Scarves

Day 109: Scarves

If I could take a sabbatical every seven years, I could keep working until the day I die. Unfortunately, the price for that is obtaining a PhD, followed by a tenure track faculty position. My theory is that it's hard to emerge with a tenured position and your community-mindedness intact, owing to the relentless individualism required first to get the PhD and then to get tenure. Which is why it is practically impossible (or perhaps just very rare) for tenured faculty to be good managers. What is a good manager except a person who uplifts and empowers staff? And what relentless individualist devotes effort and study to bringing out the best in others?

It takes courage to allow your direct reports to do better than you would. Perhaps even more courage to allow them to do not quite as well. 

Hidden away as I am at the Arb & Gardens, these realities are removed. I'm fortunate enough to have a former Eagle Scout and pillar of the community as a boss. That's part of the reason why there hasn't been a necktie or a pair of nylons sighted at my workplace in several years. The other reason, of course, is that so many of the staff here spend their days digging in the dirt, firing up power tools, setting fires, climbing trees, and pulling weeds. The rest of us labor in un-air-conditioned offices (I send staff home when indoor temps exceed ninety degrees), where neckties and nylons are unbearable. 

All this means that the very large scarf wardrobe I collected to dress up my management consulting and finance manager attire is getting pretty dusty. It was easy to pull out a handful that I haven't worn in over a year. 

Meanwhile, my four day sabbatical in the UP is drawing to a close. If only it were four months, I'd be ready for anything.