Paley's Journal

2003-03-03 ~ 10:30 p.m. ~ What I learnt today

I wanted to write something quick before I go to bed today. Today, I did nothing much in the hotel except serving people. I serve people food, water, running errand, in whatever way I can. I don’t think everyone can be in the customer service line and that’s the reason I’m never nasty to sales people. It’s very much like I’ve been there before and so I know how it feels. You want to be appreciated. I’ve been very lucky today. I’m tired, but I met a few nice people who didn’t treat me like a servant. There are just some of those days that you feel so demoralized. I know there are people treats people in the service line like servants just because they are the customer. I never quite believe in that because the world goes round.

So, today’s seminar was about Servant leadership. It talks about how leaders have to start serving people before they can expect people to serve them. How appropriate. I am not a leader, but I still think there are some concepts that can be applied in our daily lives as well. Just like today, my manager notice that my mind was somewhere far away and I was exceptionally quiet. The truth was, I was worried thinking about my work back in the office and if the temp girl could cope, what if she didn’t know what to do, etc. And here I am, also have another set of worries to think about. My manager seems to notice that and asked if I was worried about work. I told her my mind was all over the place. She later went out to run some errand and bought a magazine for me to read. She probably was afraid I was bored sitting in the room. I wasn’t because I was fascinated with the 2 facilitators. But I really appreciate her kind gesture. Towards the end of the day and after dinner, my manager told me I could go back to my office tomorrow to clear my work. I’ll have to make another trip again on Wednesday, another new batch of officers. What I felt good about today was the 2 facilitators were very spiritual (not necessarily religious) people and they inspired me. Or maybe it was the whole mood which was very reflective and so I was able to clear my thoughts and try to find a purpose in what I’m doing now. I also learnt that deep listening is one of the most powerful tools in any communication between people. It builds trust. I think if everyone manages to find someone who can offer them deep listening, then everyone would be sane. There wouldn’t be a need for psychiatrist in most cases. I definitely would love to find someone who has that kind of deep listening ability.

I think my spirit is not so depleted today and so I’m a happy gal.

I also find it amusing that I observed male teachers having a tendency to fill up their shirt pocket with all sorts of pens. A wide assortment of pens in different colours. The whole breast pocket looks so heavy.

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