I don't think I've ever had a horrible boss. Mind you, I haven't had that many bosses, since I've been my own boss (and other people's) since I was in my late 20s.
But I have had a couple of great bosses. The best was my first 'real' boss, in my first 'real' job out of university - book editor at a legal publishing firm. Not very glamorous, I know, but how I loved it. My boss was a woman in her 50s who was clever, stylish, demanding and scrupulously fair. She had 4 adult sons and a much younger second husband (a lovely man) - and a cracking sense of humour. After I'd been there just a year, she got me a 35% pay rise (!) - I rewarded her by going freelance so that I could also take up a half-time teaching job at university, and she encouraged me to do so. And when I set up my own business, she sent me so much work that at one point I had 5 staff. I rather think that she regarded me as the daughter she never had. Because we are both somewhat buttoned up English types when it comes down to it - she's Anglo-Irish, I'm Singapore Colonial - I have never told her in person what an amazing mentor and aspiration she was to me, but I did finally write her a letter telling her that a few months ago.
And today we had lunch for the first time in years. It was wonderful to see her - E is still vibrant, busy, energetic and smart (and she was wearing leopard print jeans - she's in her 70s!! - with a stylish black shirt and a charcoal cashmere scarf).
I hope two things: 1. that I can be something like her when I grow up (whenever that may be) and 2. that my daughter finds inspirational women like E in her life.
2 comments:
Wonderful that you got to meet up again with your one-time mentor. I'm pretty sure that you're going to find, someday, that you've been an inspiration to some young woman. I must admit it's one of the biggest pleasures of my job to hear, occasionally, that I help young female students see possibilities they might not have otherwise. I wish I'd had a few more mentors myself, earlier . . .
Mater, I'm sure that there are lots of young women who you've been an inspiration to! And, yes, I think that too few women get the benefit of female mentors/role models. I'm not sure why - I know a lot has been written about the corporate environment (the only one that some people consider relevant) being so cut-throat that once women achieve positions of power they're more interested in defending them than supporting other women, but I think it's a lot more complex than that ...
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