In a few months time, I’ll be going home to Brunei. Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to resume work with the HOPE that I can make full use of what I have learnt to help the development of Brunei’s economy. But of course this excitement would probably not last for a long time (I will give myself 2 weeks!) especially if I end up not doing things that I think I should do and/or if I don’t work with the right team and/or if the work place is boring and/or if the bosses are…
I remember my conversation with a family friend many months ago. He was a head honcho of a government department in Brunei and our conversation drifted to whether or not I was looking forward to go back to work. And he asked me ‘what’ could excite me to resume work in the office. Well, my answer was ‘the bosses who are working’. (It was also interesting when he told me that as a boss he was also looking for 'working officers', who according to him were scarce).
You see, nothing motivates me more than a ‘working boss’, who unfortunately is hardly to come by in Brunei. And nothing turns me off than a boss who ‘I ask you, you ask me’, who unfortunately exists in a large number. What I mean by a ‘working boss’ is a boss or a HoD or a director who does his/her own thinking, who conveys his/her thoughts clearly to the officers, who knows what he/she wants and who shows that he/she is more capable to do virtually all tasks than any of the subordinates. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for a boss who knows everything but a boss that I can look up to, or in the words of our family friend, a mentor.
I am honoured that in the few years I’ve worked I had the opportunity of working with two working bosses, one of whom was the late Professor UBD’s Vice Chancellor (may Allah bless his soul). These two bosses had somehow trained me to love thinking, to believe in what I could do and to be passionate with what I do with the sole objective of developing the country. They were my mentors and I always think to myself, if one day I can be half as good as they were, I’d die a happy woman!
Anyway, I can’t say much of my future bosses as I have yet to work under their leaderships. What I can say for now is I can’t wait to see them and I look forward to our first substantive (intelligent) conversation.
Salaam.
3 comments:
what course r u doing? btw keep up with your post I think it keeps readers thinking.
currently ada 3 bos kosong dopis, dun wori maa hehehe :p
salam syaban dan selamat kembali bertugas :)
Salaam,
Firstly, I'd like to say that i appreciate your writings and have been a fan for a while now. However, at times, i also feel some of your writings or solutions to be too idealistic and seem most workable in a perfect environment. Unfortunately, there is no such environment.
While i can agree with your thoughts on 'working bosses', i can also understand how they can grow passive or not become effective leaders. At the end of the day, they are also individuals faced with constant challenges coming from many directions (upstairs, peers, their own staff, outsiders, even their own families).
Furthermore, some of these challenges may be greater than what we ordinary professionals face and they may not necessarily have the tools or skills to overcome/or manage them. Nevertheless, they are given these responsibilities (rezeki durang) so we too must need to do our part and help them, i.e. we dictate only what we can control and work our best within this sphere.
Despite our support, some of these individuals will probably, over time still falter or slow down tapi yang mustahak, ketani melaksanakan tugas ketani dengan ikhlas dan bertawakal.
I'm pleased that you will be returning home and i wish you the best in doing your part to help our country and our society grow more maturely.
Best wishes
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