Today's morning started with a meeting Cik Farid
had with certain members of his staff. Like usual, he still kept his meeting
agendas very clear and was concise in going about doing it. He had an objective
he wanted to provide his new staff, and wanted her to liaise with certain staff
from other departments. What was interesting was actually in how concise his
meeting was - to the point where it was almost open-ended. I believe that in
letting them understand that they will be working together as a team and
telling them of his objectives, he offers them freedom in deciding how they
will work together to accomplish that task. I believe this kind of leadership
shows the kind of trust he has in his staff and does not micro-manage them.
However, I imagine he's not the sort to not keep track or monitor it either -
what with follow up and follow through being one of the five values of
Micromart
.In the later part of the day I followed the team
tasked with readying the new MM for its big day tomorrow. It's quite enjoyable
being with them, and despite the language barrier they have been very open to
sharing with me more new perspectives on their culture. They also did not
complain when they had to spend a little bit of overtime to make sure the job
gets done.
Over the past week, just by being able to observe
and interact with the staff of MM I daresay it has expanded my world view quite
a bit. It certainly is a different kind of experience compared to say, a
holiday or a school research trip. Cik Farid has also been greatly attentive in
focusing my observations into several aspects of MM and also himself that he
would feel would aid in my development. This includes fundamental
understandings of the basics of business such as managing cash flow and having
a strong team with specific strengths. He has also enlightened me with regards
to various of his work principles that have to do with leadership. What was interesting
that aspects such as having the responsibility to make tough decisions and
going on the ground to understand the realities of the situation are not only
things that would make improve leadership in an organization, but also help you
to grow as a person. He asks for my honest opinion, and addresses
misconceptions if any. Frankly speaking I had several:
"Why don't you throw out the stuff that
doesn't sell"
"Why not offer the lowest price possible for
a business meeting"
And with each misconception he has addressed it
and provided a perspective of a businessman. He made me see things from the
eyes of both the workers at the took and from his own eyes at the top.
Oftentimes we find that our perspectives are too laced with our own experiences
that may not have the bigger picture or may not consider who we may affect.
However, by seeing things from every angle - coupled with the several lessons
Cik Farid has imparted from his own experiences and beliefs - it has certainly
changed the way I would approach a situation ahead.
That being said, I believe for my upcoming weeks I
should pay greater focus into starting to draw the links and apply what has
been taught so far. Before that, tomorrow I shall attend the grand opening of
the toko which we painstakingly braved the heat for to set up kiki emoticon
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