Hazia’s Reflections

I would like to dedicate this posting to the women in my life. Oh, believe me, they’re more interesting than the men in my life;) Thank you all for making me what I am today, seriously. LOL LOL LOL

Somehow, I’ve always had the misfortune of working with unpleasant* female bosses, *putting it mildly;). THE DRAGON was my boss during my 1st PR job at a five-star hotel. Yelling was 2nd nature to her, she hired fresh grads but expect them to perform like professionals. She didn’t quite like me and after 1 year, forced me to resign. The experience of being ‘fired’ by the primadona of the industry at the beginning of my career left a very deep wound. I didn’t realise it at that time but it did shape my perception and determination for years to come.

I then got into a top 3 international PR firm. It was an excellent decision. After a tough beginning, I settled down and polish up on expertise. My boss, THE TIGER was always harping on us, she wanted things done fast and well. Oh, I got called in for closed-door sessions a couple of times during my 3 years there. She would lecture me for my main weakness, which is mind you, I didn’t know how to blow my own trumpet. Yah, believe it or not.

Equipped with skills, I gained confidence to return to the hotel industry, this time to the city’s number 1 luxury hotel. I thought I was ready, well I was older and wiser:) Oh boy, was I wrong! My boss, THE ANT, gave a new meaning to the word ‘workaholic’. She worked from 10am to 3am every single day for 5 years. She could go 48 hours straight without a wink and didn’t realise that her staffs weren’t the same. Fortunately, she left 1 year later and I took over as Acting Dept Head. That was not the end, I got 2 subordinates from hell! They went out of their way to get rid of me from day 1. Took me another year to win them over as well as turn around the senior management team’s perception of me. However, after giving it my all, I was psychologically and physically exhausted, when I bumped into my next boss…

THE MOUSE was too good to be true from the very beginning. She offered me a  senior PR post plus a huge raise within minutes of conversation.  I said goodbye and dropped everything. Knowing that this was a huge leapt in my career and doubting whether I even qualified for it, I worked my ass off. 6 months into the job, we had a close-door session. To my shock, she said that I worked too fast which drove the junior staff nuts,  I had a need to be perfect and was too in a hurry to master things. YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Did I go into this job over-prepared? After all that I’ve been through, a boss like that could really ‘bonzai’ my progress in the long run:( sigh!

What’s that? What happen now? Well, I’ll tell you when I find out, hehe…

BTW, I am still friends with THE TIGER and THE ANT, mind you:D