7 May
Thursday mornings are when our weekly departmental meetings are held. I found out about this today. It’s a good thing I’m the first one to arrive at work each morning. This stood in my favour today, for at half past six in the morning, I received a call from my Manager. He only had a few minutes to speak, as he was on a short layover in Seoul, but had kindly reached out to check how I was settling in. He informed me about a videoconference meeting that was to take place in half an hour, which he unfortunately couldn’t attend—quite understandably, as he’d be on his flight then—but would nonetheless like me to attend. He said it’d be a great opportunity for me to get to know the rest of the team and start working on some projects. After we hung up, I felt a rush of gratitude to have a supervisor who is not only incredibly talented, but also so thoughtful to his subordinates.
8 May
The stacks of documents on my desk are piling up and I’m trying my best to plough through them as quickly and as thoroughly as I can. I need to prove that The Institute’s decision to hire me was a good one. That’s why I stayed at my cubicle, highlighting salient lines in neon green and making notes in a separate document to summarise my key learning points, even after the lights went off automatically at eight.
I noticed that there are certain words and phrases that are commonly used here. Low-hanging fruit. Raise the bar. Deep dive. Paradigm shift. Create synergies. Silver bullet. Circle back. To demonstrate the alignment of my ideas with that of The Institute, I shall start using these expressions too. Apart from this observation, I believe I’m developing a deeper understanding of The Institute’s work. This enlivens me and makes me feel all the more inspired to be contributing to the mission of The Institute, whose values are so closely aligned to my own.
13 May
After nine long days, I finally got to meet my Manager! He was supposed to be in yesterday, but something came up and he had to work from home. I cannot even begin to describe how thrilled I am to see him. He took the entire team out for lunch to welcome me to the department, and I even got to attend my first external meeting with him. I have to thank the colleague who couldn’t make it at the last minute, for it prompted my Manager to take me along instead. While I didn’t fully understand what was going on, I took six pages of notes. I figured I could decipher them later and piece together what was discussed.
One surprising thing I learnt today: my Manager loves durian. The two Swiss directors we met were visiting Singapore for the first time and as we made small talk, the topic landed on the king of fruits. My Manager told them that one either loved or hated it. As he professed himself a lover of durian, I flashed my widest smile and nodded eagerly to show my support. I hope it was convincing.
1 June
The last month has flown by in a blur. I’m on my third loyalty card and the baristas at the ground-level café now know my name and order. I return home each night feeling gainfully employed, as if my life has been made all the richer simply by working at The Institute. There’s so much to learn, so much to discover. There are meetings to participate in each day, minutes to be written for each one. Sometimes, as I document these discussions, the thought that I’m contributing to the legacy of The Institute fills me with a giddy pride.
My Manager is so supportive and nurturing, I cannot imagine having a better boss. He’s been sending me a series of courses, seminars and certification programmes that he suggested I register myself for, so as to deepen my industry knowledge and technical skills. I’ve signed up for every single one and am proud to be spending my weekends very productively. I’m grateful to have a manager who cares so much about my professional development. Under his guidance, I’m certain many new opportunities will open up for me.
1 July
I’ve made it! I’ll be going on my first business trip next Monday with my Manager, for two weeks, to Switzerland. Clearly, successfully completing those courses and obtaining those certifications helped. Weeks of sleepless nights in exchange for this? I’m forever indebted to my Manager.
7 July
Since jet lag has taken hold of me, I shall briefly pen my first impressions of the trip. I didn’t manage to get much rest during the flight from Singapore to Zurich. I’d initially put on my eye mask, planning to get some sleep after an intense work week before the trip officially began, when I heard my Manager’s voice. At first, I thought I was imagining things. But the voice grew louder, more urgent. I removed the mask to see my Manager standing in the aisle. He had a request. Another meeting had just been secured, and he needed me to prepare a new deck of presentation slides before we landed. He mentioned he had some other urgent matters to see to. I was happy to comply and was inwardly thrilled that he’d entrusted me to handle such an important task. A few hours later, when I passed by his seat to go to the restroom, I saw him engrossed in a film, or more likely, a documentary. He was probably doing additional research to learn more about the topic pertaining to our current project. His holistic approach reminded me of how much more I still have to learn from him.
18 July
The last two weeks have been an eye-opening experience. I got to witness firsthand how my Manager cultivated dozens of new connections, advanced complex negotiations and forged strategic partnerships. I’ve summarised his accomplishments in the trip report, which I completed and sent to him for approval eight hours after the final meeting of the trip. Each time I think about how my Manager introduced me as “the new, rising star” of his team, I can’t help blushing.
19 July
My sister announced today that she’ll be holding her wedding solemnisation in Bali in three months, and I’ve been appointed her maid of honour! It’ll be an intimate event, with family and close friends. I already know it’s going to be a beautiful event, and am looking forward to it. I need to remember to apply for leave tomorrow.
20 July
My leave application of three days has unfortunately been rejected. My Manager said it’s too close to the internal conference that my department is in charge of organising, which is taking place in November. Unlike the rest of my family, I understand his decision. It’s of paramount importance for everyone to be around to contribute to the preparations needed to ensure the success of the event. After all, that’s how The Institute has achieved its remarkable standing in the industry. Isn’t it admirable, how much dedication its employees put into their work?
3 August
I need to learn to work faster. Before leaving the office at 1730 today, my Manager asked me why I hadn’t yet sent over the fifty-page report for which the team brainstormed ideas yesterday. I was only at thirty pages. I promised him I’d send it out before the end of the day. Thankfully, I managed to keep my word and sent him the draft at 2358. I realise now that I haven’t had dinner yet, but I should go to bed. There’s a team meeting first thing tomorrow and I don’t want to be late.
4 August
My Manager hasn’t got back to me on the report I submitted yesterday. He didn’t mention it during today’s team meeting either. I hope he’ll be satisfied with it. He came by my cubicle today just before lunch and asked me to send him a list of tasks I’m working on this week. He said it’d help him help me better plan my time.
I jumped at the opportunity to enhance my time management skills. I wanted to better position myself to contribute to the team’s work in the most efficient and effective way possible. Within minutes, I sent him my plan for the week. I added a daily breakdown of the tasks I would be working on, and colour-coded them according to their level of priority, though I wasn’t sure if it was too much detail. I thought it was better to err on the side of caution.
Shortly after my Manager returned from lunch with a brown paper cup in hand, he called me over to his office. Rather than a daily breakdown of tasks, he said he’d prefer a half-hourly breakdown. I was impressed by his level of commitment to detail. When I returned to my desk, I opened up the document immediately and did as he requested. This time, I also scheduled in my bathroom breaks, in case he wanted to look for me then.
5 August
My revised to-do list from yesterday has earned the approval of my Manager. From now on, I am to send him such plans, outlining my half-hourly activities in detail, for his review and comments each day. I count myself lucky to have a manager so devoted to helping me become the best I can be.
17 October
The past weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye. Meetings. Reports. Presentations. My to-do list with the half-hourly breakdown of tasks that I send to my Manager daily is getting so long that I hesitated for a moment today before clicking “send”. Some of my colleagues passed by my desk earlier this afternoon and asked if I wanted to join them on their smoke break. I politely declined. I wonder how they manage to go on so many breaks throughout the day, when I rush to the bathroom only when my bladder is on the brink of bursting. But truth be told, even if I had the time, I could never stand inhaling the odious fumes from their cancer-inducing activity.
In other news, my sister’s wedding took place today. The photos my mother sent in our family group chat look beautiful. It would have been great if I could be there too, but work needs to be done. There’s so much to prepare for the upcoming conference, which is happening in just three weeks. I’ve barely got any sleep recently, but I know it’ll all be worth it in the end.
20 October
The deadline for the fifty-page report is in two days. We need to finalise it as soon as possible so that we can get copies printed in time for the conference. I was hoping my Manager would have time today to review the draft I’d sent him three months ago, but he looked so preoccupied all day that I didn’t dare to disturb him. I have faith he’s on top of things. There’s a reason why The Institute assigned him to be the Manager of our department. He’s a great leader. He trusts his subordinates, cares for his people and builds camaraderie within the team.
I can justify this with an example from today. He called me into his office in the afternoon, looking somewhat bothered. He explained that he’d been scrolling through various websites all day but still couldn’t find a suitable gift for his niece, whose university graduation ceremony was happening on Friday. Could I please help, he asked. I was young and would probably share similar tastes with his niece, he said.
Of course, I was eager to oblige. I was pleasantly surprised that he’d divulge such details of his personal life with me. It made me feel as if we were more than colleagues, as if we were friends. How many people could claim to have such a strong rapport with their managers? I only hope it wasn’t an issue that I hadn’t included this particular task in my to-do list for the day. But now that we’re practically friends, I’m sure he would understand.
11 November
The conference is happening in a week and things are extremely hectic at work. There is some kind of…chaos—no, I wouldn’t say chaos, it’s more like confusion, or rather, miscommunication—within the team. People are taking on tasks that have already been done. There are tasks that have been picked up by no one. This only goes to emphasise the importance of our Manager and his ability to keep things under control. I’m sure everything will be sorted out by tomorrow, when my Manager is back from his week-long yoga and meditation retreat in Koh Samui. He can be counted on to handle such situations.
18 November
I still can’t believe what happened today. I arrived early at the conference venue this morning—two hours before it started, just to be safe. There was a presentation my Manager was going to make right after the opening address, and I didn’t want to miss any part of it. Since no one was around when I got there, I took the time to check if there was a copy of our fifty-page report placed on every chair. Registration began at eight, and by half past eight, most of the participants had already arrived, mingling over coffee and breakfast canapés. The opening address was scheduled to begin at nine, and my Manager’s presentation at ten.
