Entrepreneurs

In a meeting with an old customer yesterday, I found out that he will be leaving his post as head of operations in Singapore soon. In a way, it was like a retrenchment exercise. The news was rather shocking because he's a really good boss whose loyalty to the India based company has always been very apparent. Yet, what surprised me most was the way he embraced the news with such positivity.

Instead of feeling bitter and resentful, he saw it as an opportunity to strike out on his own. In his own words, he said he would never consider leaving the company because he loved his job and the people working under him too much. It wasn't right for him to abandon ship but now that he has been made redundant, it presents an opportunity for him to realise his dream of setting up a cafe in an upscale estate in Mumbai.

Yet, being the good man that he is, he couldn't bear to leave his ex-employees stranded and jobless, so he is shelving his own F&B dream to build another company so that the retrenched staff could continue to work together again like family. Even in a situation like this, he's still holding the fort like a true leader.

Incidentally, this man is a permanent resident who had, in the recent years, moved his family from India to live in Singapore. I'm impressed that he's willing to put his own dreams on hold so that he could fulfill the dreams of others. Such magnanimity is hard to find these days, especially amongst Singaporeans.

He hopes that I would continue to support him in the business like before. Most definitely! I recognise that business is made up of people. It's the people running it that makes the business successful. I gave him lots of encouragement at the meeting yesterday. It takes a lot of courage for one to start a new company in an economic climate like this but I have full confidence in this man. People like him with the never-say-die attitude will be blessed.