"career"

When do you stop growing?

This blog post is dedicated to my little/big daughter, Jessica. She says I only blog about Lauren. (I posted one blog about Lauren, and to my credit, neither girl remembers I blog in the first place.)

So, fine. I'll post a blog about Jessica. (who probably won't read it anyway.) Sounds easy enough, but really this blog is dedicated to the Macik Market, and all things marketing. So how can I relate Jessica to marketing? Got it.

Lately, she can't stop eating. Mind you, this 13 year old girl is already over 5'9" tall. I tell her she's hungry because of a growth spurt (up or out, I don't know which). She asks, "When will I stop growing? I'm tall enough!" I think it's funny. I finished growing in 8th grade at 5'5.5". Her older sister is in at 5'4" (she'll lie and say 5'5").

Everyone is back to work after the holiday, so we're all swapping holiday stories about kids and family. As I'm talking about Jessi getting even taller, they say they'd love to be taller and think its cute she's still growing--how awesome it is to be 13 and full of the unknown. And really how cool is that?

So here I am wondering... Am I still growing? Am I still looking toward the unknown? Man, I sure hope so.

Awesome Giant Lawn Chair seats too-tall-teens Comfortably
If you've kept up with my employer, Atos Origin, we're looking toward a big year in 2011. North America is set to triple in size, the company is set to more than double their expertise and gain one of the largest IT contracts in history. For me--for marketing, this means lots of changes ahead. With change, I can only hope for growth. Growing to unknown heights is kind of exciting, right?

You never know where you'll end up. All you can do is feed your charisma, feed your inhibitions, and watch how far you can go (or "grow" in this case). As you enter the new year, why not wonder where your career will take you. Are you finished growing? Do you want to be finished growing? Do you think you've grown enough? Clearly, my answer is no. I'm not finished. I want to see how far this ride will take me.

I'm booked for New York next week. I hope to learn from the Argyle CMO Leadership Forum around all things Marketing in 2011. I'm begging for the departments first iMac for video production. I'm learning how to better utilize Microsoft Project to track true costs of project work. I'm learning to research the market better, to research our clients needs and expectations. I'm learning to groom my marketing team for reaching new heights. I'm learning to grow, I'm learning not to stop. I'm learning to love it.

How far will you grow in 2011?