Wake Me Up When September Ends

Somewhere in the world its the start or Autumn and somewhere in the world it is the start of Spring. It is also the start of an academic year after summer break in some countries. National Anthem of the USA is written this month. In Australia, Rugby League Grand Final and the AFL Grand Final is played on the last Sunday and Saturday respectively in September.

In Brazil Independence Day is celebrated. In USA and Canada Labour Day is also observed. For the Chinese, Mid Autumn Festival is celebrated in September. In Munich, Germany Oktoberfest is celebrated in the end of September. Vietnam also celebrates its National Day in September.

For the full list of what's happening in September click here.

So sorry Green Day, you will be missing alot in September if you were to sleep. Yes I know its a song title and I love it! Basket Case and all too!

So September is the beginning for many new things for many individuals and countries, is it for you? Is the month of September be an exciting one for you? Are you contemplating to do something new with our live? Are you looking at having a new start to you career and your personal life? 

If you are contemplating, then there is something for you if you are here in sunny Singapore! There is a career discovery event happening on the 11th of September. Register here!

Drop me an email to find out more or just register your interest and I will get back to you! 

The Types of Managers You Love To Hate

The corporate world.. a world full of bureaucracy, red tapes, politics and fake people with agendas. I left all that after 8 years because I realise you have to be fake and nice to get where you want to be. You have to be a politician to get noticed and recognised unless your managers is real and is there because their bosses are real and see the true work you do. The rest of the managers, well somehow they were fake and nice to somebody who was fake and nice and eventually got to where they were. And in the corporate world, real nice managers and employees finish last.. sad but true.

And I suppose this bureaucracy is more apparent in an Asian culture where hierarchy is so important. In the asian culture we have always been brought up to respect our elders, respect their decisions and getting promoted to the next level feels like I am one up over the rest. The traditional managers always think what they say counts.

Through my observation, I think I can single out some of these managers and if you have others that I did not cover, please put down in the comments below.

My list of managers you love to hate, though I may write as he it can jolly well apply to a 'she' as well:

1. The Dictator

Well whatever this managers say counts... even if it is wrong or unethical. This managers have been brought up and entrenched so deeply in the asian culture that he feels superior to the rest of the people who are not his peers. He is afraid of losing control thus he needs to know everything thus he becomes a micro-manager. Whatever you do is not good enough, because it cannot be because he feels that he is the best so how can your work be better than his? He is asking you about your progress of a certain project almost daily. He wants to know who you are working with, how you getting it done. And nothing you do seems to satisfy him. He gets his ego boost from knowing his ideas are better and that is why he is there.. not you.

2. The Michael Jackson Boss

In the Michael Jackson song Black or White, the lyrics go: It don't matter if its black or white. For this manager, his lyrics probably will sound more like: It don't matter, it has to be black and white. These managers love emails. Whatever you need help with you need to email. Boss I need an approval for the project, email me. Boss I going on leave, email me. Boss, client wants better price, email me. Boss, stomachache need to go toilet, email me....

Sure in some management training they say these managers are Visual people in the VAK model. Probably so... some of them are just covering their backside. They want everything in black and white so that their asses are covered, they send you an email they print it out so that if you ever go back and say I never see, they whip out a file with all their emails, put on one white glove and say 'thereeee...' all the date, time and content capture in black and white.. eeeeyooooww. Backside covered. The extreme ones will even set settings so that a return email will pop up when you supposedly read them or delete the email without reading. It is then also printed out and filed.

3. The Parent

This manager though very similar to being a dictator but can be very nice sometimes but the problem is they always treat you like kids. They always feel that being new and fresh out of school we ain't thinking adults yet. We cannot be left alone to do things on our own. Constant monitoring and mentoring is needed. Yes, some but not all. They treat staff like kids and feel staff should be scolded when they do things wrong.

Had a run in with a boss like that, asked me why I never scold my staff, is it because I like being popular. Told him it is not being popular but it is a respect that I know what they are doing and treating them like adults. He said, adults? You think those people outside are adults? They are acting like kids. Told him that if he continues to think them as kids they will always be kids. its just like if you give peanuts, you don't expect tigers to appear. You are gonna get monkeys. So if you feel your staff is like children, they will be like children to reciprocate how they are being treated.

4. The Mama-san

These managers are like social butterflies. They are where their bosses at, whether they are really capable it does not matter. They are just damn good at PR. Their bosses probably got promoted the same way and he is telling you, you need to be seen in front of your boss. He will step over their peers or worse step over their own boss to go direct to the boss's boss.

You may be asked to do the same thing so that your boss can look good like his whole team worships the ground the boss's boss walks on. You indirectly have been implicated to become a slave to your boss and boss's boss. They get promoted not because of the work they do but because this person will look good in front of people.

If you are a female staff and look ok sometimes you get pushed to get recognised in front of the boss's boss. This happens in social gatherings and when alcohol is involved.... thus your boss like mama-san and you maybe blinded by the promise of promotion and all.

5. The Not-For-Profit

Ever entered a department and did not know what to do? You do not know where the department is heading? You have no mission because the boss has none or a very loose one.Your mission, vision and core value is on the wall but it does not seem the department is moving that way? Your boss is soft and weak. He does not have a mind of his own. Some people can be contented with bosses like that. Just chill relax, other departments know that your boss is like charitable organisation, they know you will do whatever that is thrown to him. They take it on. Typical yes man.

You get thrown the extra work to do without the extra pay. You start thinking what the hell you are doing things that are totally unrelated to you. You start wondering what the mission and vision on the wall really means. You start feeling that whatever you do has no more meaning.

So if you have other experiences with lousy bosses please comment below :)

HD Wallpapers

Your Job May Help You Live Longer

I read in amazement today in the papers today that the work we do may actually prolong our lives. We have been so concerned about diet and exercise to keep a healthy life that we forgot the one big important thing in our lives... our job.

Studies have shown that stress is one of the major contributing factor of cancer. And where do we get the most amount of stress from? Our jobs.. we spent a good part of our lives at work and therefore exposed to stress very often unless of course you enjoy the work that you do.

I also reckon that Singaporeans are exposed to more stress as we stay in high rise buildings. Research have shown that all of us have a personal space and we are in stress when this personal spaces are invaded. Personal spaces are imaginary boundaries that our sub-conscious mind have drawn out, and we are in stress when that space is invaded. Imagine an old lift, have you ever noticed which button in the lift is usually the most worn out? Its the close button. Nowadays our lifts have buttons that are embossed and this effect is rarely seen. But at those old HDB or commercial building's lifts the close button is usually most worn out.

Why? Well, the lift ain't exactly the biggest space and if a second person gets into the lift with you, your personal space gets smaller when more and more people gets into the lift the space gets even smaller, eventually it gets invaded. To prevent that from happening, most will want to shut the lift doors first before anybody else gets into the lift.

Studies have also shown that for drivers this personal space extends outwards when you are in the car. That is why when someone cuts you too close or tailgates you, you cannot take it, your personal space have been invaded. So if the next time the driver in the car you are in gets really flustered, just understand its an invasion of a personal space.

If being in a car extends your personal space then I can also assume that being at home you also have a personal space extending beyond the walls of your flat, right? That is why when your neighbours upstairs accidentally drop marbles you go insane. We are at stress when we are at home too and that is why the newspaper had once reported that 2 out of 5 Singaporeans will contract cancer in a couple of years time.

So how do we extend our personal space at home then? Many opt to keep their doors close when they are at home just so they know they are kept private in their own personal space. But if you knew your neighbours then your personal space can be reduced as they are friends not strangers. Being with friends personal spaces can diminish altogether. We can sit at a table with friends almost having shoulders touching each other but when we are in a cinema with a stranger next to us we feel uncomfortable. So if your neighbours are your friends will that not create less stress? I usually leave my door open at home. I say hi to my neighbours when they come home. We celebrate a birthday at home, we cut up some cake and pass it to them. They do likewise. We go overseas we buy something small for each other. They make sure my letters and newspapers are kept when I am away. I feel safe having neighbours like that. They are friends.

So things can be done at home, but what to do in the office? Do something you love.. cliche but true. Manage the stress or your job may eventually kill you..

The Journey Continues

I started my financial career in an insurance company, I had just done CPF investment with my friend's mom. My boss had told me that CPF monies have just been allowed to invest from the first dollar up and there is a huge potential in getting CPF monies for investments. And after doing the investments with my friend's mom, I started feeling that I should concentrate on doing investments. Its easier and people tend to prefer to talk about investments than insurance.

I myself, on the recommendation of my boss have taken out my own CPF monies and threw it all into Technology. The year is 2001 and Tech was moving down. My boss said, its just a correction. I turned the newspaper and 9 out of 10 analysts said the same thing, its just a correction. They were wrong...

September 11, 2001. I remember this date very clearly. I was sitting down at Fullerton's Gloria Jean's having coffee with my friends when one of them exclaimed. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center in US. She showed us her SMS. It must have been a flying stunt gone wrong. And soon after another plane. Wa! this stunt very big, I thought. 

I rushed home that night turned on the TV and was glued to it till 7am the next morning. It was unbelievable this act of war in modern times. I thought about my investments and those that have invested with me. How ah? This was also going to be a lesson for me in future. 

I still carried on with my work after and eventually got the 'Most Number of Case' award in my agency. Money was coming in and times spent studying for my final paper for my Degree became less. I was focused on my career instead of my studies. When the results of my examination came, I failed. 

Not surprising... I never studied. I can still remember the times when I got High Distinction for my exams and I was proud to show my parents my transcript though I do not have to. In Primary and Secondary school we needed to show parents our report cards and I dreaded it. I was not a great student. 

The times when I was studying my degree was the time I actually felt proud of my grades. It was the time I was able to shove my transcript in my parents face with a smug look and thinking: I don't have to be scolded by you to score in my exams. 

But damn I just failed my final paper. I had prioritised before and I had told myself education comes first, career second for now. But now I have failed! FAILED! I went home sat down and reprioritised told my boss the next day, I am gonna take 6 months off to study my exams and get my degree. 

I studied full time and 6 months later came back to the industry. By this time, the fire in me has died down. I was like a car that has not been started for 6 months. Batteries weak, engine cold. I went to the office with not much motivation. My boss walked out one day and said, Tang you are going to be a degree holder your opportunity cost sitting in office very high. You better buck up. 

I thought I was becoming a burden to my boss and I quit. I left and eventually joined a bank. And boy was the bank another whole set of crazy experiences. The year 2002.

Looking back, my boss was probably trying to motivate me, guess not everyone is motivated the same way...