Dealing w/ the Stress

I recently took a promotion that dropped a lot of extra responsibility on me. The person before me basically cracked under the pressure, screwed up a few times and was let go.For me, I kind of assumed it would be slightly different

. Unfortunately, it hasn't been much different, though I feel like I'm doing pretty well right now. I think it is the continual fear that if I screw up they'll show me the door just like the last group of guys. I've been there for about 4 years and have seen nearly 100% turnover in my section (new mgmt team shortly before my arrival), so it is always in the back of my head.I'm sure someone else has been there, how'd you deal with it? Is there any secret sauce to letting go of something when you screw up?

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Essendon

Is it possible that the previous incumbent took on 10 things and delivered only, say, 2? While it's not likely the case considering the constant upheaval at your company, it may make sense to inform management of how loaded with work your position and that you may not be able to deliver everything on time given the workload. Is it time to look elsewhere? You've been there 4 years, time to move on yet? Or if you find the work rewarding stay on for a bit, get the experience and then get the hell outta there because it doesn't seem to be like a place that's conducive to productivity.

Roguetadhg

Stress is something you'll need to deal with. "Embrace the sun", as my air force buddy told me. While the stress is certainly different, the same toll on a body and mind is most likely the same.

1) Procrastion = Stress
2) Do what you can and let the chip fall where they lie. Have confidence and trust in your own skills and knowledge. Screwing up anywhere will mean you need to answer questions so it's just not that position.
3) Deal with it. I know that sound simple, but it is. For me I just imagine myself pushing X into the back of my mind. I might imagine a box, or a lock, chain. Put whatever is on your mind away, and just do your job. It gets easier with time

So you screwed up somewhere? I'm sure we all do, I have. Learn from it, kick it out the door in your mind. Don't let it linger and build a large wall o' crap that'll eventually come crashing down. Took down the network? How did you take down the network? What can you learn from it to not do it again? What steps can you do? Face the questions, rectify the problem, just don't be afraid to do something because "I'll break it."

One of my favorite quotes:
Good judgement comes from Experience.
Experience comes from Bad judgement.

DevilWAH

Keep people informed, always make sure you can back up what you are doing, and accept blame when you do screw up, and think before you do any thing.

For example I know of an incident where some one managed to wipe the config of two core device that where redundant to each other and then rebooted them taking a large chunk of a critical network of line. The fact was that he should never have been working on both devices at the same time and his excuse was he got confused and rebooted the wrong device!! That is a silly mistake that no one should make, whats more he tried to blame the process in place, rather than accept that he could and should have avoided it. He was out the door the next day. Basic common sence and the knowledge he was working on a critical system should have insured that he double checked every thing before he made any changes that might impact a live system.

Case two, as part of a change to a network, a typeo during configuring the equipment meant the wrong port was shut down taking some systems of line for a while. In this case the person at fault, first apologized for what had happened, and secondly and just as important, suggested some amendments to the change process to insure the same thing could never happen again. Because he stood up and explained the exact situation and cause of the issue and it was clear that he had acted in the best interests of the company, had not been rushing or taking risks and had been very open in notifying people what had happened with out trying to cover it up. Far from getting in hot water over it, the customer whos net work it was and the company he worked for. Where thanking him for his efforts in making sure it wouldn't happen again and complimenting in how he had dealt with it all.

If you screw up every day then its clear you are not sutible for a position and that's the end of the story. But every one will make mistakes and the best way to let go of the worry is to turn them in to positive experiences. If you screw up be the one to put it right, use the experience to improve the systems.

I have made plenty of mistakes, but i have never felt close to being let go. After one such mistake i spent the morning sitting down with the networking manager of a larger global finance's bank, explaining how it had happen and apologizing on behalf of my team, and going through lessons learnt (if you make the mistake, don't wait for others to ask you what lessons you have learnt, have the decency to raise them yourself). We walked out of the meeting both happy and smiling with him thanking me, and that afternoon he sent a letter of thanks to me, my manager, the banks management and others. Thanking me and my team for how we had handled the issue, considering the cost to the bank for the mistake was several times the entire wages of my team that's not a bad out come.

Letting go is about knowing you wont make the same kind of screw up again. as i said before if you are making the same screw up twice then the job is not for you. Some of the defining moments in my career that have pushed me onwards and upwards can be traced back to "screw ups". They should make you sit up and question your self and push to do better,

paul78

@staticz- congratulations on your promotion. I am sure your management would not have offered the promotion if they did not wish to set you up for success. The advice offered so far is spot on. Unless you are working with an endless budget of people, process, and funding, mistakes will happen, it's how you deal with them that is the demonstration of your professionalism.

staticz

Thanks for all of the comments guys! This forum really has a great user base.

Essendon - There was supposed to be a distinct handoff of work. Unfortunately only about 60% of that work has changed hands, mostly do to a high project load across the board. Also - VCP5, very nice. I was studying for that cert prior to switching to the Cisco world - I wish I would have stayed over there

Devil - Luckily I sound more like case 2. If I cannot admit when I'm wrong than I am not worth much, I really, honestly pride myself on that. I don't feel like I'll be let go (never been written up or even verbally reprimanded, annual eval was glowing about 2 weeks ago) I'm just trying to gauge how everyone handles things.

Rogue - Putting things out of my mind is not my strong suit. Thanks for the tips though, it is a place I need to improve if I hope to keep my sanity.

About7Narwhal

I have always looked at it like this:

I make the best decisions and produce the best work possible given the tools and information available to me at the time. If I make a mistake, I confidently stand behind my work. I explain that, given the information available at the time, I made a choice. And while it may have been wrong, I feel that I made the best choice possible at the time.

But that will only work a few times. If you do not learn from your mistakes, people will quickly get tired of you.

7of9

Great advice here, although I will say that there are some companies that do have a "turn and burn" policy when it comes to IT people. These companies usually end up with a reputation of burning people out and they tend to cycle through people quickly. Often, there is not much you can do if you're caught at one of those except manage the stress as best you can, do the best you can at what you do, and work on your resume for something else comes along.

As far as managing stress in general, I think it's very helpful to have hobbies and interests outside of work. As great as it is to be into technology all the time, that often can lead to problems at work seeping into your personal life. It can be good to have some time set aside to unplug and enjoy something that has nothing to do with work. Exercise and eating properly as well as getting enough sleep can also make a big difference. Keeping a sense of humor is also often a big help.

I've seen that people who are able to segment their work life from their personal life as well as kind of keep their emotions out of their work tend to do better in the harsher environments. Hopefully, this is only a temporary adjustment or a phase for this position and you'll soon be sailing right along!