My Fred Jones II Day

Not sure if I wanted to write this down or not... so thought I would start and then decide afterwards...

Today I cleaned out my office. For those of you that don't know me, I had a day job (art being a passion and not a career for me). My day job was in risk management for the corporate & investment banking division of Wachovia. If you follow the banking sector at all, you know that Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia, which put me on the subordinated side of the deal and it thus far has not worked out the way I had hoped.

Career-wise, my time with Wachovia has been my most satisfying. I have enjoyed being at work - such that often it didn't even seem like work. I've enjoyed the people I've worked with - sharp people that cared about the firm and our customers - definitely not the evil bankers that are now the target of such media mire.

So today was a sad day - actually all the days since last fall have been touched with sadness, for many of us - but for me, today was especially sad. I cleaned out my office, which is an admission of the inevitable, that I am left to consider the next step for my career in financial services - and I suppose, to consider if it should even be in financial services.

Today is my Fred Jones day (a Ben Folds reference). I feel like I am deliberately drifting away, quietly and without any fanfare - we've all said the things that we needed to. My colleagues, my teammates, and those I've worked closely with. I am no longer a decision-maker, a goto leader, and my phone doesn't ring off the hook daily. I no longer get 300+ emails a day. But I did my job and the work has been neatly packaged and handed over to the acquirers who will be the stewards going forward.

So as I un-pack my boxes, and think about my time spent - and a lot of time was spent - I could think only of Ben Folds song Fred Jones II... and now, I'll smile, think about the possibilities, and move on...