From Rail-To-Trail

Since the retirement of Mr. Jan Vet in December last year – the division have been without a Head for the past couple of months now. So, our new Head Of Department whom I shall called The General has finally arrived. Scottish, married with 3 kids, previous attachment was with German's Metro Cash & Carry in Ukraine :) The General decides to do a one-on-one session with all of the buyers – and I think I screwed up badly. The General feels that I talked to fast :) have a lot of thoughts going on in my mind that I need to express it all out. Of course, the month of May has been one of the most challenging months for me. I was bash from top to bottom, left to right. I was angry, frustrated, de-motivated – everything; all of the most negative energy feelings ever. I probably didn’t make a very good first impression where every buyer tries to stand up, raise to the ocassion and open fire. I was perhaps shooting blanks and acting like an idiot. I know that sometimes things go a bit wrong but that is part of the journey; of course. There was just so much work - I cannot keep tab of, ignoring them, forgetting them, kept getting distracted, thinking it might be better to do something else first, making things complicated perhaps, staring into the space sometime :) The work that needed urgent attention & excecution – was the mini BTS promotion, the Shah Alam Stadium Store Re-Merchandising, the opening of the new Kuala Selangor store, the unfinished 2013 contract, new item listing, monthly buying income etc. To top it off, Isla was away (balik kampung, back to East Malaysia). I have to do everything by myself. Luckily, Celtic & Pietro loaned me their assistants ocassionally. Thank GOD for that.  

I was so tired, burnt and worn out. I also feel that I didn’t have the support of Leonardo. I have always been align with my former superiors, always being on the same wavelength as them. Even the hardest to manage – Celtic; was also not that bad. With Leonardo, I really don’t see eye-to-eye on everything. I was so tempted to pick up fights with Leonardo. But I have to give credit to Rufus, Celtic, Iron Butterfly, Stewart, Felix & Snow Petrol. They just know how to manage me well, they know exactly which buttons to push me to get me to deliver better, they gently put me back on track, giving me gentle reminders, encouragements, incentives and helping me to visualize the possible results, warnings and possible consequences. With their leadership, they somehow makes me excel or have the right attitude towards new experimentation, learning new things, they didn’t judge, they don’t see that I am quirky, they just motivate me to work harder and just to enjoy myself. Sigh…can I change my Boss? :)

The General also did a SWOT analysis of the division. Yeah, now everyone knows what are our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats are – so, let’s see how The General wants to go about it to solve the problems and reinforce what is good. On the bad & silly impression that I have made – I can only say this - it is with passion, courage of conviction and a strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct, you must always have faith in people, and most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself :)