Thank you

Humans At Work has been open for business less than two weeks as I write this, and already I have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you to everyone in my work history who helped me learn why it was good to be human at work, and how to best do it. My teams who held me to high standards and helped me meet them, and in whose company I had moments of learning and witnessed moments of grace that still ring within me. My bosses who guided me when I needed it and then let me go figure out the rest for myself. My bosses who taught me what not to do, who weren’t that good as managers, but who wore human faces and had human flaws, so that I learned that most bad management is lack of skill rather than lack of character. And my colleagues in organizations around the country with whom I’ve laughed, shared frustrations, done good work, failed spectacularly, and had some wonderful success. I value you all.

Thank you to the people from around the world who have been so responsive to Humans At Work these last two weeks. Your support and encouragement helps me engage with this new work with enthusiasm and confidence, and that’s what good management is all about. Thanks for setting the example and reminding me that we manage each other in all sorts of daily ways, whether we “work for” each other or not. And that how we treat each other makes a difference.

Thank you to the people without whose direct help — ideas, curriculum review, website testing, encouraging emails, conversations, hugs, hot meals and some very good bottles of wine — Humans At Work would not be what it is: Liz Butcher, Juliane Parsons, Jennifer Durham, Karina Meléndez, Vicki Platts-Brown, Tommaso Fiacchino, Sharon Woodbury. And most especially Nicola Griffith, who daily makes me want to be the best person I can.

Happy Thanksgiving to US citizens wherever in the world you may be, and to everyone else, may your day give you some gift, great or small; so that perhaps today we may all be connected by feeling thankful.