Counteroffer

Had the counteroffer call with Asia VP and boss this morning.

They offered a double promotion and a substantial pay increment effective 1st March 2022, into a Senior Manager Field Channel Sales title. This almost nullifies the pay concerns.

And also the path to Sales management track, which will see me move into the Sales Director role for SEA in the next 18 to 24 months.

In between now and then, just a promotion and good pay increment, but still doing the same job and reporting to the same boss.

Asia VP made a strong case of staying back and growing from the strong base and network that I had built up over the years. Basically an easier path to success with tried and tested relationship.

Boss acknowledged his shortcomings and asked me to feel free to open up and talk to him about where he comes up short as a manager.

While it was really flattering to have Asia VP put in such a strong counteroffer and pulling all stops to stop me from leaving, there are plenty of considerations into taking up his proposal of eventually taking over the Sales Director role.

1) SEA is a bad region is manage, with lots of hard work and close to 0 upside opportunities as I have seen over the last 12.5 years. I see it as a poisoned chalice and will suffer a slow prolonged death. If I were to get the entire SEANZ region, then it represents another problem of upsetting KJ's promotion path, which will set him up with a grudge for the long run, and that opens the possibility of getting backstabbed at any time.

2) The fact that it will be another 18 to 24 months of continuing to report to Boss, which will be very uncomfortable at best, especially after the big hooha over my resignation casting doubts over his leadership capabilities. It will be natural for anyone to feel the thorn in their heart after this resignation attempt.

3) Doing the same thing (& fire fighting) for the next 24 months will not add much to my resume. So it will be another 2 years of nothing to write about. This is where there is still a gap in my GROWTH concern

While it is true that going to the new company represents a greater risk than staying here with the familiar, and possibility a longer path to success, ultimately if I'm able to prove my mettle there, then I'll be able to add the successful building of a 2nd partner program to my resume.

The key consideration will be the chance to learn and see more, outside of the walled garden in my existing employment.

Job title may be an issue for now, but I'll need to convince the new boss that I'll earn the right to the Channel Director title within 2 years.

And in an ideal world, maybe I'll 衣锦还乡 after 2 years to take the Sales Director role.

Took some time off this afternoon to mull about the 2 options. Went to my spiritual home, ECP, to clear my mind. It started to drizzle when I started cycling, and I stopped over at the same pavillion that I used to bring Ah Di to when he was still around. Perhaps I was getting some hints from above, when the songs on my playlist contrived to tell me that it is a better idea to leave. 

好久不见 from 5566 suggested that everywhere I go I'll be watched and loved/ admired, and while time will change us, there is no telling now on what we are going to gain or lose 

我们不一样 from 大壮 tells me that everyone is different and will have different live experiences. We are all working hard for a better tomorrow, and maybe they will wait for me to return 

Into the Unknown from Frozen 2 acknowledges the fear of what I'm risking if I take the plunge, but everyday gets harder as I continue to grow and there's a part of me that longs to go into the unknown

Let it Go from Frozen 1 tells me its time to see what I can do, to test my limits and break through. To let go of my fears and inhibitions.

How Far I'll go from Moana tells me that I need to get beyond the horizon to see what's out there

Though I had decided that I'll still be leaving, I still feel uneasy about hitting the send button to send my final confirmation to boss and Asia VP. 多年的感情不是说算就算了

So much has happened over the last 2.5 years since I last updated this blog

From the police report incident on Sally, staying at the in-laws for almost 10 months, catching and recovering from CoVid-19, finally moving into our own place and now, an imminent change of job.

这一路走来不易

This will be a piece about my job/career/work.

I had just accepted a new job offer in a new company, essentially performing the exact same role as what I had been doing in my current employment. Just tendered my resignation about 30 hours ago, and then it triggered an avalanche of calls, and plenty of calls that are just simply charged me up with strong emotions to the point that I had teared up multiple times today.

It had been a tumultuous 12.5 years with this company. Started at the bottom as a Regional Channel Sales Manager, and managed to move up the ranks and into my current role as the Channel Program Manager.

Not everything was smooth sailing though.

I had survived the multiple occasions when I had wanted to leave the company:

• within the first year of the job, when the factory consistently failed to deliver orders, resulting in all kinds of issues that Sales had to deal with, that wasn't normal at all by any standards
• the time when my previous sales boss accused me of "trying to set up a union"
• the time when I couldn't agree with my previous sales boss of a blatant lie to get certain orders done
• the time when my ex Channels VP left and returned to ask me to join him 1 year later
• the time when the Sales Prez went ahead to hire my replacement for China and unceremoniously kicked me out of the China region without any form of communications or explanation
• the time when I had a major disagreement with the Asia VP and got accused of being defensive
• the time when my current boss warned me that I should be speaking up more often infront of the Sales Prez so that I don't look bad infront of the Sales Prez. Made me want to leave immediately to join our prime competitor

And of course there were plenty of highlights too:

• that mad 1 month crazy run when I winning every single deal that I touched on, left right centre, clocking in excess of 1M of orders in typical 2.5M per year environment
• made the jump to Channel management, got a major pay hike and sent onto an external training course sponsored by my best ever boss
• raised the bar for partner training events and galvanized the partner ecosystem, earning the infamous praise of "you managed to get all your bosses to do what you wanted them to do without them realizing it"
• earning the overachievers award and receiving the plaque on stage from the Sales Prez, proving to him that I can bring around sales results
• doing the impossible by capturing and converting 5 competitor partners in 2 years
• successfully organized and guided the PIP competition with a big bang on the results, earning all round praise from Sales prez, Asia VP and my boss
• getting recognized as the premier expert on channel management with even the sales directors coming for consultation
• getting recognized across the organization as the premier expert on analytics and problem solving techniques, notably from Asia VP, my boss, the actual expert in the company, and my counterparts, HR. 

All the emotions, bittersweet memories, the subsequent redemption and vindication and recognition from the bosses, just flashed right infront of me when I hit send on my resignation notice.

The subsequent talk with my boss was underwhelming at best. Not withholding the usual "what can we do to make you stay", I couldn't tell him that he is one of the prime reasons why I wanted to leave. It was easy to convince him that I will not be persuaded to stay.

Asia VP made a much stronger case and is more forthcoming in his ask to retain me. I'm grateful that he had made a push with my boss that I should get promoted to Director level, back in November. The fact that he had talked to my boss back in Nov, and with my boss saying that he will look into it, yet I didn't hear any progress at all, speaks volumes above the perils and problems that will persist if I continue to work for an ineffective supervisor. Asia VP probed more into details on my primary considerations for leaving. Told him that while I'm able to make a good impact on his team and the Global Channels Team, my career growth has been stunted and even regressed in the last 3 years. He made the correct guess that getting my direct report removed from me was 1 of the 2 sore points. The other was the way that way that I got yanked out of China. It was just wayyyy too horrible. He committed to finding ways to address my concerns on growth. Told him that the pay increments over the last 3 years was horrible, not only for me but for everyone in general, and they will lose more talents if this continues. 

The most emotional call was actually with my EMEA counterpart, whom I had mad amount of respect for her work, dedication and passion. Having been fighting alongside with her for the last 6.5 years, building the program from scratch and growing the business, to open sharing of ideas and resources, basically being the 2 strongest pillars that held the entire program together, we have a lot of shared history, experience, laughter and tears, even though we are not really physically working together all the time. The common goals and vision that we shared was extraordinary. It was only with her that I could just openly admit my disappointments and disillusion with how the organization is slowing tearing down the program, and the poor leadership that we had to endure over the years.

The way that the emotions, attachments, sadness that is hitting home now is kinda way above the expectations that I had before I submitted my resignation. The kind responses and acknowledgements I'm getting from the bosses, just further fueled the sadness that I'm feeling now due to the impending departure and close of a long chapter.

Looking back, perhaps if the promotion to Channel  Director was done back in November, then I probably wouldn't have even considered moving on. A classic case of too little too late, even though in all honesty, this is long overdue. The only thing that I couldn't be more proud of, is that I'm leaving with my head held up high, especially after proving the detractors wrong.

伤感一定会有的，毕竟我将近3分之1的生命在这度过了，也对这儿有许多留恋的人和事

但天下无不散的宴席，该是时候走出去看看了