Promotion – Congratulations or Condolences?

There is a story about a bird that got a late start flying south for the winter.  Along the way, it got so cold, that it could not longer fly.  Cold and exhausted, it landed in a farmer’s field where he was unable to go any further.  As the cold began to drain the life from the little bird, a cow walked by and, seeing the cold bird, pooped on the bird.

The warm, fresh pooped began to heat the bird and after a few hours the bird had enough strength to fly again.  The problem was that the bird was stuck in the huge pile of cow dung and was unable to free himself.

The bird began to sing hoping that someone, anyone, would come to his aid and pull him out of the cow patty.  Just as his hope was waning, a cat came along.  Seeing the helpless bird, the cat gently reached into the pile of dung and pulled the bird to freedom.  The cat attentively cleaned the shit off the bird. The bird was so grateful that he would finally be able to finish his journey south, that he belted out a jubilant thank-you song for the cat … and then the cat ate the bird!

The moral of the story is that not everyone that shits on you is doing you harm and not everyone who pulls you out of the shit has your best interest!

This promotion for me is a bit like the bird story.  At the beginning of the month, my company asked me to take on the role of Regional for the Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent.  It is a huge promotion in both position and responsibility, but as they were enthusiastically giving it to me, they slipped in that this would mean staying in India a bit longer and, oh, much more travel.  Ah, the cat had arrived. 

The scope of the job is large and a little intimidating.  I will be responsible for all operations and teams in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey.  My country list reads like an itinerary for a Jihad recruiting trip.  As of now, I cannot travel to Pakistan and, depending on the elections in Egypt, I may never see my team in Cairo which although reduces the travel, makes remote managing even more difficult – again with the cat!

The one bright spot is that Turkey is now within my responsibilities and Olga and I love to go to Turkey.  I see many extended holidays on my quarterly trips to Istanbul and eating great Turkish food.  To this, I have no complaints, but I am not sure it offsets such garden spots as Bangladesh and Egypt. 

The other upside is that I will travel back to the US more often.  At my level now, I am included in organizations strategy meetings, as well as many of the corporate leadership meetings.  This is good, as the more time I get in the US, the more goodies I get to bring back for my patient and understanding wife, as she continues to weather through life in Delhi. 

The other upside is that for those of you that are tired of hearing about life in Delhi, the blog is bound to get more interesting.  I mean, seriously, do you have any idea what Dhaka, Bangladesh is like? So, like all good stories, my pain is your entertainment.  

Congratulations or condolences?  Time will tell.