We are all human... :)

When I get arrowed to do something/ staff something/ attend a discussion not related to my immediate area of work, the most frequently cited reason given by the ppl shooting these arrows is "exposure". I am not even sure what that really means, but I suppose the outcome of the exposure is always to let me learn more about the organisation, things going on in the organisation, observe how decisions are made/ things get done etc... Given how slow I can be sometimes, am doubtful about my takeaways in those aspects... However, I have made a most intriguing but not so original discovery about fellow humans--- that we're not perfect. More specifically, I've observed that ppl in high ranking positions, ie. typically director level and above are not amazing/superhuman and can behave/feel just like you and me in certain settings...

For some reason it's quite easy to associate someone's accomplishments/ career success with his/her character. Esp when you know nothing about the person and have had no personal interactions with him/her. Like it's easy to go 'wow' when you first hear of someone being director of XXX in an organisation. But when you gradually observe that your bosses have their own insecurities as well, somehow they become a fair bit less intimidating... Eg. Bosses also have tendency to siam4 their own bosses by choping the least conspicuous seats at meeting table. They can also get bored/tired and doze off at dry meetings. When a certain female MP came for the EDC course last Fri, we asked her how she balanced work and life. Her honest answer was that it was a struggle for her too, just like many working mums... And just this afternoon after showing face at a corporate visit, I somehow felt a whole lot more comfortable with a certain director, cos after the visitors left, she confessed to us how 'scary' hosting visitors could be, how there's always the fear of screwing up when you dunno your facts... But I thought she handled the situation v well in spite of all that lah. I guess you become good at these things when you do it frequently enough. We also lingered on for a while to finish up the food and her candid banter with other attendees on certain individuals in the organisation also revealed her more human, "gossipy" side... I dun mean it in a bad way at all though (and btw, it's always cool when you get to be free-rider of information and eavesdrop for free, but my antennae always faulty)

Ok so after all the rambling, I guess what I really wanted to say is... I felt like no matter how successful you are in your career... somehow at the end of the day you can be just like any other human... need assurance/comforting when down... appreciate ppl to commiserate with when thrown irritating stuff to do... And in a way, being able to accept and embrace the fact that we are all imperfect in one way or another is like really "getting it" in life.