Day 9

1. Found out that my big bosses are pretty nice people. Tonight I had dinner with the "bigs" from the office since we had a visit from one of the regional bosses. Over the course of that dinner I got to talk to them and find out that they are really just very simple people who are into their families and the simple way of life. We hardly talked business but rather talked about life and what we do to have fun. Also my department head who was seated beside me checked up on me, patting me on the shoulder, reassuring me that I shouldn't worry about my getting regularized.

2. Got the chance to stand up for my values and did it. We were facing this dilema in the office about a a certain issue that impacts not only the business but the way the local country business is seen in the eyes of the bigger regional or global community. And it involves being transparent with data. In the fear of making the country's image look bad some suggestions of temporarily withholding information to team mates was put on the table. I felt very strongly against this because it could break up the spirit of the team. I also felt that it did not speak very well of how we should trust one another. So I spoke up quite strongly and I even told my trainee who was across the table to speak up if anything conflicted with his values. Problem was it was in front of the General Manager of the company and a member of the management board! They took it well and we arrived a solution that was both a aligned with our values and the local company. I felt good about the outcome but I felt better that I was able to show my trainee that his boss is a person who doesn't compromise his values.

3. New team mate voluntarily covered for me at a meeting I couldn't attend. It was such a busy day in the office and I got pulled into two big meetings I couldn't sneak out of. I was forced to ask a team mate to cover for me. This person his higher up the ladder than I am and I've been on my toes about him since I got in. But it was so refreshing to see him happily offer to take it on and to tell me to not worry about the meeting and just focus on what I'm preoccupied with. I think my defenses and apprehension are slowly melting away and I hope that one day we can all be sincere and transparent to one another in the team so we just focus on getting the job done rather that office politics or image. I think today was a step in that direction.

4. Came home a clean house. The entire last week I've been coming home to what you may call "domicile in disarray". After a long day today I was so happy the cleaning lady did a good job (as always) and left the house nice clean and clutter-free. It was just a great sight to end one of my longest days yet in this job.