Kirstie Brieger

I can only say it's the grace of God. There have been times where I wanted to quit, and when I got ready to give up, something picked me up along the way. There have been times where I would need to move to another department or I was considering a higher position, and for whatever reason it didn't work out for me. But I've been able to maintain the space that I'm in, and even though I've been in my current position for 3 years, if I've not moved, it's because there's still something there for me to develop, there's still something for me to learn in the space that I'm in. I definitely feel like everything happens for a reason, and I have to stay grounded in that understanding.

Time, chance, and opportunity happen for us all. Just keep in mind that your timeline does not look like everybody else's. This advice has really helped me understand that everyone's career journey is different, and I shouldn't compare my progress to others. It's reminded me to be patient with my own path and trust that things will unfold in their own time.

One of the things I learned early on is that I had to stop fighting myself. I'm naturally the type of person that wants to help people, and it can be discouraging when people are nasty because something didn't go right with the services we rendered, or they just had a complaint, or they felt like calling and being rude. When you have a genuine heart to help people and you get a negative response back, it kind of makes you not like dealing with people. But what I've learned is that even though they may not be nice, I have the understanding that this is a quality, something that's in me to help others. I have to be true to myself, and in doing that, regardless of what response I get back from them, that's why I implement my patience and understanding. It is very hard dealing with the general public, but you can grow a lot in that field if you grow in your emotional intelligence. Just accept the fact that you are called to help other people, regardless of how they respond. And as long as you know that, then everything else is fine.

The City of Dallas is under a hiring freeze, and my department is not one of the exempt departments, so we cannot hire anyone internally or externally. I had my eye on the workforce manager position and waited months for the application to come up. Not too long after I applied for it, we went under the hiring freeze, which meant I could not promote or even have the opportunity to promote within my department. That was definitely hurtful and frustrating for a few days. The challenge I'm dealing with now is not getting discouraged in a repetitive routine, because in my mind I thought by now I would be doing something else within my department, but not dealing with the tasks I deal with now. Although I've had periods lately of feeling burnt out and tired of doing the same thing, and dealing with some of my agents has become more challenging, I've got to stay grounded. Instead of throwing my hands up and being discontent in my job and letting it affect my productivity, I have to buckle down. These are the times that are important, because when things don't work out in your favor, are you going to become lackadaisical or continue to be a high performer? I've got to continue to be a high performer because everything is a stepping stone, a building block for me to get to where I need to be.

The values that guide both my work and personal life are consistency, commitment, emotional intelligence, patience, and understanding, because I believe strong relationships, effective leadership, and meaningful service are built on treating people with empathy, respect, and reliability every day.