I suppose, I always thought that becoming the boss is what to strive for in one's career. Going up the ladder.

It was always suggested to me. You want to be successful? You gotta be the boss. You want the power to have a real say on the overall strategy? You gotta be the boss. You want to become rich? You gotta be the boss.

Well let me tell you this much at least, I will definitely not get rich with my current MD role and how much I can really influence the strategy really depends on my stakeholders. So I guess, in reality, being the "boss" isn't perhaps that alluring. 

Moreover, as an MD now, I realize that even the "boss" actually has a vital role to play and requires to contribute her part like every employee. Previously, I thought of a boss as someone who would just be in meetings all day long, talking to people, making a couple of decisions but not doing actual work.

And while in parts it is true, I come to realize the following:

An organization is like an orchestra, consisting of different groups, voices, instruments, and the MD/CEO is like the tour manager of that orchestra. 

She is the one who needs to rally for the team. She has to advertise and sell and make sure that the next concerts are all lined up. She represents the orchestra to the outside world.

If you are a good MD, than you are a good sales person and a good business(wo)man. MDs don't run the show, they don't decide on the (content) pieces or how they are played. 

MDs make sure that the overall machine is running, so that other people can run the show and produce the quality and content required. 

Could the MD also be the conductor?

Yes, of course. However, while orchestrating and managing people is mostly associated with being the boss, the crucial role of the tour manager often gets forgotten.

I was so happy to learn about the Netflix's show The Queen's Gambit. I started playing chess a bit more regularly in 2017, when I was stuck in traffic on my daily 45-minute commute in Beijing. 

I wasn't really good at chess, perhaps I was switching too much between my WeChat and got distracted in my online chess game—that is to say that I much better like to play chess offline. The only problem was that noone was interested in playing chess with me until The Queen's Gambit.

It's crazy what power Netflix has over us to influence our interest.

What are your favorite podcasts?

I love to listen to podcasts during long runs, or during gym sessions. It's been a while though that I've found one that I genuinely like and regularly listen to.

I may have mentioned After Hours to you before (Thanks Flora for pointing it out to me) and I am really excited to know that they have resumed weekly episodes. 

The podcast is about current affairs in business, culture and society and are discussed by three Harvard Professors from the Law and Business departments (and they will be joined by another two professors from January onwards).

Two things I like about the podcast

Talking about transitions, four books have thoroughly changed my perspectives and helped me advance in my career.

• Atomic Habits—About micro habits and a different approach to keeping good habits
• Portfolio Career—Not a book, but the idea of having multiple careers certainly made a huge impact on me and I live up to it every day
• Never Split the Difference—The book that helped me save relationships, and made me a much better active listener, in negotiations and life moments alike
• The First 90 Days—How to prepare oneself for any career transition

I am currently reading The First 90 Days by Watkins and I am so grateful to have discovered this book as I transition into my new role. It has become my bible and manual and I can only warmly recommend it to anyone who is going through a period of transition in their career (new job, new role, new team etc.).

I had two memorable conversations this week: One was with a female employee and the other with a female stakeholder. Why they stuck with me was because I saw so many behaviors and attitudes in them that reminded me of myself in the past.

With the first girl I had my first ever 1on1 in my new role and she talked me through the area she is leading: Transformation. Throughout the whole conversation I sensed a strong drive in her, but an unnecessary need to defend and convince me of the necessity for her culture and people work at our corporate. When I asked her though, whether she would help me transform our own company with HR together, she appeared reluctant.

I remember the moment when I was done with the world.

I had just stepped out of an interview conducted via video call and I was annoyed: Staring at the green ball in my laptop and giving my presentation without seeing people's faces and reactions was incredibly unsatisfactory. Even more frustrating were the questions asked like "You have only been so short in the company, why do you think you are the best candidate?"

I mean...if 'years of affiliation' was the key success factor for the MD role then why even consider me? I will not be able to change the fact that I have only been with the company for 10 months. 

I think what really made me seriously consider to withdraw my candidacy was the strategy workshop right after the interview where my proposed ideas were shot down by my colleagues and peers.