Bosses

Lets talk about bosses today. I always thought having a good family upbringing is so important, especially in the growing years. But having gone under the management of several superiors aka Bosses, i can attest this is another batch of people who mould the future u. Lets give some credit to my past bosses:

1997-1998

Did my 6mths internship at sunny island, Sentosa, in the events department. It was a fantastic learning curve for me. A rewarding one too, for my interest in managing events grew from there, and . . . . and . . . i found my life partner there too! kekeke.... too much info liao! My then superiors were nice. My direct mentor, Chris, was a sweet temper man, and good looking too! Thru him, i learnt to be meticulous in my work, learning to meet corporate clients etc. Chris' direct boss, V was like my boss too! I dare say, amongst the 7 interns there, he gave me the most chances to learn and do what i am interested in. The interns were supposed to switch departments after 3mths, but i requested to V, that i would like to remain in the dept for the entire 6mths. Well, 3 mths seemed too short to learn the essence of good events management. He believed in my theory and gave me the confidence to take on high budgeted events. Thru V, i learnt how to speak up to ask for essential budgets, resources etc. . .

1998 - 1999

My first job after graduation, was at LTA. That was the place, where i had many beautiful memories and where i met the most incredible group of people. My big boss, LCK, was . . . (delete many words). My superior, Sally is probably one of my most respected Superior ever. A gungho woman, whom excelled at her work, yet can ha-la with us anytime. Can u every understand how ur boss is able to "conspired" with you to make fun of your colleagues? I thot i did blog abt some stupid things we did in our heydays! Yes, she was great becos she was unselfish in imparting her knowledge to us. Before u start thinkin she must be some old aunty, no, she is not. Back then, she was in her early thirties then. She was the one who inspired me to get out of the civil servant job to go seek a greener pasture since i was only 21. Thanks Sally!

1999-2001

I left "Iron RiceBowl" to try out at a SME. That was a true training ground. That was the place where I had a taste of my first "efforts paid off by commissions", my first taste of office politics and of cos, my own staff. I started out as sales, but hahaha, was always given extra tasks to "develop" the company... kekeke... maybe becos i was too "participative" and always give my "2cents worth" to my bosses. Its so funny, everywhere i go, i seemed to have 2 bosses. My direct boss, Joe, was another looker. Wahaha, i quite "fortunate" hor? Joe gave me absolute freedom to develop my own set of accounts and he gave me the confidence that i needed.  He showed me the way to good customer service was to know what the clients wanted and we probem-solve for them.  Recall fondly the days we did product training in the workshop.  He would be assembling the various pop up systems and that's where we would learn all about the systems. 

He is the one mentor that I always look up to.  He taught me on how to survive in a big company where HR issues were always an issue.  I remember fondly that there was a time where the company was undergoing some renos and we had to arrange for a suitable time to shift our seatings and our barang-barangs.  The young, impulsive and insensitive me had excitedly suggested to get everyone to come back on a weekend to complete the task so that it would be less disruptive to the weekday works.  Little did I know, I actually got into the wrath of fellow colleagues by suggesting to come back on a weekend.  I did not know then what had actually happened but the bad vibes in the air was unbearable.  Colleagues kinda "shunned" me, got into their little cliques but yet I had no inklings as to what had happened.  It was only after that, Joe called me into his room and explained the animosity.  Apparently when I was super 'siao-on" to suggest a weekend move, which will indeed cause lesser business disruptions, I had been insensitive to the fellow colleagues for they may already have weekend engagements.  By suggesting that, it would mean that the colleagues had to sacrifice their personal time.  His "counselling" sets me thinking and ever since, I will try to be as understanding to the situations whenever it comes to making decisions on behalf of others.  I learnt to put myself into the others' shoes.  I learnt that everyone has their preferred ways of working and that being very on-the-ball could be my character but it may not be for the others.    

YT was another boss too. I am also very grateful for all the confidence he had in me. It was certainly very motivating to have the bosses asking for opinions and trusting me enough to set up a media department, considering that i was only 21 then. Looking back, i guess YT was one of the role model i aspired to be, cos of his ambitions and his "never say no" attitude. Many would have said he was a tryant or a manipulator, or that he was borned with silver spoon thus not knowing the hardships. But, i guess all these misperceptions vanished the moment he made it and achieved his dreams. Good for him to eventually achieved his dreams.

Btw, both bosses are just 5 years my senior!!! The young achievers, huh? kekeke

2001-2001

Yup, its not a typo error. I was "headhunted" to go interview with MCR. During my interview, i managed to impress 2 different unit heads and when i reported for work, i was told by my superior that i was supposed to go to the other unit that manages "difficult-to-crack" accounts, but my superior insisted i must go over to his team that serves the Top Spending accounts. My superior, was a "Yes-man". Everything was "Ok, of cos, no prob!!" and most of the time, we had to "manage" him and his intended expectations. It was also becos of the attitude, that we got red-eyes from many other teams. Basically, i was there for only 6mths and decided that such a "big" environment (60 sales!!) was not suitable for me. Too many "internal issues" to manage.

2002 - present

Well, my next boss is ME! Kekeke, we founded Leadz in mid 2002 and havent looked back since. Being my own boss, meant learning to behave like a superior. Its like an Angel and Devil scenario. When i want to throw my own temper or skive for the day, my "Superior" character comes stepping in, to control my lax moments.

I remembered for the initial 2 years, i din not draw any pay and life was hard. But we gritted on becos its our own business. We as in hb and me. So you can imagine how terrible it was, to have both hb and wife not drawing pay and still having to manage family expenses. Doesnt help that Daryl came as a surprise gift from God. Recalling those moments, i cant help by to think that we have gone a long way back.

Many would have thought that we are rich or else how to start the business, but no, its a total different story. How issit possible that having only worked for 4 yrs allowed me to have a substantial sum of savings? We started the business with whatever amount we had, and to think the amount we put in, was cheated by a despicable businessman. Nvm about the details. We've been through the "dig hands into pocket, to find whatever shillings we had to buy food", not enough money to pay for our house, and for a decent few years, i was unable to be a filial daughter, giving my parents pocket money. That thought made me sad. On several occasions, i even went on a job-hunting spree, attending as many as 3 interviews in a week. Some offered, and some rejected. But after consideration, I still did not made the move on. It must be fated, i guess. But at times, i like to imagine what would our live be like now, had i went out to work.

I guess having gone through several rounds of employment, made me a better person, and i hope, a better superior. Now that i am "boss" to many temps, it only felt right to treat these people as my "permanent staff", rather than freelancer. Afterall, the above bosses kinda imparted people management skills to me and it effectively moulds me to be a better boss, who is willing to listen, has a keen eye to notice and has a good heart to feel. Eventually, i like to believe that employees are the greatest assets for a growing company.