I Had a Stroke
On Wednesday at 3 a.m., the lights came on. It was time. Again. More blood was drawn from the IV port in my arm. The nurse was nice enough despite the rude awakening. She was done in less than 2 minutes and turned the lights back off as she left the room.
It was my third day in the hospital after having a stroke. 49 years old, and I had a stroke… and not just a stroke, but the kind of stroke 80-year-olds usually have.
WTH.
But I am lucky. It was what the neurologist called “a tiny stroke.” The only damage, so far as we can tell is a little persistent numbness and tingling in the fingertips of my left hand and the lips on the left side of my face. But no drooping or loss of muscle control. And no loss of cognitive ability.
During my week in the hospital, I was scared about many things. My wife. My kids. So many unknowns. But I wasn’t worried about work.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I love my company and truly believe we are making a difference in the world. As a recruitment marketing manager, my brain is the engine of all of my work.
But I have built systems and processes in place to schedule and automate much of my work, so most of the work doesn’t require my daily attention… and thanks to clearly defined SOPs, what’s left is easy enough for others to pick up without overwhelming them.
I had built a ton of goodwill throughout many parts of the company by providing value
I had developed processes, largely automated, that didn't require my direct attention daily
I have created tools to do a lot of the heavy lifting, even while I am still recovering
I've had many jobs over the years… heck, I've had several careers… and o ended up advancing quickly in all of them. And if I were to attribute those successes to any one thing, it would be my ability to streamline and improve workflows and then turn them into clear, repeatable (if not automated) processes. Because these processes then gave me the time I needed to innovate and help others.
And it's something anyone can do. It takes a little extra time on the front end, but the rewards more than makeup for it. During my time in the hotel industry, my track record averaged out to a promotion every six months for 3.5 years. I don't do cost-of-living raises… my typical annual raise is between 15% and 45%. Most of my career has been spent in the marketing/advertising world, where I have won more than 130 awards for excellence and creativity in advertising.
I say these things not to bag (mostly), but to showcase the results of developing processes that free your time and energy and make you more scalable within your work and personal lives.
And if that's not enough, I just had a stroke, and I'm not the least bit worried about my job. Because even though my work is mostly taking care of itself… I haven't let myself become replaceable. In fact, I've become more than my role should be on paper.
I urge you to look at your own role. See where the bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and unnecessary activity are, and begin working toward solutions. Don't ask for permission. Quietly tinker around with small, inconspicuous experiments until you're ready to present your solution to your boss. In the worst case, you'll get mild indifference that retorts in a no. Best case you've created something that helps the company. Either way, move on to the next problem and start over. It's a great way to get yourself out of the monotony of the day-to-day and start to stand out in the process.
