.: A Boss & A Friend :.

It’s been so long since I’ve penned my thoughts down. Been rather busy of late – with Project Spring & Project Masterpiece in the doing. Then at work, there’s also the departure of someone very dear to me.

For the past 2 ½ years, I have had the privilege of working with this lady boss. I have not really worked with her prior to me joining this company, but I did have some prior interactions (albeit very minimal) in a Group committee.

When I joined the present company that I’m currently working in, I didn’t know of her “reputation”. First impression during the Group committee meets, she seems like a very nice, jovial lady. So, when I was offered a chance to be placed in this company, I said “Why not!”

Brutal lady boss (Devil Wears Prada)

There is this side of her which reflects the true dragon lady nature (she is afterall born in the year of a Dragon). She is a no-nonsense person and is not a pushover (one of the more critical skills needed in a position such as hers). She can be quite harsh when things are not done properly, but her way of doing things are pretty reasonable, in my opinion (at least for most of it). Hence, if I were to have asked around about of people's opinion of her, I prolly would have said “thanks, but no thanks” to the offer. Hence, her "reputation". However after getting to know her, what I have observed is that she is a great coach. Although she is very efficient in the way she does her work, she is completely patience with me and guide me step by step in the first few months I joined. And because the industry that I am in is something new to me, she doesn’t bark when I ask her loads and loads of question even though she has piles of work waiting on her end waiting to be completed.

There are also times where she shares with me her thought process and underlying reasons behind decisions made (which is mirroring what her immediate boss practices) which is where I could learn further, even tho I have no hands on experience in handling those things. She indirectly teaches me the soft skills in dealing with people. When to be soft and when to put your foot down and be stern. This is where I learn a lot on managerial skills which I hope I could put to good use someday soon when I’m in that position.

What I like about her is that she works hard, doesn’t butter or suck up to her immediate boss in order to gain favor and she acknowledges and appreciate her subordinates work. Even if I stay back to do something that is within my job scope, she will say “thank you” for it. She also stands firm on what is the right thing to do, and doesn’t bend easily, even to those who are senior management of the company. It does help that her immediate boss is a person of great ethics as well, which is why I love to work with this team. She doesn’t push the blame for mistakes made, and I have seen a couple of time where she took responsibility of mistakes that wasn’t really made by her, which really makes her a good superior. And again, because her immediate boss is also not one who points finger to blame, but rather to find a solution, a reason why I find enjoyable working with this team. There is no such thing as zero politics in the office, but what I also like about it is that she tries not to get involved, take sides or start one.

At times, after office hours, she takes off her "boss" hat and puts on her "friend" hat. I suppose what I am going to miss now that she’s left is not only great boss but also a great friend. She shares her life with me as I do the same. And sometimes I feel that she is indeed like an older sister I never had. Her wisdom and experiences she shared in many things helps me make a lot of decisions in my own life. I suppose it’s also chemistry that we can click so well. And in fact, we share the same sense of humour (albeit a slightly lame one) which can make us have the same thoughts over an incident and laugh about it even without saying a word. I would definitely miss the time where we poke fun of our own stupidity and mistakes at work or personal stuff.

For her farewell, instead of getting her a card, I came out with the idea of getting her a mini scrapbook with spontaneous polariod photos of the colleagues of the company. I also took a pic of her desk (albeit a cleaned one, but it was messy the whole tenure she was here) and tagged on the things that used to be here & there. Hopefully, she will still have a good laugh flipping thru the scrapbook while sipping mojitos and sun-tanning in a beach in Melb. Or at least that’s what I visualize her to be doing!

Anyways, I do hope that she has all the fun being a housewife in the land down under….

She is indeed a great loss to the company and on a personal note, to me….