It has been over 13 months now since I last laced up my spikes. It is safe to say that I have officially ‘hung it up’ with my baseball career. I have transitioned from pitching a ball to a catcher to assisting in the resolution of a wide array of employee cases. To some, this transition may seem totally unrelated and independent of one another. In my eyes, these two worlds join forces in ways you may never have thought possible. This transition was an opportunity for me to apply everything baseball has taught me into the corporate world. The drive and passion I had for conquering the obstacles I encountered on the baseball diamond are being honed in becoming the best HR Generalist I can be for the TMX Finance® Family of Companies.
Baseball and the business world are two peas in the same pod. As we all know, working as a team is crucial to being successful. However, working as a team does not guarantee our success. Successful teams understand everyone is at a different level of responsibility. We all have an impact on the direction and success of the team. If one team member gets more playing time than you, or one coworker has a higher job title, that does not mean you should consume yourself with comparing your level of contribution to theirs. This type of jealously negatively impacts the team. Your time will come to get the starting position, or your time will come to get that promotion. Working within a team is about creating synergy — various moving parts, all at different levels of production, all coming together to create an enhanced result. The key is to continue to be the best you can be in your role at this very moment and provide support to the ones around you. The underlying theme is trusting the process.
One of the most valuable concepts I believe anyone can take ahold of is trusting the process. In my experiences, trusting the process is about understanding that the goals you put in place are not going to come easy. The goals you put in place are going to take persistence, dedication, and positive thinking to obtain. When you trust the process, you are trusting that the plan you have set in place to achieve your goals is the right one, even in the face of failure. Baseball is a game of failure, it is one of the only sports where you can fail 7 out of 10 times and still go to the hall of fame. I have learned to accept failure for what it is — a learning experience. There is no such thing as failure if you learn from it. Trusting the process is about understanding you are going to fail along your path to success.
With this new job comes new challenges. One of the best pieces of advice I can share is to look at challenges as opportunities. Every challenge we encounter, whether at work or at home, is an opportunity for us to showcase our capabilities. It is about handling adversity with confidence, believing in yourself, and believing in your plan of attack. One of the best ways to combat adversity is to never get complacent. The moment you get complacent and think that you have everything figured out, boom, adversity is going to give you a rude awakening. Staying hungry for knowledge and always keeping your wits about yourself is key.
At the end of the day, life is what you make it. I am excited to be a part of such a great organization and am looking forward to embracing my role and adding value in whatever I am asked to do. I hope everyone can take something positive away from this blog, and at the very least, understand that where you are currently is not where you will always be — the process starts now!