It’s rare to find a boss of whom you
regard with high respect and admiration. During my first day at the office,
everyone I met kept saying how we have the best boss ever. Our boss reminded me
of Ma’am Rein, who was my mentor in Philippine Eagle Foundation before. They
have the same aura that draws people toward them. They also have that character
(of which I cannot fully describe at the moment) wherein all good things are
inherent in them. When they talk, you’ll truly be enlightened.
June 3 marked the end of training and
my change of employment status to probationary. So after the evaluation, I was
called in to talk with Ma’am Rica (do the names of good bosses start with the
letter ‘R’?). I was ready for the worst, because I know I did not give my full
best in my first month of work. But what I got was something unexpected –
important lessons that are true gems of wisdom.
If only I could record everything that
Ma’am Rica said, I would play it over and over so that I won’t forget them.
These are the only ones that I could remember from our talk:
1.
Making Mistakes Is Good: Allow yourself to make mistakes because that’s how
you will learn. If you did not make any mistakes in your first month of work,
that is not normal. If that is the case, you are a ticking time bomb because no
one knows when you’ll make a mistake or the magnitude of your upcoming mistake.
For the next six months, I should
allow myself to make as many mistakes as possible. It is my way of learning by
doing and becoming better and better every single day. It is my way of knowing
what works and what doesn’t and how I can improve on my set of skills.
2.
Take Into Account Various Perspectives: When creating something, take into
account the various people who will come across your output. Try seeing what
you’ve done through the eyes of others – what are they looking for or how will
it affect them. The better you can empathize with more people, the greater the
impact is of a job well done.
3.
Welcome great expectations: It’s okay to feel the stress and pressure from
people who expect high from you. It’s okay to cry. When you are pushed to your
limit, you push your abilities further. It’s okay to fight against the people
who expect a lot from you so that you can set your boundaries while developing
yourself professionally and personally.
4.
Applying the Fish Philosophy: This gem of a book called FISH! highlights four principles that our boss applies to the working environment of
our office. The four principles are: Choose Your Attitude, Play, Make Their
Day, and Be Present. The Fish Team together with the rest of us in the office
do our best to apply the principles everyday. The outcome of such efforts is
that it has made our office a more vibrant and invigorating place to work. I
believe I will never find another office like this – where everyday feels like
I’m living to the fullest and there is so much joy (buyag-buyag).
As you can see, I am very blessed in
this job. It may not have everything people normally expect from the perfect
kind of job, but we are all happy here. Of course there are the usual problems,
but we strive our best to solve them while having fun along the way.
So yes, I am happy and I decide to
keep it that way.
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