MIB

I’ve liked him since the very first time I met him. I’ve had three job interviews (and the one at Baker was even a panel interview), but it was he who asked me The Toughest Job Interview Questions Ever. Stuff like, how do you differentiate the role of external auditor from that of an in-house audit? And, what do you think the Ayala group can learn from the SM group, and vice versa? Duh. Best In Smile moment. I sent him this thought balloon: can you just ask me the usual how-do-you-see-yourself-5-years-from-now kinds of questions bcoz these are what I rehearsed for? Hahaha.

We all love him bcoz he never acted the way you would expect a big boss and not to mention an owner of the company would act. He is constantly kind and warm and you know he’s not faking it when he shows concern and interest in our otherwise unglamorous, dreary existence. He works hard even when he’s in a position where he doesn’t even have to lift a finger, really. He even writes well. I like his choice of words. Some bosses you can charm your way thru and wing it by talking in straight English a mile a minute, which is usually enough to convince them that you actually know what you’re talking about or have any idea what’s going on. He is NOT one of those bosses. (Bad news for slacker/pretentious old me, actually. Haha.) 

He buys Krispy Kremes for our meetings and takes us out to lunch on a regular basis. He took us to Circles. He gave us gifts made by his own girls. He’s sponsoring a weight loss game in our department where the grand prize is an iPod. He’s funny, too, and self-deprecating. I can talk to him about anything when he takes me out to lunch. (Well, almost anything. Haha.) Not a week goes by that he doesn’t ask me how I’m doing and in the middle of my drama last December I replied that I was ‘toxic’. He liked that word, so now it has become like a running joke between us, how toxic I am. Haha. 

He’s hands-on with his kids and super in love with his wife. They have one of the sweetest, real-life love stories I’ve heard: he went to a party at a friend’s house and saw these books on the shelf that really interested him, and it turns out she owned the books, so they got introduced and talked on the same spot for four straight hours. It’s so romantic. It’s so Before Sunrise/Before Sunset kind of thing. 

Last week I sent out this controversial report, and he emailed that he wanted to talk to me about it. My initial reaction was, it’s supposed to be an independent report, leave it alone. (Not that he ever tried to influence it or anything. That’s just how I am – my default reaction is always feisty. Haha.) So then he talks to me about it, and it turns out what he had to say was that I should not hesitate to include him in my report if I had anything to say against him, that he was ‘fair game’ and not above reproach. I so underestimated him, I was ashamed of myself.

I’ve worked with him for only seven months, so I could still change my mind. But for now - I think he has officially dethroned M as My Favorite Boss of All Time. So long, M =)