So I have been a month in my new job, this morning we had our management meeting and as usual it lasted the whole day. Thirteen hours later and I have finally got to the comfort of my settee watching re-runs of Big Bang Theory and while I am incredibly hungry I haven’t got the will to go and fix myself something to eat.

Before I start I should update you following yesterdays blog. My boss came into my office and told me I didn’t need to present afterall. I am so grateful because I had left my drawer key in my draw and the key to the drawer in my house (only me). The boss thought that having missed his flight yesterday, Olu would have come to work today and by the time he realized he got a flight to Nigeria this morning, he had made up his mind that they would go over his sales figures would be reviewed on his return. Thank God.

This leads me to talk about my boss. What can I say. The man is totally schizophrenic. What he will think one day is not necessarily what he will think the next. Sometimes he can be the nicest guy in the world, other times he can be a complete a-hole. To be honest, I think he wakes up one day and depending on which side of the bed he woke up on is how he will react to the people around him.

I was employed on the basis that I would be a demand and supply manager. I would forecast the demand based on the sales figures, we agree a final number then I would work with production and procurement to get the finished goods out to the customer. So I thought.

In my first week he asked me to streamline the sales and marketing review process. The following day he told me to go out into the field to understand how the market works. So I arrange with the sales manager for Accra to go out. The sales manager being an expat (Indian man) with little respect for his fellow black man (although where I come from are all immigrants but here in Ghana is treated like a semi-God) tells me to meet up with his sales officer. Now where I have worked the sales guys have always been equipped with a car and there has always been transport available. Apparently this company’s policy is to give you a car loan but if you have to leave the premises for any reason (even for work related activities), then its a matter of find your way.

So anyway, my friend the British guy said he would lend me his car and driver to go out and about in Accra, my friend is one of the executive management so didn’t see the problem. Well my boss did. Even though I got in the office that day at 7am he berated me for “hanging around” and said he was going to tell British guy to revoke his offer. It turned into a big argument but when I realised that the boss just liked hearing the sound of his own voice I shut up, went to the security gate and waited for the car, and left when the driver arrived. It seems what he didn’t want to know wouldn’t hurt him. I left that day and didn’t come back for two weeks. I travelled to the Accra market, and the rest of the regions, however although I came back home sooner than expected, I stayed at home a few days before Christmas. He didn’t want to see my face until after the xmas holiday, so he got his wish.

I returned on New Years Eve, we had a meeting and I pointed out that I didn’t appreciate how he spoke to me. That’s when he explained that if he let me take the car, he would have to do for all managers and a lot of blah, blah, blah. But he would allow me to take a taxi and be reimbursed (like which taxi driver gives out receipts in this country). I didn’t bother to pursue the matter, in future I will not tell him when the situation arises again. But then he tells me to find out ways I should bring value to the job, he wouldn’t tell me, I should think of it myself and get back to him.

This morning, he was as sweet as apple pie. I bought up the areas where I think I add value to the management meeting and he narrowed it down to three. Basically, all the ideas I had come up with earlier on had suddenly become relevant, plus I can add Customer Service Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Sales admin manager and general go-to Manager to my portfolio. Well I cannot say much, it will all add value to my CV and when the time comes for me to move to the oil business (my penultimate goal) or start running my own consultancy firm (my ultimate goal) its not going to hurt.

So that’s my boss. I’ll fill you in on the rest of my colleagues but I’ll save it for another day. I’m absolutely shattered and it’s time for bed now.

Until the next time…