Of work travel, working from home and being a boss

Salam Ramadhan to all.....

It's been ages since I blog. Apart from time, I also have nothing much to share. But of late, I have been doing a lot of thinking, at least more than usual. And this contributed to the sudden growth of my white hair so I am translating that thinking mode to this entry

Work Travel 

When I was offered this job, one condition I gave was no overseas travel. Maybe I spoke to soon, or maybe I was under assumption I can manage local travel. Little did I know I will be flying from one state to another and spending every other day at the airport. 

Be it whether it's overseas or local travel, take it from me, it's equally exhausting. Yes, overseas travel gives you opportunity to see other countries, and in my experience, that's exactly what it is, see and nothing else. With back to back meetings and engagement sessions, by the time I'm back at the hotel, either I am too exhausted or all the interesting places are closed. Also the fact I'm away from my family is something I can't do anymore. No more!

And local travel is equally, if not more exhausting. I always opt for day trip, i.e. first flight out and last flight in. And my tight schedule is not helping so there are times I travel almost every day. My record thus far from Perlis to Kuching to Pahang on the same week. And the final week before Ramadhan when I went to Kedah in the morning and then back to office for a meeting at 5pm on the same day and the next day travel to Kuantan and to return at 3pm for meeting in Taman Tun before rushing back to Putrajaya for a 6.30pm meeting. That's how crazy it can get. However, looking on the positive side, at least I get to return home to my babies every day. So far, after giving birth to Isyraf, I have only spent 2 nights away from him and I can speak on behalf of my better half, those were the longest nights in his life....

While some may feel work travel is glamorous, I beg to differ. Or may be I am getting old and don't enjoy it as much as the young ones.

Working From Home

One benefit given to me after I gave birth to Isyraf over a year ago is I am allowed to work from home 2 days a week. I am fortunate to be working for a company that promotes flexible working arrangements. However, if given a choice, I prefer to either work or stay at home cause doing both is a challenge and requires strong discipline. 

My normal routine when I work from home, I still wake up at 5am as I would when I need to go to office. I will cook lunch at 5am, like always so that I can start my office work sharp at 9am. Isyraf wakes up around 8am so I have less than an hour to give him a bath, feed and play with him. He will take his nap again around 11am so I can only arrange any conference call or video conferencing between 11am to 2pm, that's the time he usually wakes up.

And yes, I have 2 bigger kids (Mira is already in college). However, when they know I am at home, they have expectations too. They expect me to eat lunch with them while they tell me how's their day. When I work from home I know I am expected to work so I need to juggle even more. I am paid to work and I have already been given the privilege to take care of son without having to send him to day care. So, I know I should not abuse this arrangements.

For those who think work from home is easy, I can tell you with or without children, it's hard. And if you can't manage your time while you are in the office, forget working from home. It is just not for everyone.

Being a Boss

This 2 years have been a super emotional roller coaster for me. I still remember when I was offered this position i.e promotion, unlike many people who jump at such opportunity, I hesitated. I requested for more time to think about it. It comes with huge responsibility. From managing team of 4, now I have team of 20 just like that. And multiple tracks that I need to manage. I must confess, I second guess myself (at times, I still do). 

I am so used to being the "belakang tabir" person. I do the strategic work, developing framework, the research to support the framework and then track and monitor. Being an introvert (yes, I am) presenting in front of others is not my cup of tea. Let alone handling media. And the current position I am holding is the opposite of my work preference. However, when we accept an opportunity, it comes in a package. While I enjoy being involved in policy advocacy, influencing the industry academia collaboration and working hand in hand with various stakeholders, I must also accept the other part of my work, being the front line. 

If given a choice, I would want to go back to the "belakang tabir" work. Well, everything comes with a price. And for now, this is the price I have to pay....

And all I can say to those who think how easy life of others are and how you wish to get what others have, careful what you wish for, it may come true.....

Nevertheless, these challenges make life interesting. And I am glutton for punishment :)

Leaving June and No Looking Back

I can't remember being really tired for a whole month like how I am tired in June. So many life events which caused me to be so exhausted, either physically or when handling the emotional roller coasters drama called life. I feel like everything has to happen in June ; death, siblings rivalry, business predicament, children's issues, work problems....You just name it. All happens in June. I should not however speak too soon since there are 2 more days left in June and I hope my drama streak is over, at least for this month.

I have this one issue. When things are wrong, I just have to say something. I can't just sit and be quiet and see all this wrongdoings happen, especially if it happens in our family, be it our core family and extended family. Many occasions I get in trouble for speaking my mind. However, one good thing is I have improved on this subject ; I can still tell myself, "Liza, this is not your place to say anything. You are an outsider. You are just the in-laws etc". However, couple of days ago, I just couldn't hold myself as the person who others are hurting is my better half. Sometimes, I feel many people are just not grateful for having such a wonderful person as a brother, who really takes care of them, never failed to be there when he is needed and will do everything he can to help his family. And again, I speak my mind and got into trouble...AGAIN!

My hope for July, though my lecturer once told me "Hope is not a strategy". Well, what can I do when hope is all I have ;

1. I am graduating in less than 2 weeks time. After 2 years trying to juggle and complete my studies, finally I am done. Alhamdulilah, though it has not been easy. Will I do it again, well, as crazy as it may sound, I think I will. #PhDFTW

2. We will be celebrating Aidilfitri abroad. First experience for the kids and my better half. After what we have experience, and maybe still experiencing depending how this couple of days will be, I secretly as glad we are not in the country on Raya days. I personally feel I just have to get away from few ungrateful individuals.

3. Kicking start the second half of 2015 and focusing to meet work related KPI. Last year was a horrible year as far as work is concern. This year so far looks promising, however lots of work need to be done to meet the numbers apart from driving high impact projects that will benefit the graduates in particular

Not to be over ambitious, I will just stick to the above for now. I, of course, have thousands of other hopes. That has to be saved for other times, or accurately other months to come...

So July, please be kind. I am tired, I am exhausted. I am drained. I need recharging and I hope you can do that wonders for me....Insyallah

There's always a price to pay

I am a detailed person and a planner. Both are my strongest point. I look into things line by line and I live by check lists. As the matter of fact, I have check lists for everything. I am a strong believer of planning. I love planning. I love coordinating, hence why I love doing events. I love connecting the dots. That s what keeps me going.

However, I am beginning to learn and trying to accept the higher I climb the ladder, the less detailed person I will be, even now I am getting less and less detailed which frankly speaking, I totally hate it. I love that I am detailed and I love that I am hands on in many things. Just that with the current workload on my plate I need to accept, I can't do everything as much as I want to.

Before this I am ok to go for meetings by myself and come back with information to be disseminated to the rest. But now, running from meeting to another I must confess I don't have the luxury to send a recap email like I always do. Even if I did, it will be few days later. And I hate this kind of inefficiency I am portraying.

I know, I am killing myself in setting such high expectations. Something that I need to overcome. I have been working like this for the longest time and doing things by myself is something I am used to. Now, I need to convert to a delegator, which what I have been doing, just in a smaller scale. Now, I need to expand the delegating and let go...

So far, I am making good progress *clap clap*. I begin to bring my team for meetings and they will then take it on and trigger me only something pressing that requires my attention. Don't get me wrong, I trust my team completely, this is just something I need to deal with. It's part of my development.

Deep in my heart, I am afraid I will loose the "being detailed" skill, I don't want to loose the skill in coordinating. Therefore, I know there will still be things I want to be involved in end-to-end. Just that I need to prioritise which projects that allow me to "continue practising" this skill.

It's not easy, but Insyallah it'll be easier...And I have a great team who are also helping to make it easier and grooming me to be a better leader. Alhamdulilah....

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

The Devil Wears Prada

It's about 5 months since I started my new role. Being a leader is not something new to me, I have people reporting to me before, but this time around it's different. The stakes are higher, accountability is more intense  and I have more things and people who I need to take care of. It helps that I love what I do so I am taking this challenge one day at a time.

Funny enough, I was watching The Devil Wears Prada on my flight back to KLIA. It's not my first time watching this movie, but somehow, perhaps due to aging, things I learned from this round of viewing was different. Before this, I was watching this movie from a subordinate point of view and now I am watching this movie from a boss point of view trying to find resemblance of my character with Miranda Priestly. And do I want to be Miranda Priestly. 

Well, I was and still is labeled by some of my ex-subordinates as someone who are mean and inconsiderate, not wanting to hear other people's views (read - their views) and many other words which they associate with me. To certain extent, I am Miranda Priestly to them. To be honest, that don't bother me that much. Cause I've labeled some of my ex bosses as one before. So, it's fair for me to be labeled that way.

You see, human behaviour works that way. We always forget what we received the moment we failed to get what we want. If we made 10 requests and 7 got accepted while 3 got rejected, we tend to remember the 3 rather than the 7. We forgot how we landed the job, how the same person who open the door for us to be where we are not as a person who did just that, we only remember how our ideas or the way we do things got rejected. Well, it's human behaviour, and I am quite ok with that. I must confess, I was once like that. However, perhaps I am little bit different cause I still remember and forever grateful with the people who open doors for me. Yes, they may have rejected some of my ways or ideas, but I always remind myself, they are the door opener, and without them I will not be who I am today. My mom always taught me to look things at the bright side and always remember the good people do to you and not focusing too much on the not so good things. 

And now, being higher in the company's food chain, I begin to see why some decisions are made. I begin to have some appreciation on how I felt I was victimised before, when actual fact it was to guide me to be a more productive employee. It's guiding my passion so that I don't forget the end goal. It's like how you appreciate your parents better when you become one. That's the feeling. 

And I am ok for some to feel I suck as a boss. Like I said, at times, I feel like that about my previous bosses. And I am also ok for those who refused to acknowledge me as someone higher than them. Again, it's human reaction towards certain decisions. I'm cool with that. I am ok for them to mock me, undermined my credibility and 

Nevertheless, I will never limit myself to keep on improving, at least to motivate the majority and focus my energy in developing those who wants to be developed. That's the amanah that has been given to me and I am determine to carry that through, Insyallah.

And, yes, I am ok that they unfriend me from their FB. I would do the same if I were in their position, I guess :)

In The Devil Wears Prada, so who do you see yourself as ; Miranda, Andy, Emily or Nigel. Or perhaps opportunist like Christian. And remember to watch the movie again when you are in a management position one day. You'll see the difference.

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Liza on the map ~ the overdue US working trip

I never imagined myself given the opportunity to represent my company for overseas assignment, let alone to be given the chance to go around US for work. It was indeed a tiring trip touring from one state to another, having to take flight every other day, and deprived from real food. The schedule was very tight simply because I don't want to leave my family for too long.

The cities visited goes like this :

New York - Chicago - San Fransisco - Los Angeles - Chicago - Boston - New York

In this trip, I visited about 9 universities, attended 6 engagement sessions with Malaysians and 4 sessions with Malaysian scholars. I also met up with few old friends who have been residing in US for quite sometime. I must say this experience was really valuable. If given the chance to come again, I would want to go to San Fransisco and New York with my family. I love this 2 places and had an awesome time there. The fact that I have 10 years Visa will make this dream easier Insyallah. Talking about Visa, please apply way in advance. It can be a long unpleasant experience for some, Alhamdulilah, in my case, somehow di permudahkan. However, while I was at the US embassy I can hear some interviews which can be intimidating.

Some info based on my limited experience, given the fact that it was a working trip :

Must Go

• Woodbury Premium Outlet, New York
• Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco
• Silicon Valley where Google, Yahoo, Youtube, LinkedIn and Facebook offices are
• Times Square, New York
• Kodak Center, LA

Must Do

• Any live games, I got to go to baseball match
• Ride of San Fransisco Cable Car or better known as tram
• Broadway Theatre, something I wanted to do but did not have the time. Insyallah, next visit
• Walk at Central Park, this was really an awesome experience
• Try our the subway. Can be an interesting experience, smelly and scary as well :)

Must Eat (Can't really comment on this, did not get the opportunity to explore due to tight schedule, practically survived on hot chocolate and bread most of the time)

• Halal Guys, New York. Awesome kebab and beriani
• Seafood at Fisherman's Wharf, San Fransisco

Must shop

• US branded stuff like Coach, Cole Hanns, Fossil - Super cheap!!
• Electronic stuff. Got myself Garmin GPS and Kindle. Super cheap as well

Must see

• Empire State building, New York
• Rockefeller Center, New York
• Statue of Liberty, New York
• Hollywood Hill, Los Angeles

Enjoy this photos, managed to snap some in between meetings :)

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Liza on the map ~ the overdue UK trip

2011 has been a year full of travelling thus far. One of the working trips I was privileged to be part of was the one to UK. Why this trip was special cause it's not only in London, but I got to visits other part of UK. The trip was quite sudden as I was really new in that role. Anyhow, was really honoured.....This entry is very much overdue cause the trip was in March :)

I get to visit Oxford, Cambridge, London, Manchester, Liverpool and Warwick. I enjoyed Oxford the best, until today I can say...I can totally imagine living there, raising my kids. I know that is just a dream, cause I don't think I am smart enough to even apply for the prestigious university. Yup, I visited many many top universities namely Oxford, Cambridge, University of Central London, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Manchester University and Warwick University.

Let me just share with you the photos from the trips........Let the pictures speaks a thousand words.......

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

An eye opening trip - Interesting pictures from Oxford

For those who are not my FB friends, I am sharing the nice shots I took (or try to take) in Oxford. Here goes!

I love Oxford! If only I am smart enough to study here....Sigh....

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

An eye opening trip - Oxford and Cambridge

I am indeed a fortunate person. Yes, I hate to be away from my family, but to be honest, I was quite excited to be chosen as part of the team representing my company in the assignment. What made me more excited the fact that I get to visit many high ranking universities as well as meeting Malaysians who are abroad.

I spent 12 days in UK. Started working the moment the plane landed at Heathrow Airport, what was told to be one of the most busiest airport in the world. Went straight to Oxford which was about 2 hours drive. Arrived late in the evening and took the opportunity to walk around the hotel area. This place is so lovely, with beautiful buildings and such elaborated architecture.

I woke up early, just to enjoy morning walk in Oxford. The weather was cold and the air was very fresh. To me, when you are in this neighbhourhood, sleep and eat are no longer a priority. It will be a great loss not to be able to enjoy the nature. And to top it all, it's spring. Flowers were blooming or about to blook which make the surroundings more beautiful. Snapped some photos and I was told I am lucky to be in UK in this kind of weather, where I can see the sun shining and no rain........

Many meetings were arranged that day, many people to meet, many engagement sessions to attend. However, in between, managed to slot 30 minutes to visit where they filmed Harry Potter i.e. the dining hall as well as the famous Alice in The Wonderland door. If only they remember to remove the fire extinguisher in front of the door.....Turn off!

After the meetings, our scholars took us around campus visiting many famous colleges and then proceed for dinner. Getting halal food is a challenge as Oxford is quite a small town, as opposed to London. We are lucky to have people to take us to eat.......

The next day, to check out and head to our next destination ; Cambridge. I just have to say I find it amusing for both universities to have this "fight" about who is being the oldest or the best. Just put one person each from Cambridge and Oxford in one room and you know what I mean. They will definitely try to outdo each other. Me? I am just lucky if I have either one to be in my CVs though I know I am not smart enough to even be shortlisted!

Cambridge, unlike Oxford, has a shopping mall. The day we were there, was the day Ipad 2 was launch. As always, I woke up early to do my morning walk and knowing I have to check out and leave for our next location, I was more motivated to wake up early. While I was walking to the morning market to get some fresh fruits, I saw the Ipad 2 queue has started and the time was only 7.30am! Perhaps I am not a gadget person hence I don't really understand the craze.

Between those 2, and not taking into considerations the academic achievements, based on my personal observation, I prefer Oxford better. Believe or not, I am not a shopping mall person and am ok to live in a neighbourhood that has no malls. I love to see people either walking or cycling. That to me, is so serene and such a wonderful place to be in.

I missed my family so much!!! I skyped with the kids while they are having breakfast, trying to give them a situation as if like I'm there. And of course, bbm MBH whenever I get the chance too........

We headed for London after our meetings, which I will blog about it later. Some points I wish to highlight :

1. While some people think, eee....bestnyer pegi UK. Well, memang best minus not having to do much sight seeing, checking in and out of different hotels almost everyday, by the time meetings ended the shops were closed and not to mention still need to attend to office work before going to bed

2. Food is an issue. Trying to get halal food in UK except for London can be a great challenge. Unless you are ok to eat Arab food everyday, be prepared to bring some maggie mee ;)

3. Jet lag is not an option. There's no time to regularise the sleeping patterns. It's a working trip so as always, hit the ground running!

For those who are still interested, Insyallah, tomorrow I will share the London's stories. Pictures? Susah nak upload ler. Steamyx is too slow.....

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Between

Working weekend in Penang

Last weekend would be the last free weekend for me. From this weekend until end of this year would be occupied with work as my project's roadshows has kicked off. Since the kids are done with their exams, I have decided to drag them along. At least they can stay in the hotel and enjoy themselves at the pool or kids

club while mom is working. Papa, of course would be the official babysitter.

This weekend would be the Penang week. We will be making our way to Penang on Friday evening and Insyallah, should arrive before midnight. It was not easy to convince MBH to come along. He don't really like to go to the northern part of our country. Can't blame him, everytime we came to this part, we never fail to encounter bad experience. I pray let this trip be a smooth one so that I can do my work and leave and when we leave I get to see my family's happy faces to make up for the loss time of spending time together.

Nevertheless, I was eyeing to visit some famous Penang place after work which will end approximately at 6pm to 7pm. Let see the lists :

Nasi Kandar

I really look forward to enjoy the famous Nasi Kandar. Some recommended me to go to Line Clear, some said to go to Hameediyah while others sworn by the Nasi Kandar Mohd Rafee. Everytime I come to Penang I always tell myself to have the Nasi Kandar but ended up just having one at Pelita Jalan Ampang the next day due to tight schedule. That's evident everytime I come to Penang it's for work. Hopefully, I get to enjoy a plate this time.

Halal Char Kuey Teow and Laksa

 

Can someone please recommend me where can I get my hands on this. I have been told many many times Penang has the most delicious and authentic CKT and laksa. CKT may be a challenge to find a halal one. But I  am sure some one can direct me to a halal one so that I can enjoy the true meaning of Penang local hawker food.

Pardon my ignorance, this is the 2 food I know off in Penang. Please feel free to recommend. And please consider I am going to be there only for 2 days and can only do this on Saturday night. Day time working and Sunday have to make a move to KL....

I hope this time around it will be a good experience in Penang so that I can persuade MBH for us to come again.

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com