Hey Anna!
In my first 6 months as a Manager, I had a performance review with my boss.
I was nervous and didn't know what he was going to say.
I prepared a list of my achievements.
And, some things I'd like to improve on.
*More in Module 5 of The Corporate Survivor.
The conversation started smoothly.
My boss said he was happy with my progress despite being:
New to the role - just got promoted.
New to the company - Standard Chartered.
New to the industry niche - Correspondent Banking.
Then, my boss started listing down areas I needed to get better.
Many of these I wasn't even aware of.
He said:
"Mei Phing, you need to feel more confident in making decisions."
"Mei Phing, you need to become more independent with approaching C-suite."
"Mei Phing, you need to consider how your advice affects every single person."
That was NOT what I had expected.
I started feeling very down.
Like my efforts were not good enough.
Then, my boss said:
"Hey, don't feel bad about this. You did amazing the past 6 months."
"Your performance is like a Lamborghini, and these will make you stronger."
"If you take action on this feedback, you'll go really far in your career."
I learned something really valuable that day.
Even if you think you did good, you can always get better.
And, sometimes you just need the right person to push you along.
So, to my ex-boss, Shane: Thank you.
Nowadays, I hope to be that person for my clients and students - as a mentor.
We all need someone who believes in us before we believe in ourselves.
So Anna, what's one lesson you learned from my story? :)
With love,
Mei Phing xx
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