My Boss
In my first post in the blog, I
had mentioned how I am an introvert and asocial person. What I did not mention
there is that I do have long sarcastic tongue which when decides to vent out
the anger, spares none. My family labelled me an ‘ill- tempered’ child when I
was small. The thing is that I have zero tolerance for stupidity. And I do not believe in worshipping the path
my elders or people with authority walked. I require logic and reason to follow
something. There was a time when I believed that speaking whatever you feel is good.
Then, at my second job, I met a wonderful person- my TL. He was a young,
energetic person with a wisdom beyond his age. When he observed how things
irritate me, how quickly my mood sours, how I do not believe in keeping my
mouth shut when angered, he took it up on himself to bring about a change in
me. Thankfully, he never lectured me. He became a friend first. He was, kind
of, my boss. I expected him to be bossy, ordering everyone around, dictating
everything that the team should or shouldn’t do. His friendly demeanor took me
by surprise. He would come to the cafeteria, sit at our table and ask us about
our day so far, tell us about his day and we discussed almost everything under
the sun. Occasionally he would say something like, “You know what I have learnt
so far? That life has lot of imperfections and that is what makes it beautiful.
I cannot keep losing my cool over it.” Or, “What kind of world it would become
if everyone actually starts saying what they really feel? What kind of ugly
scenes we would witness? That brain to mouth filter is a must.”
He was a friendly, approachable
person. I am sure he used to make an effort to sit with his team during the
break or R & R time but it always seemed so natural, so effortless. Like he
is one of us. We could say anything to him, about him, about anything without
feeling judged. So, his two-line sermons were actually taken seriously, even by
me. Three months after I joined his team, my TL laughed at me saying, “Your
claws are not sharp anymore.” I couldn’t get it and asked what he meant. “Just
that I have been keeping a track and you have not gotten irritated in a week
now”, he said with glee on his face. “Well, my claws are still quite sharp but
I keep them sheathed, why to unsheathe them for trivial matters where an eye
roll is enough?”, I replied. And I still remember the way he laughed.
Fortunately, keeping my angst in
check was not the only thing I learnt from him. I also learnt what leadership
is like. His biggest win was that he never had an air of superiority about his
knowledge or seniority or being our immediate boss. Another thing was his exceptional
process knowledge. He could and always would help us out when we were stuck,
without ever making us feel like dimwits. And he made sure our team was the
first one to get the new supplies on floor, get all our breaks on time no
matter how much the work load. We won the best team award four months in a row
not because any of us were exceptional, but because our TL was and none of us
wanted to disappoint him. He was liberal in showering credit and shielded us
from blames, though we got good dressing down during team meets, if needed.
Life has, since, taken me to different
places and my experiences only solidified what I learnt from my TL. My image,
in my family, is still that of an immature, impatient, impulsive person who has
no control over her temper. Impressions, once formed, are hard to change; so
hard that sometimes it takes a lifetime of effort. I’m ok with it, I know what
I am and that is what is important. I do not react to the stupidity around me,
at least in professional space but it does disturb me and when I look for inspiration
and a happy place, I find it in the happy memories I have of this wonderful
place and person.
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