Prologue:
Of course, I realise that publishing this on my blog, where people who know me may read, and connect the dots, or potential employers may read and make judgements on is not a wise thing to do, but the lesson I’ve learnt is too invaluable for me to just shove into the back of my mind. All in, this current project I’m on has yielded me a lot of personal growth, and I sincerely believe that it will serve me well in life. Special thanks go to my project mentor and team mates for being so understanding.
That’s the good thing about being in school. You can make all the silly mistakes you want, and you’ll escape unscathed… mostly; it is a good place to be daring and learn all you can. This is the latest lesson I’ve learnt.
I’m just saying this, and only because this would most probably not reach the ears of the person I’m talking about (hopefully), but there really are some people who can test the limits of my patience.
More specifically, I’m referring to a person from a certain organisation who can somehow ruin my otherwise perfect day with his tactless comments. It’s not just me who’s affected. Others who have interacted with this specific person have told me that they had to exercise their restraints in conversation just to keep themselves calm.
Perfect training ground for the emotional quotient. Regardless of whether my EQ gets strengthened with increased interaction with this person, I find it unsettling for my health to be in extended contact with him. During a recent meeting, we could only sit down, seething as the person pointed out that we did wrong on everything in a project that we were on.
Advice appreciated. Tone, not so. Have you ever had somebody come up to you, and talk to you as if you could never do anything right? How did you feel?
After coming so far on a project, I probably was not prepared to accept so much criticism at one go, but a condescending tone was the absolute maximum I could handle. I scribbled on the scrap piece of paper I had to distract myself from the steaming rage. Looking at a smiling face that dispensed the words, I fought long and hard to stay calm.
The bottom line is clear to me. In retrospect, I understand the need to keep cool and focused under the fire, and I think this has been some serious eye-opener for me. I remember going ballistic after some serious teasing from certain friends many years ago. The army has taught me that the little teases and scandalous public dress-downs don’t matter in the greater scheme of things. Working in a call centre has taught me the virtue of being dispassionate under personal insult from angry customers.
That day was the latest challenge in my personal development. To be able to take affronts to my professional work and strategy from a person who can smile throughout the entire session. I realise that I’m not perfect, and that person has made some valid observations about my work. It is the delivery of the message I need to get used to.
Unfortunately, that person doesn’t eat yong tau hoo, last I recall. Perhaps he takes seafood? Otherwise, I would have treated him to a bowl just to demonstrate to myself that I can overcome this challenge. The challenge of keeping a poker face under fire. My mentor’s good at this though, I have a lot to learn from him.
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