His reddened face showed that he would have preferred to slap me. But all he said was \u201cWhat a cheeky little fellow you are\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot to learn\u201d. <\/p>\n
My internship at the management consultancy firm actually went well. I settled into my role of making coffee, cold acquisition, taking minutes and folding leaflets. <\/p>\n
Until I got a call from the Senior Partner. I could tell from the static in the background that he was in the car. \u201cHarm, can you call my client to let them know I\u2019ll be 10 minutes late?\u201d <\/p>\n
Without thinking, and with some surprise, I replied: \u201cWhy, haven\u2019t you got their number?\u201d <\/p>\n
It turned out he did have the number. He just liked having someone else facilitating him. And I flatly refused to stroke the Senior Partner\u2019s ego in this way. <\/p>\n
Like a Boss Baby I later called him out on his \u2018behaviour\u2019 with some bravado. This did not exactly go down well. <\/p>\n
And to some extent, he was right. Because actually, violating the hierarchy of such a small office showed a lack of tact. And anyway, it was true that I still had a lot to learn. <\/p>\n
Yet I look back on this learning moment in my career with pride. I still set boundaries, although nowadays I am a little more subtle about it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
His reddened face showed that he would have preferred to slap me. But all he said was \u201cWhat a cheeky little fellow you are\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot to … <\/p>\n