Exceedingly Surprised

"Exceeds expectations - excellent"

I had my performance appraisal with my boss yesterday and this was the grade he awarded me. Gosh, I was surprised.

Although 2009 was not as difficult as 2008, I thought I'd struggled.

Thought I'd struggled with motivation at times, struggled with workload, struggled with stress but by and large, I met my deadlines. I just had my head down most of the time, just trying to get things out of my inboxes (physical and email). I don't think I did as well as I could have to be honest.

Yet the report my boss had compiled had me down as "highly motivated" and "energised" with good time management skills! This must be how he sees me but not how I see myself? During our chat, he gave examples of telephone conversations I'd had with colleagues that demonstrated this (must talk more quietly!) plus strong personality traits.

"Basically weenie*, " he said, "You're not afraid to say no and you're prepared to push back even if it isn't the most popular decision." Which, in my line of work where sales people often try to slide things past me is a good thing!

This year (3 months in already!), I've been tasked with two projects and I'll need to complete one of them in between doing my normal job by the end of the year, if not before. Gawwwd.

I hadn't been looking forward to the appraisal - guess I was worrying over nothing. I'll not celebrate too much though - let's see if I still feel like celebrating when/if they announce whether I get a pay rise.

*used my real name of course