Professional Development/ Syndicated

In Through the Out Door

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It was back during the high heat of the Summer months that I parted ways with my former company, Spectrum Health, after a revokation of remote working priviledges after over a decade of working under that model.  I’ve since moved on into a role that, while I expected to have some development DBA aspects really morphed into more of a SQL Server Developer role than I would have hoped. 

At this point in my career I should expect a certain level of satisfaction with my work and enjoyment for what I do on a daily basis.  I’ve worked long days and nights and pushed myself beyond what has always been expected of me (by everyone else but me) since I walked off the grounds of my University  20 years ago. I was not getting that sense of satisfaction and pleasure from my new role – which is not necessarily the fault of the company I’m departing.  I want to make it clear that this was simply not a good fit for my skills, where I saw my role progressing, and my long-term plans for both my career and my desire to scale-out my depth of SQL Server knowledge.  Whereas I used to love facing the new day of challenges I now found myself going to bed at night with thoughts racing through my head of all the things I had to do the next day that I didn’t want to be a part of.  Just as I deserved to be satisfied in my role, my company deserves an employee that enjoys what they do.  If that is not the case then your work will suffer – intentionally or otherwise. 

This all added to stress placed on myself and my family.  I lost all interest in SQL Server.  It was quite obvious via my lack of writing, blog posts, Twitter activity, SQL Saturday involvement, and speaking engagements.  Things I truly enjoyed were slipping away from me.

So where am I going to?  What are my plans?

I’m returning to Spectrum Health as their SQL Server Database Administrator. 

Quite recently a dialog opened between my former company and myself.  They extended an offer I found it very difficult to refuse.  The team there is top-notch and, since I built the SQL environment from the bits up, I can step back in on day one and pick up where I left off – but with some great ideas from the time I spent “off-the-ranch”.  The telecommuting debacle from July has been put to rest and I’ll be back to 4 days per week in a remote capacity as I had been prior to July 2010.  They see the value in remote working and with growth of the IT staff understand that they need to expand the remote working opportunities in order to not have the need to stack staff 3-deep at a desk if the pace doesn’t change.  I look forward to helping them craft a remote work policy that is fair to the employee, beneficial to the company, and seamless to the patients and their families.

I’d always valued knowing that at the end of the day my work aided in keeping the sick from getting sicker, those suffering from life-threatening illnesses and injuries from passing-on, and returning loved ones back to their families.  I didn’t understand how important that was to me until I left.  Now I am able to return to that environment.  Good data truly does save lives.

I want to wish my co-workers at the company I’m departing the absolute best in their endeavors.  We just completed an upgrade and release and I’m sure the long hours worked and effort put forward will pay off well for them.