Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A pat on the back

On Monday, I had to make a presentation to the CSO regarding my chief project. In the past, my group's relations with his department have been cold to adversarial since my former boss was a power monger and refused to partner with Security when it came to IT Security issues. The meeting was very congenial and I walked out of it with more than what I had expected to (basically, I got what I wanted without ever having to ask for it ... nothing better in the world).

This morning, my acting boss (former boss of my former boss) stopped by to give me some serious stroking. Apparently the CSO was very impressed with me and wanted to know more about me. (He REALLY disliked my former boss, BTW.)

So, I was very Jonesed about the entire thing. I am building bridges with another group, that used to dislike us. I've given them access to data on a number of incidents, where they previously have not had any access. And, I feed them info that would further both of our agendas. So, my acting lead is VERY happy with me right now.

We've been having a hard time finding the right candidate to fill our team lead position. Several times in the last year, management has asked me if I was interested in the role (prior to our team lead actually leaving ...). I said 'no'. One of my team mates has applied for the role, but I know that they do not totally respect her abilities. I keep wondering if they're going to ask me again. I also wonder, if they do, what I will say...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I discovered firsthand how very helpful it is to have the security folks be comfortable with you and respect your work and judgement. It makes everything go so much better.

I'd say, if not for the commute (which sounds pretty sucky to me), you should say "yes" if the question of team lead comes up again. As long as you don't have to share power, responsibility and blame with someone like HW from your past, I think it would be good move. And it sounds like you really like things there these days. It would let you finish your school work and take the time to find the right new position while giving your resume another dimension.

But, that's just me....

briwei said...

Woot! Way to go! I know you are not a fan of being in a management role, but I think you should consider. Even though you are not a big people person, you have good communication and mediation skills. You just demonstrated a strong ability to anticipate and meet the needs of another team in the interest of common goals. And you could sure use the extra cash...

Anonymous said...

Whee! Congrats!

Take the lead position. More money (I assume it comes with more money) is always nice, that kind of thing looks great on a resume, and there's no reason that you'd have to give up the parts of your old job that you really enjoyed. I've often agreed to take semi-management positions as long as I was allowed to "keep my hands in the code," and I've never been turned down.

Go for it!

Summer said...

You go girl! Sounds like you've been instrumental in getting people on the same page again. Not everyone can do that.

barbie2be said...

sounds like there might be an opportunity there... cool.