I started my career as a Customer Service officer (CSO) in a call centre.
My job involved a single task. That was to retain (โwinbackโ) at least 7 subscribers per day who called to cancel their service subscription with MobileOne (M1).
That single task proved challenging. I struggled to deliver 5 winbacks on most days. This would become a consistent theme in my first year on the job.
As a rookie, I was embarrassed and guilty. I tried to add value by suggesting ways to improve our results in team meetings. Looking back, it was a strategy that kept my job in that first year.
One afternoon, my manager called me into her office.
I feared for the worst.
To my surprise, I got promoted to Team Leader that day. I felt relieved and confused at the same time. Later, I came to understand why.
I was fortunate that I had an ‘๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ’ supervisor. Sharon Chiam was in her early 20s, younger than me. She had risen through the ranks as a CSO the year before I joined her team.
As my supervisor, Sharon looked past my glaring underperformance. She saw my raw leadership. She looked beyond my role and recognised my unique strengths as an individual.
She saw my potential which I did not. ๐ก
Sharon gave me 2 pieces of advice that afternoon. Her words stayed with me till this day.
๐
My new responsibility: “๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ 80% ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ 20%.”
๐
My new purpose: “… ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ‘๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ’.”
โ I took 5 seconds to understand my new responsibilities.
โ Another 10 years before I understood what would become my purpose.
Later, I was privileged to lead teams across Southeast Asia as I progressed in my career.
I experienced firsthand the powerful influence we hold as people managers. When I empowered my team to reach their potential and achieve beyond their current abilities.
I felt a sense of deep fulfilment that I could help unlock new perspectives and make positive changes in someone’s life.
These experiences shaped my mission at ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ today.
As a coach, I want to empower aspiring executives and emerging team leaders. I want to help them develop a growth mindset and self-confidence to become their best selves.
So, here I am. Looking to help others find their true potential.
In the same way, I am grateful for how Sharon helped me find mine.
๐ฃ๐ฆ: ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น?ย ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ โฌ
