Grateful

When I reflect back on my life, I realise I have a lot, a lot to be grateful for. Just using my career as an example, there seems to have been some form of divine help through people for every single job/ job change since 2000.

• I ended my first contract with the army in 2000 and decided to enter the corporate sector. Being naïve and new to the corporate world, I didn’t prepare myself sufficiently and eventually landed in the air logistics line out of desperation. Despite the willingness to learn, the fit was bad and things didn’t go well. Then my company, which was part of a larger airline group, announced that it was undergoing a corporatisation exercise and employees were given the option to leave or stay. That was when an ex-colleague from the army called and asked me to consider rejoining. They were facing a brain drain in the function I was in. I would not suffer any loss in seniority, and I would get back my last drawn pay. The call was a lifesaver.

• My second stint in the armed forces, despite the harsh treatment of being outed, revoking of security clearance, stalling of my promotion and growth, losing a scholarship in a post-graduate programme in security studies, etc; saw me being transferred to a military training college. It led me to ultimately obtain my post-graduate degree in instructional designs and ultimately led to my eventual entry into the corporate sector as a training/ HR person after my retirement. Had I not been outed, I would have progressed in the function I was in, got myself even more siloed and probably experience major difficulties joining the corporate sector given the highly classified roles I would have served. It was a huge blessing in disguise!

• I had retired from the armed forces and decided to take a few months’ break before seeking new employment. Two months in, the armed forces’ career transition department contacted me and asked me to consider being part of a pilot programme for career placement. It was meant for retiring personnel, but as it was a pilot, they decided it would be more appropriate to get recently retired personnel to try it. I only had to pay 10% of the total cost. I signed up for it and became the first person to partake in the programme. That led me to eventually land in my first corporate role after I retired from military service.

• I left my first corporate role after almost three years as I felt I was not being remunerated fairly despite the job size and responsibilities given. Things also got rather toxic and I decided to leave without a job. Two months later, an ex-colleague whom I had helped previously called and asked if I was keen to join the airline industry to help a budget airline set up its learning department. I went for the interview, got the job, received a good pay jump, went on to successfully help the company set up its L&OD department, and got 2 promotions within the span of 6 months after joining the company. I later found out that the Chief of HR was the husband of my ex-colleague.

• The airline company I joined went through several major restructurings during my tenure, and there was a change in senior leadership. The new chief who took over the HR portfolio was from Shanghai, and she gave me full support - not just in my work, but also in looking after my mum, whose dementia had worsened by then. She would chase me to leave work daily because she knew my mum would get anxious if I arrived home late. She also told me I could work from home anytime I needed to, well before working from home became the norm. We are friends now and meet up every few months to catch up.

• The airline company was eventually acquired and merged with another airline. With the merger, I was demoted two levels and made to report to someone much more junior than me. Overnight, people who used to report to me became my peers. Life got increasingly difficult as I was considered an “outsider”. Life was tough. My job search was met with numerous rejections despite the many interviews I attended. Just when I got really demoralised, I received a call from a lady asking if I was keen to consider a L&OD role of a global telco; and that if successful, I would report to her. This lady turned out to be a friend of an ex-army colleague whom I had helped when he was based in Tampa, Florida, more than a decade ago. I went through no less than 6 interviews, got accepted and spent a good seven years there, helping it build three other departments and won numerous awards.

• In the post-COVID years, I suffered burnout and decided to take a 6-month sabbatical. Company policy stated that for any sabbatical lasting more than three months, employees would be asked to resign if there was no role at the end of the sabbatical. In my case, my CHRO told me, “Just go. Have a good rest. We will make sure we have a role for you at the end of your sabbatical.” Eventually, a new role was created for me. I went on to help the company build the new department and won another major award before leaving the company to pursue my own interest.

• I left the telco to pivot towards freelancing, channelling most of my energy into developing myself as a coach. I did not actively pursue trainer roles at the time, as my focus was elsewhere. Yet, opportunities emerged organically. I landed two adjunct trainer roles through relationships I had built along the way. In the first instance, a course mate I had worked closely with came across an HR trainer opportunity and shared it with me. I applied and was successful. For the second instance, I casually mentioned my interest in becoming a trainer to a course mate during a peer coaching session. That simple conversation led to an introduction to someone well connected within the training community, who subsequently put my name forward to a training company. This eventually resulted in my second adjunct trainer role.

So yeah, when I think about all these instances, I can’t help but feel deeply grateful to every person and opportunity that somehow appeared when I needed it. The above were just examples from my career journey. And it was not just once or twice, but consistently through my whole corporate life over the last 25 years! I was and still am indeed blessed.

I am grateful.