Food Protection Trends - October 2009 - 616

from your president s I write this column, my boys, Max and Jack, are getting ready to start a new school year. Max will be in third grade and Jack will be a full-time student this year in first grade. It’s hard to believe how fast time is passing. As I watch them and listen to them prepare for their next steps, it reminds me of how I felt at the beginning of each new school year—nervous, optimistic and excited! Which homeroom teacher will I get, and will he or she like me? Will my friends be in my class? How many recesses will we get? And of course, there is the fun of buying new shoes, new clothes, new backpacks and school supplies. Perhaps this excitement is really about the opportunity to have a fresh start every fall, a “do-over” if you will. It’s a chance to show your teachers and schoolmates how much you’ve changed over the summer, what new “identities” you’re trying on for size, what improvements you’ve made and how you’ve grown. As we journey through life we encounter these feelings with each new experience: college, career, marriage, starting a family, and so on. I have been fortunate to work for several major food companies during my career, and each time I began a new job I was filled with this new-school-year nervousness and optimistic excitement. I truly believe that when we are in this heightened emotional state of mind is the turning point at which we can accomplish the most! But it’s difficult to sustain that state of mind. My guess is that by January, my boys will be wishing school was done for the year and will be counting down the days to summer vacation. So, how do we, as food safety professionals, stay excited, motivated and optimistic as the initial “vickie's view” By VICKIE LEWANDOWSKI PRESIDENT “There are opportunities everywhere you look in your life; you just might not recognize them as such” “newness” in our career paths wears off? Who does the responsibility of keeping us challenged, excited and motivated fall to? How do we stay excited and engaged beyond that “fresh-start” autumn feeling? I think the answer is to look for, make and seize our own opportunities. Don’t wait for things to happen or for the golden opportunity to fall into your lap; it’s not likely to happen! As Elinor Smith was quoted, “It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.They went out and happened to things.” Lest you think I am just quoting quotes, I’ll give you an example from my own work experience. Last summer I identified a coworker who was going out on a planned medical leave. I suggested to my managers and my coworker’s managers that I do a short-term, cross-functional assignment in her absence. All parties agreed to the temporary arrangement. I was very nervous and excited to take on this new assignment. It gave me a different perspective of how a food company works, and allowed me to interact on a daily basis with many different functions within the company. Overall, it was an excellent experience for me and I learned so much and so many different things that I made a change in my career path. After 23 years of being solely focused on microbiology and food safety, I made a move into the Business Unit Quality Department. Now, you might think that this might have dampened or diluted my passion for and focus on food safety. But what I’ve found is that a major focus of the quality side of the house is microbiology and food safety, and in fact, the Quality Department encompasses both food protection and brand protection on multiple levels. Seizing this opportunity has reenergized my career and renewed my personal and professional excitement, optimism and passion for food protection. There are opportunities everywhere you look in your life; you just might not recognize them as such. What we might initially view as a problem, a hassle, or a roadblock is really an opportunity. You might not always have the support and resources you think are needed, but looking at situations or issues from a fresh perspective can help us to overcome barriers and succeed in ways that turn out to be among the greatest and most rewarding. 616 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | OCTOBER 2009

Food Protection Trends - October 2009

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