of bosses and staff

i think i can say that im quite lucky to have nice bosses.

si ltc idio (i dont know what his rank is now)

for my first job, my first boss was very patient, very organized and very disciplined. and he was an army man. i remember that he would always come to work on time (in his red car) and seemed very serious (with matching kunot noo) when studying documents. since our office acted as the secretariat of one of the many committees in the military, he always stressed the importance of doing "complete staff work".

as a family man, i see how he was as a father to his sons and his daughter, and how he was as a husband to his wife. he would always call home to check on how the kids are doing, especially his little princess :)

he loved playing table tennis so during athletics (physical fitness), he would always invite me and some of the sarges to play with him. i learned how to play table tennis because of him.

and one of the things that he said that i remember vividly is, "gi, go out. interact more with people. dapat dinadagdagan mo ang iyong social presence" or something to that effect.

we just worked together for a few months though. he was transferred in the field after that. even when he was in the field, we would exchange text greetings during special occasions such as christmas and new year but we lost contact eventually.

si sir allen

ltc idio's replacement as head of our division was an air force guy. he was smart. and he knew it. he was good looking. and he knew it too. i remember that in the first few months of working with him, id always have the jitters during our one-on-one meetings because i was paranoid that what i did may not be too good for him or he may ask me questions that i cant answer. i think he may have noticed that because he softened a bit and tried to become more chill.

what i really liked about him is the way he "fights" for us researchers and made us feel secure about our value in the organization.

at first, i didnt know much about him as a private individual because he didnt talk much about his personal life. it is only much much later that i got to know about his family. and i dont know how it happened but he managed to get into our group and became one of our friends. there was even a time when he would tell us to just call him allen when we're out of the office. he was so integrated into our gang that i remember when i was heartbroken, he was there with us, sitting in a bar, drinking, listening to my story and watching me cry.

until now, we still keep in touch and get together group once in a while. he wrote a work testimonial for me when i was still applying for a job.

si major buca (i think he's ltc now

i had a long working relationship with this boss, also an air force guy. he's the epitome of a "chill" boss. he's always so relaxed that you won't feel the stress even when the workload is too heavy. one thing i would never forget about him is he was always smiling and he easily laughs. he always had new gadgets at work: usb drive - new at that time, the funky stapler/binder, etc. and he had a lot of excel tricks.

it was during his time when our division became very busy (because of constant changes in directives about a certain plan) so we would often work late nights and even on saturdays. sometimes his wife would come with him and we would chat for hours. his wife and i became officemates later on.

si sir ex

sir ex was like a father to me. he was very kind and protective. in him, i saw how it is to work without having to kiss ass. one could sense his frustrations over office politics but would always detect the wisdom that he had gained over decades of working.

on a personal level, his way of handling family and retirement will constantly remind you to not lose sight of what really matters.

si miss butch

miss butch is a smart, cool, and funny boss. i think that professionally, i learned the most from her. working with her is always easy because she is always in a light mood. even when we're busy, you wont feel so stressed out because she always keeps her calm. she knows the policies by heart but she doesnt act like a know-it-all. she suggests but never imposes. she guides me in a way that will encourage me to form my own opinions, decide on myself but if things don't go well, she's there to support me. i've had a few blunders but i never felt for once that she blamed me. if something goes wrong, she sits down with you to discuss what needs to be done. there, she's very good at handling crisis. she makes you feel proud and happy about your little successes. and in her you could see that in perfecting a task, walk the talk is a very efficient strategy.

that's why moving was difficult.

prof wayne

i just know a few things about him. he asked me about my hobbies and my family during the interview which was one of the reasons why i accepted the job. for me, that was an indication that he recognizes me not just as a staff but as a person with different aspects of being. he asked me to just address him in his first name, which was difficult for me because im not used to such power equity. he sounded very excited when he said that he would be on leave for two months because his wife was going to give birth to their second child. it's just sad that we didnt work for a long time. until now, the news of his suddent death still has a surreal feel in it.

prof chou

for the past few months that we have been working together, i can sense that she is a considerate and humble boss. she always says please, even with an apologetic tone sometimes, whenever she needs you to rush something. and she shows how much she appreciates your work whenever she's happy with it. she asks you how you are. she says thank you.

my bosses are not perfect. they have their idiosyncracies. sometimes i complain. but most of the time, im thankful because they were/are my bosses.