Juan Carlos brought me out for lunch at Ben & Nick’s Diner on last week Friday. Private lunch with private conversations :) Juan Carlos has been on board since February but until now, Juan Carlos still refuses to confirm on the department's official organization structure. Since I have nothing to lose, me being me…I was upfront and transparent. I was firm and strict. Don’t judge me! I’m a control freak and there is always the need for me to have a say in everything. Yes, I always need to be the one holding the steering wheel. I am who I am because of the different experiences that I have had in my life :)
Well, at the company Group Level, the Furniture Department goes hand in hand with the Bedding Department; understood because both of the categories complement each other…however, it also means that I will be park under Felix or hand over the Furniture portfolio to Felix. Don’t get me wrong. Overall, Felix is a nice gentleman. I have been under Felix & Snow Petrol for a couple of months and they are indeed good people. But what I don't like about Felix is that Felix do not give me the opportunity to do things my way. Everything must be done according to the Felix's way. I am not saying that my way is right (i could be wrong as well) but being a Category Manager, I believe that I have the ability & capability to manage my portfolio to meet the company's objectives. I should have a certain level of freedom, creativity, accountability and responsibility. The Group Division Manager's role is to guide, help to solve problems that I can't solve and to bring me back on track if I ever go off track. But, with Felix is all about following instructions. Therefore, there is no fun working with Felix. There is no need to have a buyer under Felix, having a clerk will do. With Celtic is a bit different, even though Celtic knows that my way is wrong and the idea sucks, Celtic still let me try, with the possibility that maybe I can actually make the wrong right and I get to learn throughout the entire process, so I will do better in the future. Actually, Felix is also a Yes Man…Felix pleases the bosses. To please Juan Carlos, Felix actually manipulates the figures. Tin Min can be my witness for this. Right now, all of the Division Managers are trying their very best to please Juan Carlos as much as possible because they want to be in Juan Carlos’s good books. And of course, since all of them is giving in, Juan Carlos just receive them gladly. I; on the other hand…do not have the colonial mind set. If I can do it, I will do it. If I cannot do it, I say cannot. I don’t overdo it and over promise things. I don’t fear authority. And I certainly don’t bastardise people. A lot of people are very jealous of D31 right now because it’s going to be Juan Carlos’s number 1 priority and D31 will get the best in everything. So, there are many teasing, many insults, many gossips and many unpleasant words that is going around.
So, I told Juan Carlos; if you want me to hand over the category to Felix, you better do it right now. So I can start to concentrate on my new portfolio, please don’t waste my time. And on the other hand, I will be very upset & angry as well…I have been laboring very hard since January this year, I have put in a lot of effort in developing the new furniture collections & pushing up my department sales & margin…currently, my department is one of the department in the division that is positive YTD LFL...and by asking me to give it all away right now, by giving all of my ideas to Felix (whether Felix follows through with my ideas or not is another issue)…I will be very pissed off…first, I don’t get to enjoy the fruits of my hard labor and secondly, Felix will be getting all of the credit for my hard work. Whether my ideas work or not is another question. Felix will be the lucky chap. I have built the foundation, solve all of the pending problems, cleaning up all the shits and Felix just receive them so easily; a hassles-free category…no way. Yes, I am that selfish. I was blunt all right.
But to my surprise, Juan Carlos took it rather well. As a matter of fact, Juan Carlos allows me to continue my project till the end and wants to promote me to Division Manager! :) Thank you GOD, Praise to the LORD, Bless you GOD – but I decline it. Yeah, Juan Carlos is also very baffled as to why I keep on rejecting his offers…other people would have said yes on the spot. I am thankful with GOD’s continuous blessings, giving me such an opportunity…but it doesn't give me a big head or anything. So in my heart, I will always be grateful & humble. And thank you GOD for the good comments that Madam Chappron, Madam Chenut, Karan & Rufus have put in for me. According to Stewart, the reasons why Juan Carlos have been viewing me differently is because I have been very consistent in my work, I am open to new ideas, I can accept new changes and I am more responsive. And in certain ways, I am even more mature compare to my Division Manager; Celtic. Well, Celtic have been behaving very inappropriately lately for someone in such a position which leads to Juan Carlos commenting that Celtic is not ready nor fit for the post yet. Juan Carlos thinks that I have the potential to grow even further.
The reason why I reject Juan Carlos offer is simply because I am not ready yet for such a big & important position. I know what my strengths are and where are my weaknesses. I am a person who has a very high level f self-awareness. I am a people person. I am not a tough negotiator, I am not good with numbers. As a matter of fact, I hate negotiating. I do not have a very good business sense as well. But what still keeps me glue to this job is my love for developing new product categories, planning events, organizing trade marketing...that’s me. I’m into advertising, branding, communication, media. Juan Carlos wants me to take up D32 & D33...again I am flatter...but I’m still in the learning stages in my very own portfolio and I also don’t have a proper full team as well. The Stationary Buyer, Edward & Lexie are still fresh. Taking over the departments right now, it will mean that I will be in the lion’s den because I still have to do the operational things all by myself and I will not have the time to do the strategy work as I still can’t let the 3 freshie to run the things independently because they are still raw.
In the end, as a conclusion - Juan Carlos will give me 6 months probation period and see how well I performed. Nobody in the team knows about this secret agreement except for Stewart; which I have consulted. Well, my life is still the same, nothing have been changed...I still behave the same...my chances are 50-50. I could succeed...or I could even fail. Yingze will continue to work with Passion, Commitment, Courage, Honesty & Loyalty. But I know that for the next 6 months, I need to carry myself well and I need to grow up fast. I am not doing this for the company, but doing it for myself. Being thrown into the deepest darkest waters isn’t always a bad thing. There is an opportunity to survive through it all and become a hero. All I have to do is keep on moving, learning, and giving.
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