By Sin Lei

Due to a department organizational change recently, my management has hired an Asia Head, based in Singapore and I have a new Manager to report to. The new Asia Head is very interested in department branding and showing visibility to senior management. However, I am one who always tries to keep a low profile at work and not show much visibility to him or the other senior management in the Singapore office. 

One day, the Asia Head asked me to his office. He demanded an explanation on why I did not reach out to the Singapore’s senior management to showcase the work I have done for the past 2 years that I have been with the company. He thought that I did not do a good job in building up the department’s reputation and visibility.  

I was caught off guard and not sure how to respond. He also cornered me with a few other questions, of which some I was only able to answer diplomatically and some I was not able to. I knew he was trying to deliberately belittle me and make me feel worse with each question.  At the end of the meeting, he said he will have one-on-one meetings with me every 2 weeks and wished me a good evening. 

I felt a bit moody after the meeting. I was quite sure I would have felt worse if I have not been practicing the Teachings of the Buddha, which is to try and discard the negative thoughts, whenever the details of the meeting replayed in my mind. But I was still “unstable”. At times, I was not able to discard the negative thoughts and would feel annoyed as I thought the Asia Head was being unreasonable and not a good leader.   

I related this incident to one of my mentors and she advised that I need to be more active in gaining work knowledge so as to manage the Asia Head better.  Although I agreed with my mentor that I need to be more resourceful, I was still unable to accept the fact that the Asia Head’s main purpose is to enhance department visibility and branding. Resolving issues, improving work policies and processes and developing staff do not seem to be of priority to him.  

After thinking about this for days, it suddenly dawned on me that I should not view the Asia Head’s actions and intentions negatively. I should change my mindset. Every time when I meet the Asia Head, I should view this as an opportunity to brush up my interaction skills with senior management. After all, how often does a junior staff get the chance to have a one-on-one meeting with a senior manager? The meetings are also good opportunities for me to understand what I need to improve on, whenever the Asia Head throws a question at me and I am not able to answer. Hence, I should not stress over these meetings, but rather, I should view them positively, as good learning opportunities to enhance my work experience. And to quote one of Venerable Master Shen Kai’s Words of Wisdom from the 108 Gems II Book: “Emulate the positive attributes of others, not the short-comings. More importantly, do not criticize others.”

I realized there is a need to constantly read up on Buddhist Teachings so as to better guide and remind ourselves to deal with work issues with wisdom and correct mindset. Also, I should not be stubborn over my own views of how the department culture should be like, because this is not within my control. It does not matter that the Asia Head likes to build department visibility. In the course of helping the Asia Head to achieve department visibility, I just need to be aware and clear-minded that my objective is to gain more work exposure. With such clear perspective, I will then be able to approach my work with a positive attitude.  

In a constantly changing environment where organizational changes and restructuring are becoming more and more common, it is important for oneself to adapt to work changes rather than blaming the company, the new boss, new colleagues and so on for these changes. It is meaningless to grumble and feel sorry for oneself, which may eventually lead oneself to resign from the company. Since changes are inevitable, we should try to position our mindset positively, allowing us to feel more at ease immediately and to better cope with any types of changes. As long as we illumine our mind, then we will not feel distress and everyday will be a good day! 

By Lingzhi

Like many others, when I first started working after graduating from school, I was idealistic. I did not just want a job. I wanted a career. I wanted to excel.

In the first few years, I worked hard, pumped in extra effort to value add myself and to add value to my work. I was aggressive, critical and sometimes hot-tempered. I was intolerant of ‘mistakes’ as I had high expectations of my colleagues.

I did not mind working late every other day, as I wanted recognition for my work efforts. The ultimate goal was of course to achieve promotion and to climb up the corporate ladder.

At that point of time, I was already actively involved in activities at a Buddhist centre during the weekends. I listened to Dharma talks, joined chanting activities and even helped out regularly at the Buddhist centre.

However, I came to realize that whatever I practiced and learnt over the weekends, at the Buddhist centre, seemed to be only for the weekends. During the weekends, I was nice to people. But on weekdays, while working, I did not treat my colleagues better. Overall, I did not seem to improve as a person.

As the years passed by and after changing a few jobs, I began to see and realize more. Slowly I thought to myself: I put in so much of my time and effort in my job and for the company, but what had I done to grow myself as a person? Did I become a better person over the years? Did I practice what I had learnt from the Dharma teaching over the years?

The answers to the above questions were obviously “NO”.

I began to change my mentality and attitude. I needed to be true to myself! I began to practice what I have learnt over the years, in my course of work. I practiced compassion (with wisdom) at work, became more courteous in my emails and gave others the benefit of doubt. I began to put myself in the shoes of others, mellowed my temper and was more patient than before.

It took me many years to finally see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel and to integrate the practice of Buddhism in my life. Talking is easy, but being able to walk the talk is the challenge. I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn about the Dharma teachings of Buddha, Venerable Master Shen-Kai and my Buddhist teacher at the Buddhist centre. Some say a leopard never changes its spots, but I think it can, slowly, but surely.

May Buddha be with you.