Page 226 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

This proved a blessing in disguise. This gave me more time to concentrate
on my handling of loan files than meeting him 4-5 times daily for such
updates. As I got to know more and more about increasing number of
customers, I started gaining confidence in giving my opinions freely to
the Chief (whether he liked them or not) in the interest of the bank. But
he remained as unimpressed as ever and I remained as vigilant and
apprehensive of his decisions as ever.

Following a "Paid advice" of a doctor
Within six months of joining this metropolitan branch, I found that it was
becoming difficult to cope up with the work pressure under surrounding
circumstances at work. Firstly, I was new to handling and processing large
advance proposals and I had to study every file to apprise myself of the
history and conduct of the account before recommending any
enhancement or renewal or fresh sanction of credit lines. Secondly, I faced
a sea change in practices and working culture and nature of work at the
new place as compared to Hong Kong.

Hence I used to spend sufficient time on any proposal. Other major
problem I faced was that every 6-8 months the Chief of the branch kept
changing. This created additional problems. The Chief himself would be
new and would expect all the information of every account on my tips
without referring to the connected files. The every new Chief would have
a different style of working, different principles and precepts of life and
different preferences and prejudices as well as different favorite
borrowers who would move with him to avail credit facilities. Due to
frequent transfer of bosses and the associated issues as narrated above,
I was finding it difficult to concentrate on applying my own mind to the
analysis and recommendations of the four Credit Managers attached to
my department.

I decided to sit late in the evening to finish daily scrutiny of files. The
next day, I got an advice from a colleague not to sit late. He told me that

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