While I had a very bad night of sleep, waking every 2 hours as my project was being discussed in HQ (EST time) and I was on stand-by for question. The project was approved without any question, except a very minor unrelated question. I felt relieved. Then, to my surprise, my boss called me to congratulates me and suggests to organise a virtual party to celebrate it. I felt flattered. It is not the first time I deliver a big project, but it was the first time to celebrate it with a party. Also it is a tradition in the office to do this, another project that got approved a month ago did not get this treatment. I felt truly appreciated by the effort. It was 5pm virtual chat with the boss and team members. Everyone was cheerful. I got to think about what to say during the day because I know that’s expected from the task leader.
My short speech focused on:
- being thankful of the team that made it happen. They didn’t ask questions when I ask something urgent, they just deliver. Their trust on me is valuable to me. I don’t think any team would work well without trust, but trust is something so easy to lose.
- being thankful of my boss who stepped in when I needed to take the day off to celebrate Lizzy’s birthday
- learned few lessons of how our organisations work, the internal politics, and human nature
Being a leader is not a easy task and I’m slowly learning, from my boss (role model truly!), from my teams. Leaders are different than managers, leaders inspire the best of the people, leaders trust, leaders delegate, leaders take care of the team, leaders lead by model. It is not easy but it could be very rewarding.
With the kids we had fun making aduki buns. Both love cooking with mommy.
Also made tuna salad for lunch served with chips. Sofia appreciated it a lot and kept saying mommy is super chef, that mommy can cook anything from restaurants, make them taste even better and healthier. Wooo…. my daughter. OMG.
I recently realised that Sofia always says thank you when I do something for her, even very minor like when I find a clean path to walk around. Sense of gratitude is so important for happiness and joy, I hope she continues this way.
Our New Journey 