Luck Be A Lady

My boss stopped me in his office the other day and asked me the old, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question again. I told him, "I want to do environmental, and in 20 years I want to be the Global Lead for ES&H." He said that he's got a teleconference scheduled with the corporate director of Environmental Affairs on Monday to discuss people development, moves, etc. He asked me if I'm willing to move to a remote location like BFE, Arkansas. I said yes, as long as it's not for more than 2-3 years and includes a regional manager position. He asked me if I'd move to St. Louis (which is where our corporate headquarters are) and I said I'd sell my house next month. He must've forgotten that I set a goal to be outta here by the time the next hurricane season starts.

He also asked me if I'd be willing to travel. I cocked my head to the side thinking, "Has he forgotten my last 3 vacation spots?" I then told him that travel was fine as long as it wasn't ridiculously extensive because I am the single mother of a 10 year old...but depending on the location, I could probably work it out.

He said he wants me to take a trip to headquarters in the first quarter of CY '06 to spend an hour or so with everyone in corporate Environmental, to feel out what I want to do when I get there. I have a feeling I'll be getting the promotion and move I've been pestering him about in the very near future.

When I shared all of this with my best friend earlier today, she asked me if I was trying to get to STL to be closer to my ex-boyfriend. I told her, "No, this is about my career, and I'm a lady. I'm not one to try to break up another woman's home." I don't understand why anyone would think I'd alter my career path to be with him? He's not guaranteed to ever be with me...for God's sake, he's practically in a common law marriage with kids! All I know is, my vision for my future is to find &/or make opportunities for me to have increasing influence in setting environmental policy...first for my company and eventually, for the world.

So in the immortal words of Denzel Washington, "Luck is when preparedness and opportunity meet." I hope she'll be a lady like me.