Family: Perseverance, Positivity & Grace

These are things that my family has taught me that directly impact my career. Historically we kept family and work completely separate, but we can’t deny the entanglements of the two in modern life. Recently my grandfather passed away and today would have been his 95th birthday. As an adult, the realization hit me that he is probably one of the only "business" people I knew growing up. I am so impressed with him as he started out life growing up on a farm (like many in the day), but had responsibilities thrown at him early. He overcame dyslexia, survived the hot boiler rooms of a ship in WWII and become a Regional Sales Manager at the only famous in New England State Line Potato Chips. He created a wonderful legacy for his family because he persevered.

My grandfather also approached life with a positive spirit making friends with people everywhere he went & remembering many of his customers from the 1960-70's forty years later. One story stuck with me as he allowed a store owner in a difficult section of town who was in a financial jam to pay him the next time he came to deliver chips, only to find out the store had closed. While disappointed in that moment he didn't lose his temper or faith in people, and as he started his truck up low and behold someone came running out saying that the person left this behind and make sure Mr. State Line received it. I always try to see the best in people, be helpful in how I contribute, and seem to be "the glue" when it comes to group dynamics. My husband gets after me for being an eternal optimist thinking I can accomplish 40 household tasks in a weekend, but I never knew why all of this was and now I think I do.. bringing this positivity & ambitious approach at home and to your work makes life's trials & tribulations a bit easier.

Several times in the past few years I visited "Jack" in Florida with my son and found myself chatting about politics and music for hours letting the world go by a little more slowly. We sat on the beach trying to juggle an 80 year old and a 2 year olds napping schedules and somehow this just puts life in perspective.

This year to that end, since we collect "in the moment" feedback at work called "Insights" through our Performance Development tool, I decided to share comments I'd received with my parents. They always push my sister and I to work hard and as blue-collar people that’s all we ever thought we needed to get ahead. I've learned a lot of business lessons over time but this was still one of the best things I’ve ever done to connect the dots between my personal & professional life- to show my parents the impact they had and that all of their hard work paid off.

So when my family is driving me insane about some mundane task (as parents do), and I'm overwhelmed by the incredibly fast speed of life & the tasks mounting up, I'm committing to giving them a little space and grace. I hope to bring the same energy to GE each day as we navigate these challenging times!

All of that being said... find your perspective and be able to center yourself regularly. This is the last photo I took with my grandfather alongside my sister. I hope that our future grandchildren will be able to learn as many life lessons from us as we did from him....