Time Rolls On, and With it Change

Good afternoon everyone. Let me start by saying the state of the ranch is fine, save for slight neglect. T-Rex, Princess P-Chop and the wife are good. We spent the weekend at Lake Camanche, CA on a rental pontoon boat. The weekend before that, we visited the Avenue of the Giants, walking around and staring at trees taller than football fields are long, standing when Christ walked the Earth. The place is amazing and humbling.

I started my MS in Project Management at USF last week. I go every Wednesday from 6 to 10 at night. I still need to get my homework done (reading 6 or so chapters and writing a 3-4 page essay), but that will be no problem.

I do not think I mentioned this, but the site I work at is on a military installation, and due to BRAC, it will be closing 3-4 years from now. I wanted to capitalize on education benefits over the next few years to really sharpen my skills and resume. Ideally, I would like to stay with my present employer and have them move me to another site to work. I just need to continue to do a good job and get my resume to the point where I am attractive in many situations. I have a good reputation with them, so I think I'm on the right track.

I also have about 100 folks working for me at the site, and I am trying to motivate them to do the same; ready themselves for opportunities in the future. It is hard to get folks to do these things. Change is a tough thing to ready people for, to get them to realize the only constant is change, paraphrasing Heraclitus. I have so many great folks that could really open up doors if they would just spend the next 2 years getting that degree done, that cert completed, etc. For some, it is fear. They're afraid to go back to school and fail. For some it is conceit. They don't believe they need the degree...they're just fine and a degree is nothing more than paperwork. Our company even gives employees money to pay for the training! Ugh....

So, I hope by the end of my 3 years I will:
-Get my MS in Project Management at USF
-Get my PMP Certification
-Get multiple ITIL Practitioner Certs, maybe the big IT Service Mgr Cert (tough one to get!)
-Get my Security+ Cert, maybe my CISM

I think that's a healthy set of professional goals for now.

What else should I look for to continue in my IT/Telecommunications Manager career? If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to holler!