Career Developments

I have been working in this building for the past 3 months. It is a 29-floor high rise in San Francisco called Fox Plaza. While there, I have been mentoring under Michael Croake, who is the most respected Archstone manager on the west coast, and one of the best in the entire country. As a boss, he has been the best I have ever had by a long, long shot. One of the problems I always had with hotels and restaurants is that every general manager I have ever had has been so pompous, conceited, unprofessional, inconsiderate, you name it. I always wanted a manager I could look to as a mentor, someone I could say "I want to be a manager like him." I have had a lot of managers, and none of them have been the kind I would want to be. In fact, I almost gave up, and almost decided that the reason no one managed the way I wanted to manage/be managed was because the way I want to manage doesn't work. Sure, being nice and friendly to people is good and all, but apparently, I thought, the only management style that works is tell people to do things because you are the boss and if they have a problem with that they can find another job. That is the unfortunate reality in Provo and other parts of Utah where I have worked, and that is why I had to get out. What I have found here in California is managers who actually care about and are friendly with their employees. They understand that the best results come from employees who actually like them. Quality comes from an employee motivated by respect and a desire to receive praise for a job well done, rather than fear of a manager who will just tell them to shape up or ship out if something goes less than perfect.

Anyway, back to work developments. I have very passionate feelings about management style though because I feel frustrated that I had to leave Utah in order to find a satisfying job. All of those bosses I had that were jerks were LDS, you would have thought they would have shown a little Christlike friendliness, humility, or at least consideration for their front-line employees who are doing all the dirty work while they sit in their comfy chairs and stare at computer screens all day getting fat. Here I go again... I just wish I could have stayed in Utah close to family and mountains and skiing and biking, but after trying and trying to find a comfortable work situation, it just wasn't going to happen in Utah.

So, back to Fox Plaza. The views of San Francisco are

amazing. You can actually see right into the bay from the higher floors. Its absolutely breathtaking. So a couple weeks ago, Michael came into my office and let me know that an assistant manager position had opened up at the property in Sausalito, which is north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. I wasn't interested at first because I liked working at Fox Plaza, but Michael told me it would be worth my while to check it out before deciding I didn't want to do it. So I went up there a couple days ago to interview for the position. I was not prepared for how beautiful the property was. It sits on top of a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay and Mill Valley, and is surrounded by nothing but a handful of other apartment buildings that blend right into the side of the mountain and hiking/biking trails that start at the end of the road it sits on. During the interview, I discovered that the manager, who only just started a couple weeks ago, only intends to manage the property for a year or so, and then plans on moving on. If I accept this position, I will be perfectly placed to take control of the property in one year when she leaves, and I will, if all goes well, become the youngest community manager for Archstone, ever. Michael told me after the interview that it is actually the intention of my divisional manager (who is his boss) to see me take over the property when the current manager leaves if I can handle being the assistant (which I'm sure I will). This is such a great situation for me, and I am more happy than ever with my decision to come work for this company. I was the first student that Archstone ever recruited straight out of college, and they are trying to make me the youngest community manager ever. I have no doubt that I will be able to handle it -- the training they are giving me is intense but really, really good. So even through all the fog and pollution, the sun is shining on me in San Francisco!