Message #73649

[Clark]

Cathy, thank you for your response.  Your suggestions are all actions that I've been taking to assess the "true nature" of the position.

I meet with my boss at least once a day to debrief, receive instructions, convey information, etc.  I follow up with him after meetings for action items for me, etc.  There are two other senior executives that I occassionally help out as well. 

I've met with all the major reports to my boss and their assistants and have read all the organization's publications.

My boss and I met last week at my request to specifically discuss my duties and he indicated that I am doing everything required of me and that he is happy with the work I'm doing.  I explained my concerns regarding the difference between how the job was described to me and how it has unfolded to date, but he reassured me again that I was on top of everything.  I suggested one minor project that I would be happy to take on and he gave me the go ahead, but it is very minor.  There don't seem to be any other task that I can take on for him.

I also met with HR last week to discuss my confusion as to why the position was much quieter than I was led to believe during the interview process.  There seems to have been a major gap in what my predecessor described the position as and what it actually is.  It's a bit of an odd situation.  I don't want to seem unappreciative, because it is a wonderful organization - it's just so different from what I was told it would be that I thought I was somehow missing a huge chunk of my duties.  But, apparently I'm not!  I hope that it gets busier in the Fall.

In the meantime, I'll keep filing and reading and watching for projects I can volunteer for.