You may be wondering whatever happened to the new manager brought in to replace me several years ago.  That is, the one that demoted me and hired my replacement then a year later fired my replacement.  He unceremoniously resigned last month.  He announced his intention to move on in an email with no indication of what would be next.  I recall sending the initial $30M cost savings proposal to him, and he ignored it for two weeks until I resent it and cc'd his manager.  His manager replied right away with a request for a meeting to review the proposal.

As I look back, it's evident that there are times we owe so much of our success to the obstacles we overcome that we should be nothing but thankful for them.  Beyond numerous department awards and several promotions over the past three years, there's much more to be thankful for in the exhilaration that came from the experience and lessons learned.

Last month, our CIO announced his departure to take the CIO position at AIG.  Despite creating and leading a program that saved $42M ($12M more than we originally committed), I never received any recognition from him.  I don't believe it's appropriate to say in the departure of the CIO or my old manager, "let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you" but that certainly does cross my mind.  Seriously, our accomplishments are more about building friendships and close relationships as we overcome the interesting challenges along the way to succeeding as a team.  Individual accolades are a flea bite in comparison - although I'll certainly take them.