Do You Miss It?

A souvenir from one of my career stops a lifetime ago.

"Do you miss it?”

The same question posed by two former colleagues, two days apart.

One knew me at the start of my career, when I cut my teeth in personal finance. The other knew me years later, leading a team within an Enterprise SaaS company.

Different companies. Different chapters. What felt like a lifetime apart.

I paused and thought.

There is some of the work I miss.

Seeing a family begin to believe they would achieve their goals...not just that they could. Rallying with a team to rescue the deal that saved the quarter. Watching a team member break glass and make a jump that no one had made before.

But what I missed about the work was always tied to the people. The product and the process were just the conduit.

I replied to both the same way:

"I miss the people. Not the work."

But thinking about it now, I realize I do miss the work.

Because the people are the work.

Every deal, metric, and process I ever cared about was a reason to be with someone. The numbers mattered, but they were never the point. It was what happened to the people while we chased them.

Maybe that's why I'll keep doing it.