Page 52 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

support the other officer in full view of the Chief Manager. This went on till
8 pm and the chief Manager came out and enquired the status of completion
of work. The officer told him that with the current speed it would take 2
more days. I kept quiet. We all left for the day as this was the working culture
at this branch. That task took three full days to complete.

I found a lot of change in his outlook towards me after this episode. He
exchanged greetings and started enquiring about my problems in tallying
the Day Book on daily basis. He also would sometimes come and sit in
front of me and offer help. I knew that his sudden intervention in our
work would be breaking our concentration and impede our progress in
finding out errors to tally both credits and debit sides of the day book. I
used to thank him for his support and tell him not to worry and leave it
to our team as it was our duty and not of the Chief Manager.

When I gave him the reasons for three to seven days being taken in
tallying the Day Book, he readily agreed to lend me full support and
resolve any issues whether emanating from unions or any other quarters
disrupting my action plan. This all happened within a couple of months.
I was fully confident that chief Manager must have found my estimation
of time of my first assignment vindicated in the first instance. Secondly,
he would have realized that I could volunteer to help complete the same
job without any such obligation to do so and more so when I was not
trusted by the Chief Manager and was replaced by another officer.
Insights from the episode

1. Most of the bosses don't like to hear "no" to what they propose.
But I felt that I should not commit if I cannot meet the deadline given
by the boss. If it is not met he would still be annoyed and also may
not trust me in future. This situation would have been much worse
than accepting unrealistic targets.
2. When I volunteered myself for extra work in spite of bickering with
the boss that led to my instant recognition. I found this practice
pretty workable throughout my career.
3. "What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise" --
Oscar Wilde
— z —

A Banker down the Rabbit Hole | 49