Take it to the next level

Often, I take relationships for face value.  I make the mistake of assuming that they are stagnant to a degree.  It's a limiting perspective which doesn't take into account where the other person is coming from or what they might be thinking.

Let me explain a little why I started thinking about how relationships can evolve over time.  Last week I was leaving a meeting with someone.  That someone is my dad who also happens to be my boss.  I thought that I would get in and get out of working with Pops.  I figured that the job I took when I was 22 would be short lived.  A year, maybe two.  But probably, six months- max. I've worked with and for him for almost 13 years now, including those grueling summers during college.

I simply never could have imagined that I would want to work for my father whom I wasn't a big fan of growing up. He worked so much he was never around and I resented him and the job that kept him from me.
Over the years, we've both grown.  I've learned how to be assertive and pro-active.  I've learned to come up with my own solutions if I can.  I've learned to ask for help when I need it, and that there is almost never a stupid question.  I've learned to make tough decisions.  And I've also learned that working with family is the biggest challenge to my potential success as a professional.  But I've done it anyway.

My dad has softened, and learned to listen more.  He's a great boss because he gives me the opportunity to test my ideas, and thrive when I can. When I've made costly mistakes, he's forgiven me and taught me how to do better next time.  Working for and with him, is an experience which has made all the difference in my professional life.

After all the years we've worked together, I suppose I expected that our close relationship was as good as it is ever going to get- since it's really pretty great.  Pops is my friend and a confidant.  He's my golfing and fishing buddy, plus he's my biggest fan.  I really couldn't ask for more, nor would I have.  Which brings us back to the meeting.

I was driving us back and Pops revealed to me a valuable tidbit of information- to place in the recess of my brain for a rainy day.  What does that mean?  It means he trusts me a lot.  In an even bigger way.  He took it to the next level.  That's left me feeling pretty darn special- and lucky too.