5 lessons from my first week as CEO

After a few rounds of selection with over 1000 candidates, I am thrilled to be elected as Adecco Malaysia CEO for one month.

Change is scary, being in a new environment, clueless on how to go about things, or not remembering your new colleague’s name even after they repeated it for the fifth time.

But with a little courage, I took baby steps to get a better understanding of Adecco as a company, as well as the people behind the great work.

I count my blessings. My country manager, Andree got me involved in high level meetings. 
Marsha the HR Director and Phyllis the Finance Director sat down and gave me 1 on 1 lessons to understand the scale of the business.

I even met the Regional Director, Phillippe on my day 2 and understand his overview on the business.
And all my fellow teammates who took lunches with me, even showing me how to take train back home!

What I’m about to share is the mindset shift I took, and they have helped me throughout my day to day.

1. Fear is not sign of weakness

   True courage is when you still make a move even with the presence of fear. It’s normal to be a little nervous, just keep moving forward!
    

2. If you are already on a roller coaster, might as well enjoy the ride!

   I focus so much on the result, I start missing out the journey itself!

CEO for one month have given me a chance to throw myself into a whole new experience, I’ll missed out all the great parts if I don’t embrace the experience fully!

3. It’s ok to ask for help.

   You are not supposed to ‘know it all’. Admitting that you don’t know might take a little bit of courage, but trust me, a little help from your teammates can go a long way. Besides, what’s a better way to learn than directly asking those who are the experts in the field?
    

4. Choose to listen

   It’s easy to fall into what I call ‘speech bubble trap’, where a person kept talking and talking without listening, eventually the bubble will burst and everyone will run away.

When you choose to listen, you are actively trying to understand where the other person is coming from. Respect and understanding is the first step of building relationship and trust.

Of course, everything has it’s time and place, if I’m rushing for a deadline, I’ll politely decline the conversation and make it a point to sit down with the person at a better time.

5. Allow yourself to express at the right time

It easier said than done, there’s many times where the setting requires me to be professional self. Even if I would like to joke, but that’s not appropriate during an intense sales meeting isn’t it.

But I disagree that we must always be fully expressing ourselves, neither do we have to always uphold a certain image to keep going.

There’s a balance with everything and at the right time, like showing genuine compassion for my teammate who is not feeling great at work,
voicing out what I really think the issues is. It is important for our voice to be heard.

Throughout my humble first week, I feel like a student again. Beside knowledges, the biggest learnings are all about attitude and perspective towards work and life.
Most importantly, knowing all the people behind the great work. First week have been amazing! I can’t wait to reveal week 2!  Stay tuned!