STORY 1133 — MANAGER

THE JOURNEY OF A MANAGER

Whenever I tell my colleagues that I am actually an introvert, they usually look at me, smile, and laugh.

Perhaps I should change the term now and call myself an ambivert.

My journey as a manager began when I entered the palm oil industry.

Every morning, we had a safety assembly. It was a discipline that had been strongly instilled in us by our managers and had eventually become part of our working culture. In the plantation, a similar morning gathering was known as the Muster Call, usually held before dawn before plantation activities began.

Because of the morning assembly, I was often “bullied” by the other executives to stand in front of everyone and speak.

The problem was, I did not know what to say.

So, I picked up a book on Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) Grading published by MPOB and started reading. The next morning, I explained the different types of oil palm fruit and how fruit quality could affect oil extraction efficiency.

The following day, I found another topic.

And I continued doing it every morning.

Without realizing it, those simple morning sessions gradually built my confidence to speak in front of people.

I also had an interesting experience during my first few months.

One day, we were repairing a leaking pipe at the workers’ housing area. In a plantation environment, we did almost everything ourselves—from the mill to the workers’ quarters. Even managing rubbish at the workers’ housing area could become part of our responsibility.

We were truly multitasking from the very beginning.

On that particular day, I noticed a worker who was not helping us while we were carrying out the repair. I spoke to him about it and brought up the matter during the next morning briefing.

That day marked the beginning of my staff realizing that I was there—and that I was serious about discipline and responsibility.

It may have seemed like a small incident, but it was one of the moments when I began to understand that being responsible for an operation also meant having the courage to speak up.

The morning assemblies gradually gave me the confidence to express what was on my mind.

When visitors came to the mill, I became one of the first people to welcome them.

When a General Manager—someone many people were afraid of—visited the mill, I did not run away. I was often one of the first to greet him.

When senior management came, I was also among those who accompanied them around the mill.

Because of this, more and more people began to know me.

Ironically, I had started my career as an introvert.

But the demands of the profession changed me.

I changed myself according to my responsibilities and the needs of my career.

Eventually, I obtained my Steam Engineer Certificate and was given management responsibilities at a relatively young age.

If you ask me today, I would say that part of my youth was sacrificed for the responsibility of managing an operation.

At a young age, I was already responsible for managing more than 130 people in a mill.

I often joke that this was one of the reasons my hair turned grey so early—because I had been dealing with people and their problems since I was young!

But behind the joke lies an important lesson.

I made many mistakes throughout the years.

Every mistake taught me something.

Every failure forced me to reflect.

Every difficult situation pushed me to improve myself.

That is one of the main reasons why I have always believed in finding mentors, learning both formally and informally, and continuously improving throughout my career.

I started my MBA in 2011 and became actively involved in Toastmasters in 2013.

Most importantly, I did not want to keep theories confined to books or classrooms.

I wanted to apply those theories in real organizations, observe the results, and determine whether they actually worked.

Throughout my career, I have managed people from different backgrounds in Sabah and Sarawak, including local employees and foreign workers from countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Then, in 2015, I challenged myself to manage an organization outside my home country, with a foreign boss as well.

That experience introduced me to teams with different personalities, cultures, working styles, and expectations at a global level.

Every multicultural and multinational environment tested my management capabilities.

And every new environment reminded me of one thing:

There is always another way to learn, improve, and become more effective and efficient.

MANAGEMENT COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY

Being given management responsibility comes with many privileges.

But, as Peter Parker famously said:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Management authority must therefore be handled carefully and wisely.

If it is not, the privilege of having authority can become a tremendous burden.

Our decisions can eventually take us to a courtroom—or even a prison cell—if we abuse the responsibility entrusted to us.

And if we escape accountability in this world, we should still remember that we are ultimately accountable to Allah.

May Allah protect us from such consequences.

DELEGATION — A MANAGER CANNOT DO EVERYTHING

One of the first lessons a manager must understand is delegation.

A manager cannot do everything alone.

We need competent people.

We need to delegate.

But effective delegation does not simply mean giving someone a task and walking away.

We need to select the right person.

If the person is not yet ready, we need to train, coach, and develop that person until he or she becomes capable.

A manager without people is like a driver without a vehicle.

Management is not about doing everything ourselves.

It is about making sure the right people can do the right work at the right time.

At the same time, we do not operate in isolation.

We are part of a larger system.

Our success depends not only on our own department but also on other departments and external stakeholders—Marketing, Plantation, Procurement, suppliers, customers, contractors, and many others.

All these stakeholders need to be managed and coordinated properly.

I remember one particular emergency during my early career.

My manager brought me to meet the Plantation Controller at his bungalow because the mill was facing a serious operational problem.

The mill had accumulated a large quantity of fresh fruit bunches at the ramp.

My manager immediately discussed the situation with the Plantation Controller and requested that the plantations temporarily reduce their fruit deliveries for several days.

This required coordination with almost ten oil palm estates.

That simple but timely action helped prevent a much bigger problem—the risk of fruit deterioration while waiting to be processed at the mill.

At the same time, suppliers of critical spare parts from outside the plantation were contacted and asked to deliver the required components urgently so that repairs could proceed.

None of this could be achieved through technical knowledge alone.

It required communication, negotiation, coordination, decision-making, and leadership.

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT DECISION-MAKING

In management, we may sometimes find a solution worth millions of ringgit.

But the question is:

Is it the most efficient solution within the available budget and resources?

That is where management becomes different from simply solving a technical problem.

We need to analyse.

We need to investigate.

We need to compare alternatives.

We need to understand the risks.

And finally, we need to choose the most appropriate solution.

Sometimes, we must make difficult decisions.

But courage in decision-making must always be accompanied by justification.

Why are we doing this?

Because one day, our decisions may be questioned by auditors, senior management, regulators, or even people who are specifically looking for weaknesses and mistakes in our work.

Therefore, every decision must be supported by sound reasoning, proper documentation, and accountability.

The authority, energy, manpower, money, equipment, and other resources entrusted to us are not for our personal benefit.

They are given to us to achieve the objectives of the organization.

WHAT DOES “BOSS” REALLY MEAN?

When people call us “Tuan,” “Sir,” or “Boss,” it should not simply make us feel important.

It is a form of respect from the people we lead.

But at the same time, that respect comes with an expectation:

They expect us to make their work easier.

That is, in my opinion, one of the true meanings of being a manager.

If our purchasing team is struggling to find a spare part, for example, we can help by sharing contacts from our professional network.

We can also ask for assistance through professional networks such as the Borneo Palm Oil Mill Engineer WhatsApp group.

By doing so, we are not doing the purchasing officer’s job.

We are helping him or her solve a problem.

And when we help our people solve their problems, we are actually helping the organization achieve its objectives.

That is the real meaning of management.

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE TITLE

Being a manager is not about having the title of “Boss.”

It is about thinking beyond ourselves.

It is about asking:

“How can I help my people perform their work more effectively and efficiently?”

A great manager does not measure success only by personal achievement.

A great manager measures success by how many people he or she has helped to succeed.

Because ultimately:

A manager works with people, works through people, coordinates their efforts, and brings everyone together to achieve organizational goals.

It is not about what I can accomplish.

It is about what WE can accomplish together.

And perhaps that is the biggest lesson I have learned after more than twenty years in management.

The higher we go in management, the less it should be about ourselves—and the more it should be about helping others succeed.

That is my story today.