I got to the office about 12:30 or so. This is a good time because the morning crises are usually resolved and the afternoon drama hasn't begun. He was in his office and in a pretty good mood. He can be a lot of fun to talk to when he's not stressing over some emergency. And he isn't a man to stress unnecessarily.
I had printed up my resignation letter and sealed it in an envelope. I wanted to be able to leave it on his desk if he wasn't in. He opened it, read the first sentence, and looked up at me. "Why? What's going on?" I said "read the rest of the letter."
To give you the sense of things, I'll show you "the rest."
Thank you for the opportunities you have afforded me in this position. I have learned a lot about working with others, but more importantly I have learned a lot about myself. I have experienced great personal growth over the last three and a half years. This experience has been invaluable. You have been a wonderful supervisor and a joy to work with. I hope we can remain friends.
The time has come for me to seek other opportunities; to broaden my horizons and sphere of influence. I will forever be grateful to you and the school district for teaching me to exercise my ability to be a positive influence in the community.
We had a very good discussion. He honed in on the bit about being a positive influence. He told me that he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have had a very positive influence on a lot of people, both students and district employees of one variety or another. Oh, yeah, that made me feel good!
And it went on from there. We touched on a lot of the things I wanted to tell him. Like how I know I do a very good job. I've helped him a lot by taking care of things within my ability to do so, leaving him free from those concerns. (A lot of the other drivers can't or won't do that) We talked about how he has given me a wide variety of experiences since the very beginning. The asshat threw me to the sharks my first day on the job! He put me as a monitor on one of the worst routes in the city! I was flabbergasted, overwhelmed, my naivete was shattered like a fragile crystal goblet thrown against a brick wall. I have driven many different routes, and have learned a lot from each one. Especially about myself. He has been good for me. I told him this.
I told him I feel as though my abilities are being underutilized in this job, that I want to be in a position where I can be more intellectually stimulated and challenged to further my personal growth and influence on others. He seemed to really understand, to sympathize. He was supportive, which pleases me. He could have handled it differently. He could have tried to cajole me into staying a little bit longer. But I'm very proud of myself because I averted that course by being very strong and confident about my decision. And as many of you know, I'm not feeling particularly strong and confident these days.
My resignation was very successful. I feel even better and stronger and more ready to face what lies ahead, whatever that may be.
