See you in the sandbox is being discontinued

I finally have had the opportunity to combine my 2 blogs and 2 websites into one neat and clean space which means..."See you in the Sandbox" will be discontinued. All further blog posts will be posted on my new site:
https://hailey-visionary.squarespace.com/

Managing bloopers

I've always been one to focus on the end product. I don't want to control how we get there, I control the end product and give you freedom to figure out how you get there. This allows for ownership for both employee and employer.

How wrong I was, time to do a 180 and revisit my rational behind this ridiculous mindset I had been in!

Life should NOT be about the end product, you shouldn't focus in on the goal in the distant future, you should focus on the present. Should your goal when playing football be to win? Or should it be to play to the best of your abilities and show good sportsmanship and teamwork? Should your goal be profit for the company? Or should it be providing great connections with life-long customers and a reliable product? Should your life goal be to get married? Or should it be to stay close with loved ones and surround yourself with amazing support systems? Should a personal goal be to get rich? Or should it be to stay honest in the workplace, work hard, and be satisfied with your career?

Goals are not a bad thing, but I think that many times goals make us anxious to reach them, therefore we try to take shortcuts and in the end we get off path and our goal falls apart. Setting a goal for the future makes your path go to the goal, but as life happens many times our goals need to change, you should let your life lead you to a more generic goal like, happiness, not 3 kids, a Lincoln SUV, 6 bedroom house on the upper East side, successful husband, perfect manicure, and 100 pound Saint Bernard. 

I have a recipe for these delicious toasted almond dark chocolate chip cookies! The first time I made them they were AMAZING, lot's of steps involved for a cookie, but everyone at work loved them! The second time I made them I didn't toast the almonds, I skipped sifting the dry ingredients, I ran out of vanilla, and I didn't refrigerate the dough as recommended. But, I basically had all the correct ingredients and when they were done they were still almond dark chocolate chip cookies! What a disappointment. They were not the delicious delicacy as I had tasted before. I had taken some shortcuts, just focused on the end goal, and was unsatisfied with the outcome. If I didn't have the energy and time to put into the delicacy cookie, I should have opted to make the more generic chocolate chip cookie.

This new realization that I have will reshape the structure of my very new department at adidas. Still going through a hard learning curve with this thing called "managing" I continue to push forward, stay honest with myself, and support my team in every way possible. But I admit always focusing on the end goal was a bit of a blooper. I need to help lay the groundwork for my team like a football coach. Then unleash them when it's game time and trust that we trained well and I helped build a strong playbook for them. Sorry in advance for the hiccup, and for the future hiccups, but I promise to admit when I screw up and promise to cut down on the managing bloopers. 

Hailey Schultz

The best way to use your vacation days

It has taken me three years but I think I finally have it, the perfect annual calendar. The below is assuming you have 15 days of vacation & 10 days of company holidays. 

The average person is only in the office 24% of their year, assuming they work 9 hour days, but still it is easy to get burnt out. Even if you love working like myself, the focus on the below is to give a variety of breaks, short and long. Don't let yourself burn out, the recovery could be detrimental. Here are a few tips I utilized when creating the perfect annual schedule:

> Love half days, you get twice as many of them, and they still keep you in your routine while giving you a break. These are especially helpful during busy times of the year when full days are harder to commit to.

> If you are taking a vacation, take a Friday off & a Monday off, that way you create two 4 day weeks and one 4 day weekend.

> I don't use vacation time around the holidays, usually there is adequate time given to travel, plus working around the holiday's in an office is usually a ghost town leading to a laid back day. 

> Try not to work 5 day weeks for an extended amount of time. Use a half day at the minimun to break up the week and give yourself a break. Remember the whole purpose of vacations are to rejuvenate, relax, and step away from your desk to focus on other areas of your life. 

Hailey Schultz

Best piece of advice to relate to any area of your life.

I just finished this book and have realized the #1 piece of advice that pertains to your personal life, work life, kids, future.....

"You must start with yourself."

Most people have called out the hypocrisy of others at one point in their life or another. Hypocrisy is one of those things that gets under my skin, but that I am guilty of as well. I can't expect others to be organized if I my desk looks like a teenagers closet, or expect my kids to get healthy if they see me eating Doritos every night with a layer of dust covering the exercise equipment in the basement.

"You must start with yourself" is the answer to every complaint, every question, every compliment. Be the person you want others to be, show them what they need to do, be the example and others will follow.

It is true, I have been told this many times throughout my life and finally at 27 it has sunk in. There is no need to judge or critique others when you have no control over their actions. But you can control yourself, you can mold yourself into the person you want to be, although it may take a lifetime. 

Everyday is another learning experience but control over your mind and body is what I believe to be the most important thing you should fight for. 

The most current challenge I am enduring is my sick dog. He is extremely needy at this point in his life, financially draining, and overall exhausting. But I am learning patience, compassion, and how to live on little to no sleep. Although my apartment smells like sick dog and old urine, meals are now frozen as I spend a good 30 minutes trying to figure out what Sam might eat that day, and bills are stacking up as vet appointments and pain killers are a must, I will come out of this just fine. I expect to learn a lot, and once I have figured out what it is that I have learned I will be sure to let you know. 

Hailey Schultz

My first promotion

--> When I was 12 my dream was to be Kimberly Williams from "Father of the Bride." A recent graduate, thriving architect, beautiful married woman, all before the age of 26. A few years later I would discover being a successful architect in your mid-twenties is about as common as Alsup's Burritos in the Midwest.

But I wasn't too far off from that dream, I'm not a thriving architect but I'm currently managing a post production team at 26! I'll pat myself on the back for this one, after 2 years I got my first promotion. My new role is to help develop a new department and manage a handful of employees under me. Management sure must have a lot of trust in me...

(Don't tell them, but I have no idea what I am doing...)

I can't remember the last time I have hit a learning curve this steep. I find myself googling things like "how to be a successful manager," "when you think you're in over your head," "organizing chaos," "building a new department..." And what I have found is there is limited information on how to organize, develop, and manage something before it is created. There is no 1,2,3 or someone to tell me what is right.

So far I have survived the first few months and have learned:
Number 1: you better hope you have smart, understanding bosses to help you through this process Number 2: you better hope you have a strong team that works well together to help you through this process

I was pleasantly blessed with both.

This has been an amazing experience so far, pushing me further than I would have thought I could go at this point in my career. I shifted to something I didn't know I wanted to do, into something that wasn't even created yet. Watching a department develop and to be a part of that is a truly awesome experience. Your progress is continuously tracked pushing you and challenging your mind hourly. Sure there are times where I'm certain my brain is going to explode through my skull, but what I am learning right now is priceless and will strengthen me for anything that falls onto my path in the future. Our department should be in full motion come May, wish me luck!

Hailey Schultz

Employee of the Quarter

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What an awkward thrill, yet guilty reflex, to receive this honor. I was extremely surprised as I walked into a room filled with a few departments, I knew something must be going on. Then when all eyes sprung to me and my boss pulled out a paper the edges of my mouth started to tick and my eyes started sprinting around the room not sure where to stop. It is always a relief to know that others see your hard work, but once they acknowledge it for me, the relief turns to guilt.

I immediately started remembering the hour and a half lunch break I took last week, and that mistake I made on a recent project, and the times I’ve checked my Facebook during work hours. All my mistakes and moments of slacking come to the surface as I try to fight through the muck as my boss is validating and complimenting the ways I have contributed to the team.

Team…yes team, so many people on our team, is management sure I deserve this achievement more than anyone else? Will anyone become resentful? Does anyone think I don’t deserve it? How can I thank everyone for giving this to me?

Don’t get me wrong I love compliments, but I am hard on myself so if you give me a compliment I take that as a challenge. Now not only do I have to live up to that compliment, I have to do BETTER than the compliment you just gave me…

And now since I’m parked right in the front I feel obligated to come to work a little early, stay a little later, and make sure I’m living up to the praises others said I contributed. The pressure is now greater, that I place on myself, even though the thanks was for my hard work, I feel as if I need to work harder.

As I keep striving to be the best person I can be, in that process I let myself down continuously. I also reward myself, guilt myself, confuse myself, and doubt myself. Thank you SLD employees for your shown appreciation to all of my successes and failures, I take the achievement humbly, and am loving the reserved parking spot so close to the entrance during these cold temperatures!

Hailey Schultz

What Mike Wazowski will teach you about your career path

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Mike Wazowski in Monsters University

Photo snatched from: (http://weheartit.com/entry/65770931)

 

If you have seen Monsters Inc, I’m sure you are one of the millions that fell in love with the little one-eyed green creature named Mike Wazowski. Awesome movie, everyone should watch it if you haven’t already…then came Monsters University. I am always leery to watch sequels/prequels, but occasionally I give in to the temptation as I did with Monsters University. Although the film wasn’t up to “Despicable Me’s” impressive animation, I still give it a thumbs up for the underlying message that comes across.

Quick summary for Monsters University: Mike Wazowski dreamed about becoming a scare monster since he was in elementary school. He was a leader & studied harder than anyone else, his blood, sweat, and tears ozed with an appetite to scare... But in the end Mike was not the right fit for a scare monster, he just wasn’t scary. Although it had been Mike’s life-long dream he was able to courageously step down. He realized alone he couldn’t live his childhood dream, but with Sully and himself working together, they were an unstoppable force.

If this were real life I would scoop up Mike and promote him as a CEO! When someone realizes his or her dream has changed, that is something to be admired. Your dreams can change, and likely should! The more you learn about yourself, the more you should evaluate your future goals. One of the first hits I took in my life was giving up architecture. I realized after 7 devout years my dream wasn’t to be an architect anymore, and that was a tough thing to say out loud. After investing so much time, money, and effort into a dream it can be disheartening to reassess.

Are you the part? Or are you forcing it?

Mentally and physically there are blockades in the road. Sometimes they are worth tearing down, sometimes it is best to find another route. Personally I related to Mike on the physical level. Obviously I’m not a little green monster, but physically I have every indication for the stereotypical uncultured, spoiled, young ditzy professional that you might catch yourself rolling your eyes at. I will be the first to admit I have a young vocabulary, I have a tremendous amount of growing to do, I look 20, my voice sounds like an 8 year olds, and at this point if you are an older male it is fairly easy to intimidate me if you try. But you shouldn’t take your eyes off me because this façade is hiding a sponge beneath it. I know my limitations right now, but once I find my Sully, I’ll be something to compete with.

Go find your Sully, whether it be the perfect job, the perfect boss, a degree, or even a new found confidence in yourself. I’ll let you know what mine is when I find it, best of luck!

Hailey Schultz