shipped to us within two days. We order groceries for pick up so we do not have to spend the time walking the aisles. We have to get to that meeting now, no matter who is in the way on the highway, or whether that traffic light is more red than yellow.

We graduate college, or a master’s program, and want that executive position now.

It’s true I haven’t been out of college myself for all that long (just this side of a decade as of this writing), but I graduated with my BA in Communication and my Public Relations Certificate thinking I had the world figured out and ready to take it on. I found out quickly, as I am sure many graduates in my position do, that a few case studies do not teach you everything you need to know to make it out there in the big, bad world. Life rarely follows the rules!

There is no substitute for experience. Plain and simple; and getting that experience takes time. People want to climb the corporate ladder and make it to that corner office right out of the gate. I do not like to think of it as a ladder though. My route was certainly more circuitous than straight!

My first job out of college was data entry at a great company until I found a job in the field I was passionate about. Then I was an administrative assistant at a small office, after which I landed in fundraising and development. After that, I was an event manager at a convention center, then in hotel sales. Everywhere I went, I absorbed like a sponge – nothing was off-limits. I learned every aspect of my job and anything anyone would teach me about their job, and how it all fit together to run a big operation.

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift; the work of life is to develop it; the meaning of life is to give your gift away.” – David Viscott

You have probably heard the above quote attributed to William Shakespeare or Pablo Picasso. Ralph Waldo Emerson has written something close to it, but it is actually from a 1993 book by psychiatrist David Viscott called “Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times: A Book of Meditations”. I have long used this quote as my philosophy, and it truly has been the reason I am where I am today.

My perspective of the ‘corporate ladder’ is more of a pyramid: you need to build the skills before you can use them. I have met some amazing people on my journey, and many amazing people support me in my current job. As the Executive Director of this incredible nonprofit, I get to use all of the skills I have worked on to bring about great change in my little corner (office).

I have found my gift, I have worked on it, and now is my chance to give it away!

This month, remember that even though your path may wind and bend on the way to your destination, the journey is just as important as arriving.

-Jacqueline Schmucki, Executive Director

March Character All Month