219.9 . . .

219.9 of anything can seem like a lot.  It represents a distance, for me, that I thought of as a finite measurement of activity, but one I could never have known the real value of when I started.

At the end of January, after over 22 amazing years, I left Dell Technologies for parts unknown.  My time at Dell represents a journey for which I am forever grateful.  I met incredible people:  peers and customers and partners and everything else you can think of along the way.  My work at Dell afforded me the opportunity to live abroad for a couple of years – Jenn and I’s time in England netted us friendships and experiences that we never imagined.  I had 22 years of adventures with my colleagues and customers, spanning the globe, leading amazing teams, and working with amazing people that were utilizing technology to change the world.

22+ years is a long time and I knew one thing on leaving – that I needed to take some time to clear my head and decide what was next professionally and personally, because the two are intertwined for me.  When I’m at my best, the blend of work and life balance is seamless and just flows back and forth between the two.

My exit also happened to occur at one of the most challenging and difficult times in recent human history, right in the middle of a global pandemic that has disrupted life as we know it – going forward meant a new, unknown, normal.  Being a Senior Vice President and General Manager of a business for a multi-national company, I’d seen firsthand how this pandemic shut down countries and impacted businesses around the globe.  People in my organization, our customers and partners, had been directly and indirectly impacted – but through it I saw the flashes of the brilliance of humanity at its finest.

When I left, we made announcements that I was going to ‘take some time off with my family and decide what was next’.  When I read that in other people’s announcements, it always feels a bit like a worn out, canned response – but for me, it wasn’t – I didn’t really know what I wanted to do next.

Quickly, I settled on two things:  I wasn’t ready to do nothing, retirement isn’t appealing to me yet (if ever) and I wanted to help out, in some way, with the pandemic while I took time off.  That was the extent of my revelations.

Because of Jenn’s underlying medical conditions, we started the pandemic journey in a tight, three-person bubble –  our next door neighbor, Jenn and I.  Our neighbor is retired and was part of the first wave of people eligible for a vaccine.  But, like so many others during the early days of vaccine availability, he found it impossible to get an appointment.  It became my mission (with help from some friends that I will affectionately refer to as the Irish Mob), to get him an appointment for his first shot.

Little did I know, that appointment, at one of the area’s massive drive thru sites, would change my life in small and large ways over the next few months.  

Because he lives alone and we didn’t know what to expect, I drove him to his appointment. While we were in the ‘hopefully you won’t have a reaction, but stay here for a 15 minutes to check’ part of the process, it dawned on me – volunteering at the site was what I wanted to do.  After our neighbor cleared the time required, I wheeled the car over to where the command center was, put on my mask and went in search of opportunity.

Over the next four months, I put my shoulder into helping out.  Doing whatever needed to be done to make sure the medical professionals (who were also mainly volunteers) could get shots into people’s arms.  I knew I wanted to be able to look back on this mess years from now and know that I had, in some small way, helped and made a difference.  I helped people get appointments, I helped people fix their appointments, I called on willing friends to come and help as volunteers, but mainly, I was a runner.

The runner is responsible for three areas:  1.)  The primary job of the runner is to ensure the flow of materials, supplies and vaccines is consistent.  Making sure the ‘supply chain’ necessary to get shots into people’s arms was uninterrupted – the forms, the supplies that make up a shot station (alcohol wipes, gloves, gauze, bandaids, extra needles, etc.), and the vaccine in hypodermic needles.  It is 85% of what you have to get done and keep going.  When one tiny piece of the puzzle dries up, the entire process comes to a screeching halt.  2.). Care and feeding of the site’s volunteers – dragging around a wagon with water and snacks, making sure people feel connected to the process and cheerleading when needed.  3.)  Ensuring that the volunteers that wanted a vaccine got through that process too – and then down the line, helping some of them get the second shot.

The role of runner was liberating for me.  It gave me something complex and people oriented to do – which gave me purpose.  Being a runner leveraged, in lots of small ways, a lifetime of experience I had amassed through my career. The intersection of work and life balance.  I made new friends, I helped friends, friends helped me – it was awesome.  I prioritized it and planned around being able to be at the site as much as I could, and sometimes then some.

I got to practice leadership without having any authority.  I got to think about supply and demand in the context of a perishable commodity and through trial and error, improve efficiency – with immediate feedback on what worked and didn’t work.  I tried to help motivate people that were worn out by the work and needed someone to just be friendly and supportive.  I got to do work powered by my intellect and experience – with my own two hands and on my feet for six to eight hours at a time.  Most important to me, I got to talk to lots and lots of people – I get energy from being around people.  I talked to fellow volunteers, medical professionals, people getting shots, people wanting to get shots, all walks of life – and my cup runneth over. 

219.9 miles.  That’s the distance I covered as a runner while volunteering.  I worked up to and through the very last day the site was open.  The site, overall, gave 161,580 shots and I carried a chunk of those shots from the command center to the individual shot tents.  I am grateful for what my professional experience provided me  and that I leveraged that knowledge and expertise to lead and help in whatever role came my way.  I’m also grateful for the freedom to have had the time and financial flexibility to do it.  It was a gift and I went into it with the goal of being able to reflect on helping out and making a difference.

What I didn’t realize is what I would get out of it.  The effort gave me so much more than I feel like I put into it.  It re-invigorated me and re-kindled my desire to go back to work and be part of something and lead and take responsibility for people and outcomes.  It takes a while to unwind from 22 years, even 22 rewarding and successful years, and it took me a while to reprogram and be ready for something next.  I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m going to go forward into a search for what’s next with new energy and the affirmation that people want to help and take care of each other and make this world a better place for those who come after us, right after us, like right now, but way after us, like future generations.

219.9 miles.  There’s a lot packed into those miles and I am better for having trod them.