Being a Boss

13

Written on 5/28/2009 02:24:00 pm by sikapitan

It’s been a while since I last updated my blog. AND it’s been a while since I talked about something else other than Dani (who’s doing fine by the way, and is on his way to becoming a bona-fide heartbreaker…make Daddy proud!).

In case you didn’t know, I’ve quit from my post as a Management Associate at Maxis. So please don’t bug me about how terrible Maxis’ lines are, because I can’t help you anymore. Now that I’m no longer an employee I can tell you that – (a) yes, the network sucks big time, but seems to be improving (b) yes, it’s because of their stupid push for Mobile Broadband and (c) yes, I think foreigners don’t understand the local market.

BUT, and this is a big BUT (like JLo’s but without the T), they will bounce back. There are too many great people in there, there’s too much pride in the team, there’s too much talent at their disposal that things will only get better. ONLY if they’re willing to admit their mistakes and move on.

I’ve moved on though. I’m running my family’s business right now. It was supposed to be a gradual transition of power. But being a natural power-hungry Machiavellian disciple, I’ve disposed of my mom and dad within a fortnight of joining…hahaha.

The most important thing about taking over an organization is to establish clear goals and work principles. Communicate these goals and work principles to your employees. Example, when I first came in, I immediately re-established our core purpose – to be a leading Network Marketing company in Malaysia. Just by establishing this purpose, we’ve managed to realign all our business activities to grow the network marketing portion.

Next is to establish credibility. Being 26 and leading an organization with 50000 distributors and revenue in millions every month is not easy, especially in a Malay-centric membership base like ours. So I had to prove myself which I did as soon as I joined by being a part of a Business Preview and making presentations to the general public.

I also have to prove that I can strategically grow this business. So I set about, with the aid of my team, to refocus our attention on Business Previews. We were slowing down, with only 20 participants every week. But thanks to the collective effort of the team and a strategic campaign, we’re now averaging 100 pax every week (which is the most we can take anyway). And this happened all within 2 months.

With success, comes jealousy. That is the only drawback of my business.


I’d love to write more about my experience as the Boss of a Network Marketing company, but my schedule’s a bit packed. Right now, I’m rushing to interview a new employee for my corporate communication department.

So until next time, See You at the Pinnacle of Success!

My First Month as Daddy

4

Written on 5/04/2009 03:02:00 pm by sikapitan

“Nooooooo…he’s been out for a month and all he can give us is another Daddy story…” Sorry folks, there’ll be a bit of this because Dani has become a huge part of my life, so it’s only natural that I talk a bit about him.

The first month has been great. Dani and Mommy have been nothing but superb. The only challenging part is trying to raise Dani my own way. It’s not as easy as it seems, especially considering that everyone has Dani’s best interest at heart.

For example, I want Dani to be breast-fed. But in the beginning, he can’t seem to connect with the nipple well enough for the milk to be pouring, and if the milk is not pouring, he gets frustrated and hungry. The first 2 days, he was a screamer. We tried feeding him but he just can’t connect. The nurses said that it’s okay if the baby doesn’t get any milk, as they’re conditioned to last about 2 days without it. They recommended we stay patient and steadfast in trying to breast-feed the boy.

Unfortunately, both our parents can’t stand to see him cry (and again, he’s a screamer) so they (in particular, Tok Nani aka my Mom) started saying how we’re torturing him etc2. Finally, we caved in, and fed him formula milk. Guess what happens? He gets used to easy milk, so he won’t work hard for breast-milk, so the milk stop coming out easily, so he can’t get the milk, so he gets frustrated, so we have to feed him formula. It’s a chicken and egg thing.

It’s hard to be mad when your mom or dad wants to pamper the baby because they can’t stand to see the baby cry. I mean, they have a point. Why let the baby suffer? But the consequences will only be felt later. Dani developed rashes after a few weeks of having S-26 Gold (cow-based formula claimed to be closest to breast milk), and he now has to take soy-based Isomil Eye-Q. His antibody will not be as strong as a baby that drinks breast-milk.

It’s the same thing with cradling him to sleep. If my baby has been fed, and his pampers are clean, I would honestly let him cry until he falls asleep, as he has developed this habit of wanting to be hugged and cradled until he sleeps. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with cradling him, but as my nephew Adam proves, it gets difficult for the baby to part ways and be independent even after 1 or 2 years.


Dani and Danny thinking how much
we can milk Tok Nani and Tok Wan of their money...heheheh

It has been good every time I used this technique. He’ll cry about 10-15 minutes then fall asleep naturally. But when our parents come into the picture, they’ll immediately want to hold and sway the baby to sleep. Arghhhh….

And I can see it now. How every time I don’t want to give something to Dani, someone will come and give it to him out of pity. How every time I’d want to discipline Dani, there’ll be a rescue angel (most likely Tok Nani) who’ll come and spoil everything. Not spoil per se, but you get my drift.

I wonder if all grandparents are like that. Or if yes, why can’t they remember when they were having us, how they have to deal with THEIR parents.

Hahaha…anyway, Dani loves Tok Nani so I should be cool with that.

...