Personal growth can be bittersweet.

To start growth off on the right path, each new Global employee must complete a detailed, three-month-long orientation schedule. Part of the orientation is learning about the history of CME/CE and Global’s past, present, and future strategy. Orientation also involves shadowing every other employee to learn about what they do and why it is important to our process and success. At the end of the three months, we visit with the new employee to determine if Global is a good fit for him/her and vice versa. Most of the time, we are able to help employees grow up within the organization. New tasks, projects, and roles have developed as our team members are ready for growth. In many cases, we have promoted individuals into multiple new positions over the course of several years. But in two instances over the past 10 years, I’ve had the bittersweet taste that comes from supporting excellent employees in seeking growth outside the organization. Watching an employee leave to follow their growth path brings equal doses of pleasure and pain. But fate can be unpredictable. In one case, we recently wished many successes to a very dedicated employee who had been with us for 5 ½ years. But in another case, we welcomed back a colleague I’ve have had the pleasure of working alongside for the past 18 years at several organizations. Personal growth has an amazing way of taking us up, away, and sometimes, back together again. But since we believe growth is the only option, we have to smile whenever and wherever it occurs. For Global, I'm Stephen Lewis. Have a great day.