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I was returning from Kuala Lumpur to board my plane back home. My eyes sparkled in happiness to see one of my ex bosses whom I was meeting after a decade. I rushed to him, we exchanged cards and got chatting about our professional lives. He shared how proud he was about his kids who had grown up to be professionals in different fields. Later, when I sat in the plane, I reflected on the two decades of professional life. I counted the number of bosses I worked directly with, across four different organisations.
There were 10 people I reported to, not my fault, as either I got promoted, they changed roles or we resigned in different times for reasons best known to us. Couple of faces were not comforting to remember. Though a lot of time has passed, I still grow uneasy thinking of at least two of my previous boss-subordinate relationships and how they ended. Though we can still be connected via technology, how many of us keep in touch with our ex bosses because we genuinely like them? Or, are we in touch simply because of the professional positions they are in? There are others whom we wouldn't dream of as a 'reference' in our next professional endeavour. Why, we wouldn't even want them referred in any conversation.
Think about it. Why do we always remember how it ended? Why can't we preserve our memories on how and why it lasted when it did, the emotions of disagreements, trust breaches, difficulties that we faced, notwithstanding. Even if we sever ties, erase the relationship forever and delete contact details on social media platforms, we can't take away the fact that we had that person as our boss. What makes going completely off the radar even more difficult is that today's employment world is all about 'network' - online and offline. Informal references, word of mouth recommendations are a reality of today's professional environment and you want to think twice before you decide to disconnect completely from an ex boss.
On my part, I decided to call one of my exbosses and said 'hello' after 17 years. I needed to make couple of phone calls to get his phone number. Why did I call him? I remembered him for his strength: My ex boss was a brilliant sales person. Whenever I took him to my customers he invariably impressed them. Those days, we took our bosses to the difficult customers to see if they could break the ice so we could reach revenue targets in the long run.
Today, when my colleagues take me to tough customers, I realise a large part of my professional life has come full circle. After 17 long years, I look back and think of the lessons I learnt from this gentleman. I think of how I observed him and how much he taught me. It is the reason why I called him and though it took him some time to remember me, eventually, after a pleasant interaction, we promised to meet in person.
As of now, I am very satisfied and pleased with myself. I am happy to have made an effort to connect with my ex boss after all these years. I suggest you be mentally prepared - you never know when you might end up meeting your ex boss on the next business trip. Bosses come in different shades of colour and sizes just like you and me. I am sure many of you are leaders already and would want your reportees to remember you as well.
Don't wait like me for 15 years.
The author is Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services. Re-printed with permission.
Link: http://kamalkaranth.com/memoirs-bosses/3/
