Change is Good Indeed

"Change is good". That is what we say at Disney all the time. Keeps things fresh and shows new perspectives. Recent developments and actions have proven this to be the case ~ at least for me lately.

My team recently had a change of leadership. Joe, who's console is officially cleaned out, is no longer our leader and is working currently as an IP agent as of this past Sunday. Our new leader is Jennie. Now the rumor mill at DRC is just as bad as any other working environment so I was a bit tentative about having her for my leader. I never really had an opportunity to sit down and speak with her but knew of her through the Worldphile community... and what I knew was a little scary. I went into with an open mind and decided that I would make my own conclusion based upon my own experiences, not the rumor mill.

Yesterday, I took a few minutes to sit with her and talk about my goals. She shared her story of her life at DRC and I shared mine. She asked me questions and honestly listened to the answers. I explained how and why I left and what brought me back and my desires to forward my career on to leadership. During our conversation she made the comment that we would be going over the Candlelight booking procedures for 2006 and since I am an old hand at it, why don't I give that presentation during our meeting on tomorrow. I was shocked and excited. I told her I would love to and she made me copies of the leader packet to review that night. She also suggested that since my team looks up to and respects me, I should coach and mentor them. It would involve being "Y"-connected to their phone so I could listen and critique their calls along with giving them pointers and advice. Other team members would also "Y"-connect to me so they could see my best practices and learn from me. I was even more excited.

Tonight during our meeting I gave my presentation on Candlelight. I had the paper and was a bit nervous (I actually have a small fear of public speaking). She said she would "drive" my presentation while I discussed it to the team. This was a big relief since it is very difficult to talk and "drive" at the same time. I started out with the notes but within a minute they were on the table and I was talking and explaining. The one slide I was a bit tentative on my abilities was the "Questions" slide. I feared that I would freeze or have some huge blonde moment that would shatter all that I felt I had just built. The hands started to go up and I was answering questions left and right. At one point, the side conversations got a bit loud and I made the comment that "so and so's question was" and immediately got control of the room again (and it is not easy to regain 27 cast members).

Now, we get back to our seats and proceed to take calls. Around 8 p.m. Jennie askes me to go to "meeting" and come see her. I told her sure and I would be there as soon as I had taken care of my Guest. Once Amy (I swear, that was my guest's name - ironic, no) was all happy I put myself in "meeting" and went to see her. She wanted me to help her by put HyperQualities and AuxReason sheets in the team members' drop boxes. I took care of that for her and came back to ask what she would like help with next. To my surprise, she entrusted me with writing the email detailing the minutes of our meeting to our team. I am actually in the middle of it and will complete it tomorrow but I was surprised at such a task. Most leaders take care of that aspect on their own!

I really feel that Jennie has taken my request seriously and major things are on the horizon. I also ran into Bill, our new site leader. This happened yesterday afternoon after getting off a most distressing phone call with my mother. I was a bit upset to say the least. On my way back to my desk I passed Bill (his picture has been all over DRC so we would recognize him when he came on board YESTERDAY). He smiled and asked how I was doing. I answered him in my best Disney perky voice and told it was wonderful and thanked him for asking. We were passing each other so it wasn't polite to ask how he was doing since I wouldn't be around for the answer. I plan on popping into his office on Monday to introduce myself ~ networking never ends.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my feelings of happiness on the increased responsibilities that my leader has instilled upon me in just five days. I am getting the feeling that my dreams of leadership are not far from being an reality. When you wish upon a star...