The Brands Vietnam Journey #3 - Aftermath

I became the Content Leader at Brands Vietnam for a short period of 5 months. Here's the summary of my journey, from what I have to do to prepare myself to my stumbles along the way to the end of the journey. 

You should read this if: 

- You are an average guy (university degree, no big background) who want to become a team leader within 3 years of working. Stick around, you maybe able to learn something. 

- You are a new team leader. Congratulation. Now let's see some of my novice leading mistake so you can avoid it. 

- You are an HR personnel who's looking for a management level candidate (Or you read my CV and came here). This blog should give you a lot of information for your consideration. 

Part of the journey is looking back.

If the last article was a mini tribute to my awesome teammate, then this article is for my boss. Possessed such a vast knowledge and experience in marketing, he is truly the leader to look up to and hands down the best leader I have ever worked with. His favorite rule is the rule of 3 - every article should have 3 main points and if those 3 points were explained using 3 smaller points - that's perfection. So this is how I'll structure this article. Here's everything that's flowing through me after I left Brands Vietnam 

Feeling: 

Leaving Brands Vietnam is similar to leaving a battlefield. It is a confusing mix bag, but generally you feel grateful and peaceful. Grateful that I survived the battle which makes me stronger. Grateful for the people that I got a chance to meet and the relationship that we built. Grateful for all the things that I learned and got to do along the way.

However, no soldier wants to fight the war forever. War is chaotic and so was my mind - confusing. I has always been a cocky egomaniac yet I had many moments of self-doubt. I have always thought that I hate writing and reading but I couldn't be more wrong. I guest that's what hardship does to people - it puts us in a puzzle and to break pass the confusion is to truly understand who you are.

Honestly, I don't think Brands Vietnam is as bad as a battlefield. Just a pretty close comparison if you look at it in my twisted angle.

In the end, I came out of Brands Vietnam just like any soldiers came out of a war - peaceful. Whatever happened, it is behind me and the future seems pretty bright might I preemptively assume. 

Thoughts: 

What if is my favorite self-asking question. In life, you always have to pick and choose 1 way over the other. Once chosen, you will live the rest of your life never knowing fully what the other route leads to. The fact that you will never know everything is what tickle my brain at night. 

What if tomorrow is my first day at Brands Vietnam? What if I get a redo button? What would I do differently and more importantly - is that enough to change the ending? If I can go back, I wouldn't change a thing because frankly speaking - I don't know what the fuck I could have done to better the situation. The feeling of powerless, responsibilities-less is why I left and I don't think I can gain more power the second time around. 

What if tomorrow is just another day at Brands Vietnam, like I have never left? What is my plan if I had stayed? My original plan was to work here for 1-3 years and then use the big name of the company to jump elsewhere. But surviving there for that long require extreme patience - my kryptonite. If I had stayed, I would need to turn on my survival mode - reducing all the needs I have for enjoyment in the workplace and turn myself into a professional working machine. This mode comes with a hefty price which is the requirement to super recharge at night. Video games, movies, alcohols and probably a special someone are all reliable recharge resources. But I'm all out of someone special...

Ultimately, spending time thinking about what if is pointless. So I convert my what if into something more useful: What do I need to do tomorrow - my first day at the new place. Being more friendly towards everyone, being humble and being smart are on my checklists. I love how logical and creative I was during my working time at Brands Vietnam. But all of that would go to waste if you can't communicate your thoughts and values effectively. Friendly, humble and smart would help me tremendously tomorrow. 

Lessons

All of my lessons stem from communicating with people, which is the most important skill of a leader. These lessons may seem obvious but it's actual a challenge for me to nail it. 

Not using the same method on everyone - My biggest mistake when it comes to training was applying the same training methods to everyone. With experience gaps and personal preferences, a true leader needs to understand all of these variables in order to craft the most suitable training regime. 

Confirm everything - My assumptions have been very accurate - it is one of my most trustworthy ability. In modern day, human rarely shows their true self hence their words are also not the most reliable thing. However, my assumption has not been great recently. It isn't wrong, people just won't admit it is right. It might sound cocky but it's true. When it comes to it, business people will twist their own words to make it seem like they didn't mean it. So from now on, I will make sure to ask more questions and use it as a confirmation. Just to be careful. 

Well, tomorrow is a new journey.

Quanny Nguyen