Today the entire team was in the same room for the first time in almost three years. They came from Osaka, Tokyo, and even Pusan in Korea, and gathered at our company headquarters for a meeting that was quite a long time in the making.
I have embraced working from home fully. The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, the huge one for me being able to maximize my time with Eri and the boys. There's no commuting and barely any business trips any more.
But I miss being around these people every day. In particular this little group that I lead/manage. We see each other almost every day online, but today, with the amazing weather and the deluxe beef tongue lunch boxes and the excitement in the air of all the announcements that were being made by the various teams, it was apparent to me and I think to everyone that we sorely need to meet in person as often as we can.
I have got to be one the luckiest people in the world to get to work with this special group of people. They are technically in my charge as co-workers because I'm the boss. However, we are also all friends. Showing up to work every day with friends who share the same values, goals, and ideals is a dream come true.
I walked down to Izumi Chuo to catch the subway downtown as the sun was setting and the Friday evening traffic was clogging up the narrow streets. My mind was buzzing and my body was still a little shaky from all the excitement, and probably all the coffee. Going to the company usually means I partake liberally of the coffee machine. I also had a presentation before lunch that I was nervous about.
The other managers do their team update presentations very traditionally and "normally" with PowerPoint slides and graphs and charts and whatnot. They're very professional. That's not my style. I only use PowerPoint if absolutely necessary, and I didn't think today was necessary. I am fond of saying to anyone who will listen, "Nobody has ever been inspired by a PowerPoint presentation." And my goal when I stand up in front of people to talk is to inspire.
Yes, I had to do a team status update in front of our entire department of 25 people, including my boss who happens to be the CEO of the company, but I couldn't waste the chance of having everyone in the same room for the first time in forever all sitting politely and facing toward me for twenty minutes. I had some things I wanted to say.
I worked in some data and percentages, but I also told a story. It was a story about Kenzo asking me what my job is and how I interpreted that question to really mean, "What is important to you?" I talked about what our mission is and why what we do matters.
Most of the people in the room know me and my style. And surely when I wasn't looking there were a few eye rolls.
Later our team met up for yakiniku downtown. We laughed and commiserated and drank beer and enjoyed each other's company, all six of us for the first time in a while. When it was time to part there were hugs and knowing nods.
I do not take for granted how blessed I am to work with people I not only care for as their manager, but also respect and love as friends.
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