It’s hard to believe that I have already been working at Visa for a year. The one-year milestone is an interesting concept — sometimes I feel like I should have accomplished more, but other times I feel like I have gotten so good at my job as if I had been at Visa for much longer. Either way, it has been a great journey and I am thankful for all the learning experience.
Last year when I was about to switch jobs, I wrote about my desire to move from management consulting to program management, and the long journey I took to land a successful transition. So far I think my new job has met all my expectations: I work with cross-functional teams all the time, I take ownership of my programs, and I learn new things every day. Right when I started, I took on the technology integration for two of Visa’s largest acquisitions. I filled in for my manager when he went on parental leave just three months after I joined Visa, and I landed on an even larger strategic project with C-suite visibility at the end of last year. I can see my impact, and I feel fulfilled every time when I recognize my company or the leadership team makes important decisions based on my work. This sense of fulfillment motivates me to keep pushing my boundaries and deliver my best work.
My manager also makes my job at Visa very special. I have had over ten managers in my life since college, and I have good professional relationships with most of them. A few of them are able to inspire me to be the best version of myself at work, including my current manager, and that makes a huge difference in the workplace. My manager and I think and solve problems in a very similar way (perhaps because we share similar personal, academic, and professional experiences), and it makes working together very pleasant and efficient. He encourages me to be myself at work (instead of putting on a “work persona” like I used to do in some places), which allows me to be genuine and build better relationships with my colleagues. He gives me a lot of trust and flexibility, which is extremely important to me and allows me to thrive. (Over the past 13 years, I have learned that I just don’t do well when I am micromanaged.) Most importantly, when good opportunities come, he thinks of me and tries to put me forward. This is what really shows that my manager appreciates me and recognizes my capabilities. It makes me want to do everything I can to prove that I deserve his appreciation and motivates me to be the best version of myself at work every day.
While I enjoy my job for the most part, I do have my fair share of frustration. (Those who know me well know that I have very little patience for nonsense.) There were a few times when my colleagues came to check on me because they could sense my fury from my desk. From time to time, I come back home from work feeling completely exhausted. Thankfully, at this stage of my life, I have learned to not take anything at work personally, and I think I have been doing a good job not letting work protrude other aspects of my life. (In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I have been doing so well in my personal life and getting better at my hobbies, and I have been trying to bring these positivities to work.) I think one thing I can work on to reduce the level of frustration at work is learning how to be kind without being perceived as weak. I am a small, (relatively) soft-spoken Asian woman who smiles all the time and in general tries to be collaborative whenever possible. I have gotten feedback cautioning me that my welcoming personality might be misinterpreted as submissive or can be easily pushed around, so I have to make sure I demonstrate enough assertiveness. Those who know me well know that I take no BS, but this is a reputation that takes time to build, and doing so at work requires more skills and wisdom. (Fun fact: when I am in Taiwan, no one thinks I am soft-spoken or obedient. No one tries to push me around.)
When I first started at Visa last year, my main goals are to keep learning so that I can keep up with the ever-changing world, to make my life fulfilling, and to become a more capable person. So far I would say I am making good progress towards these goals, and I have a good team around me to help me grow, even though sometimes I do get extremely frustrated at work. I hope I can keep up the good momentum and continue working towards my goals in the coming years. If my mom can see me from Heaven, I hope she is proud of me for trying to be my best self every day, just like what she used to do all the time.
轉眼間，我在 Visa 工作已經一年了。我不知道一年算是長還是短——有時候我覺得我好像還沒有達成一週年應該達成的成就，有時候我卻覺得我對工作嫻熟得好像已經在 Visa 許多年了。無論如何，到目前為止，這段旅程充實且美好，我也由衷地感謝這一路上所有的學習經驗。
去年我準備換工作時，我寫下了我是如何渴望從管理顧問轉換到項目管理，以及我萬里長征的心路歷程。我的新工作滿足了我當時所有的期望：我總是在與跨部門的團隊合作、我能對自己的項目負起全責、我每天都在學習新知。剛入職時，我就接下了 Visa 近幾年來最大的兩樁併購案的技術整合；三個月後，我在老闆休育嬰假時暫代他的職務；去年底，我還接下了一個公司最高管理層指派的大策略項目。當我看見公司或是我的領導團隊根據我的工作成果做決策時，我都會覺得非常有成就感。這種成就感激勵著我不斷突破自己的極限、在職場上好好表現。
除此之外，我的老闆也讓我在 Visa 的工作經驗變得十分特別。從大學開始算起，我總共有過十幾位老闆。我和大部分的老闆們都維持著專業的或是更好的關係，其中有幾位更是能激勵我不斷進步、展現出最好的自己，包括我現在的老闆。這對我職場上的日常有著重大的影響。我和我老闆思考和解決問題的方法十分相似（這可能是因為我們有相似的學術、職業背景和個人經歷），所以我們合作時是總是事半功倍、效率極高。他鼓勵我在職場上做自己，而不是像我以前一樣擺出我的「工作人格」，這讓我在工作時能更真誠，並和同事們建立更良好的關係。過去十三年來，我發現當我被管太多時，我總是無法好好發揮，而我老闆給了我很多我非常重視的的信任和自由，讓我在職場上能成長茁壯。更重要的是，遇到好的項目時，我老闆常常會帶上我、給我表現的機會。這讓我覺得我老闆是真正地賞識我、認可我的能力，也激勵著我每天工作時都努力成為最好的自己、不負他的信任和期許。
雖然大部分的時候我很喜歡我的工作，我還是無可避免地會經歷挫敗、沮喪和憤怒。（認識我的人都知道，我對廢話和打混的人一點耐心都沒有。）有幾次我的同事感受到從我的辦公桌散發的騰騰怒氣，還特意跑來關心我。有時候，我下班回家時會因為一整天的糟心事而感到精疲力盡。幸好到了現在這個人生階段，我已經學會了不把工作上的任何不愉快當成是針對我個人的，我也儘可能地不讓工作影響到我其他方面的生活。（相反地，我的個人生活和興趣都發展得越來越好，所以我總是嘗試著將這些正能量帶到工作中。）為了減少工作上的挫敗感，我覺得我應該要學習如何不讓別人把我的友善誤當成軟弱。在美國，我是一個身材並不高大、說話（相對）輕聲細語的亞洲女性，工作時我總是面帶微笑，遇到衝突時也儘可能地尋找合作的機會。有人曾經提醒我，俗話說：「人善被人欺」，我表現出來的善意可能會被誤認為軟弱或容易讓人擺佈，所以我必須展現出更多的堅定和自信。跟我相熟的人都知道，我一點兒也不容易被人擺佈，對自己和他人的工作也有一定的要求，但是這是需要花時間建立起來的聲譽，而在職場上要達到這個目標需要更多的技巧和智慧。（有趣的是，在台灣，從來沒有人認為我軟弱或是溫順，也從來沒有人試圖欺到我頭上。）
我去年剛開始在 Visa 工作時，有幾個主要的目標：持續地學習讓自己不和快速變化的世界脫節、讓自己的生活更加充實、成為更優秀能幹的人。過去一年來，我認為自己取得了良好的進展。雖然有時候工作會令我感到無比煩躁，但是我身邊有一個很好的團隊能幫助我不斷學習成長。我希望能夠保持這種良好的動能，繼續為自己的目標努力奮鬥。如果媽媽的在天之靈能看得見我，我希望她會為我感到驕傲，因為我每天都在努力地成為最好的自己，就像她生前一樣。
