Curt Archambault currently serves as the Learning and Development Director. He shares his thoughts on choosing to work for the Y in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just when you think you have mastered all that you are going to master, achieved all that you thought you would achieve, and developed into the best self you could be, life throws you a curveball or two. Having spent 30+ successful years in the private sector followed by an amazing 11 years in consulting, assisting companies grow their people, I found myself literally with life on pause. Then it went to life needing to pivot. I had spent most of 2020 and a good chunk of 2021 on “standby” wondering what was going to happen. Would the business that I had grown ever return? Did I want to return to being a “road warrior"? What really was important to me at this point in my career and life?
Having recently relocated to where it all began, Grit City...Tacoma WA, the place where the maintenance boy met the prep girl at the 56th and Pacific Street Jack in the Box over 40 years ago, I was at a career crossroads. Do I try to hold on until business picked up in consulting or do I look for a new gig? That was not even that simple in that I am at that stage of my career that “making a mark” is not as important as “leaving a legacy”. So, all of that was fueling my focus for the future. I realized that I needed to be able to work where I could leave a legacy in a company that was leaving a legacy. I needed to be aligned with an organization that stood for more than profit but in making a real difference in people’s lives. That is where the search started.
Amazingly enough, the way the brain works is that things of value get through, and wouldn’t you know it, after I decided what it was I wanted to do...a job posting for a Learning and Development Director at the YMCA showed up in my search. Better yet, I knew people that knew people. This was awesome. I did the interviews...which were interesting after not having to interview for a role in a long time. I left the process thinking, “that went well” and then I got the call from Charlie...well, let’s just say, I won the silver medal in the interview process. I was not the first choice so, time to move on. Then what happens, I get a call back from Charlie asking if I was still interested. In the time between the “no” and the “are you interested,” I did some additional reflection and the Y seemed like a great fit for me but was I a great fit for the Y? At that point, I knew that I could make an impact given the opportunity if I was true to myself and what I find of value and importance as a team member and a leader.
So, I said yes and now it has been 7+ months at the Y. What has been my biggest takeaway so far? The amazing people that work at the Y. The willingness to support and go above and beyond to ensure that we are strengthening our community. I learned that the Y has had amazing success in the past and that COVID has disrupted the world of the Y in dramatic ways. That said, everyone was and is willing to do what it takes to keep the Y the community asset that it is and has been for decades.
The Y, however, is at a crossroads. We have gone above and beyond to ensure that the members and the community are strengthened as a result of what we do here at the Y. This asked and continues to ask a lot of our staff and leadership. We need to ensure that we are doing all we can (that is my biggest focus) to ensure that we are a People First organization that embraces all our people...the staff...both part-time and full-time, to have an amazing experience at the Y. That we put the people who take care of our members first. It is our staff that defines the member experience which means our staff culture/experience has to be top-notch. I know we can do it as we have for years delivered great member experiences so I know it has been and can be done at even higher levels. Face it...just like the Seahawks (if you are not a fan, sorry about that), the Y is in a rebuilding phase. We have a ton of new people on the team, we have new leaders in many roles, and our challenges are new and not new, but we are all pushing to do the best we can. Let us not forget that the best way for a team to improve is to improve together. This is not a sprint but a marathon (too many sports metaphors?) and we have to take care of each other as we move forward. Things will be hard at times but not be as hard when we are part of a great team.
We got this...we got this together. #OneY