With Thanksgiving approaching, I鈥檇 like to share how grateful I am for the 2019 journey of USF Corporate Training and Professional Education. If you鈥檝e previously read this blog, you know I sometimes draw from the well of sports for inspiration. (Spoiler alert: I鈥檓 about to do it again!) What follows is how our office borrowed a storied basketball team鈥檚 36-year-old rallying cry to help us press on when faced with extraordinary circumstances.
One Monday morning early in the year, our team gathered for its weekly operations meeting. Just before we jumped into the agenda, Kim, our assistant director, said she had a major announcement. With a big smile, she told us she was pregnant! The room was still buzzing when Nancy, our marketing manager, said she, too, had something big to share. Maybe you鈥檝e probably already figured it out鈥攕he was also pregnant! At that point, I鈥檓 not sure if we ever got around to continuing the meeting.
With Kim and Nancy pregnant at the same time, it wasn鈥檛 too early to begin thinking of contingency plans for when they鈥檇 eventually take their maternity leaves鈥攑retty much simultaneously. How would we absorb their high-level responsibilities while they were gone? That鈥檚 when the mantra made famous by Jim Valvano, the head coach of the 1982-83 North Carolina State men鈥檚 basketball team during their epic run to a national championship came to mind: Survive and advance.
That was the message our office needed to hear. We鈥檇 find a way to endure, carrying out the office鈥檚 work until we were fully staffed again. I knew Kim and Nancy鈥檚 extended absence would be felt, but I was also certain we could work through it with excellent preparation. And, thankfully, that鈥檚 what happened. The entire team has pulled together by accepting additional roles to pick up the slack. Kim and Nancy, by the way, now have beautiful two-month-old daughters who were born only a week apart in September.
Two great lessons have emerged from the temporary loss of Kim and Nancy. The first is it reinforced how important their contribution is to the overall function of the office鈥攖heir expertise, intuition, and character. Secondly, the remaining team members鈥攐ur operations manager, program advisors, logistics manager, and registration personnel have soldiered through a challenging stretch of time in an exemplary manner. We survived and advanced鈥攁nd I鈥檓 very grateful!
On behalf of the USF Corporate Training and Professional Education family, I want to wish you and yours a happy holiday season!