Going Up?

I was at the lift going up to class last week when someone said this to me. " Be nice to everyone on your way up coz you'll never know who you'll meet on your way down".

Well. Ok. I thought hmmm, I have to be nice to people taking the lift with me? So coincidental to be telling me such at the lift right?

But anyhow, I reckon this person thinks that with my boss retiring in August, I might take over her duties. Frankly I'm not really interested. I'd rather spend more time with my kids, teaching than planning or doing the administrative duties. But it has made me think what kind of 'boss' I'd be. I'm very opinionated and when I don't like someone, I have no qualms showing it. I know a leader cannot be like that. But that is what I am.

I think being in a capacity of a leader, one must have a certain thickness of skin. One must be able to support one's team. One must be able to provide for one's team. One must know what's going on to be able to lead effectively. One must lead by example. One must be fair. One must know one's team and use each and every one of team's strengths to ensure that work is done effectively and the kids are not shortchanged. One must be able to speak up for one's team when the need arises. A leader is, after all, the voice of the team.

One must not continously taiqi one's responsibilty and call it grooming. One must not worry only about one's stomach at times when one's team is madly rushing to finish up work. One must not just stand by and entertain other people when one's team is struggling. One must not flog willing horses in one's department. One must not do nothing and then expect the team to do everything.

I was watching an episode of CSI 2 weeks back. In that episode, Grissom's team lost ALL evidence that they had collected at a crime scene. This was a big boo boo as it would impact the outcome of the case. A guilty man would walk free because they did not have the evidence to find out who he is. That 3 men team that lost the evidence knew that they were in big shit. They were put in a room. Then Grissom walked in. Instead of asking why, he sat and together they tried to figure out how to solve the problem that they had. While doing that, the powers that be in the department was coming down hard on the 3 people. Grissom did not falter and he stood by his team, helping them work out what they could to salvage the situation. At the end of the show, I thought, WOW! What a boss! If mine was such, I would give him my heart and soul.

It is not easy to find a good boss but I'm glad that I have friends who have become good bosses. To you guys, keep up the good work. To those who have yet to realise that being a leader is not just about getting a fatter paycheck and bossing people around, be nice to everyone when you are up there coz you'll never know who you'll meet on the way down.

Just pray that it's not me. Heh.