Although I haven’t gone up the career ladder myself, I know what it takes to do so. You see, I let my inhibitions prevent me from reaching for my dreams. 

 

In my last company, in one of the interviews to determine if I’m qualified enough to go past my probation period, I was asked this question (I know that I already wrote this in an earlier post. But I would like to expound on my answer):

 
Are you a follower or are you a leader?

 

I told them flatly, “I am a follower more than a leader.”

 

Big fail, right? Well, I like to be brutally honest, even at the expense of my career growth. With me, what you see is what you get – WYSIWYG. Yeah, I use my wiles and persuasive skills sometimes, when I want to. I don’t like to BS. Because I’ve been BS’ed too many times now in this business. Yes, BS’ing is practically a requirement especially in the sales department. But when you’re the recipient of the BS and you can see through the BS, it’s quite insulting. It’s an insult to your intelligence. I like to be brutally honest because I like to manage the expectations with the other party. I know who I am. I know what I want. I won’t contort and disguise who I am just to live up to their expectations. I like to meet in the middle. I believe that open communication triumphs over BS. I believe in a give-and-take relationship. You can call it, symbiosis, if you will. No predator and prey. No commensalism. No parasitism. Symbiosis. It’s amazing how you can apply concepts that you’ve learned in biology/ecology in the business realm, no?

 

Why did I say that I am more of a follower? I used to be a leader and I’ve performed the role of a leader ever since. Well, I started doubting myself and that was my biggest mistake. There were quite a few instances in my life that caused me to doubt myself. I’ll tell you some of them.

 

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