Invisible Connections

Not everything about the new hire orientation was negative. I made some great new acquaintances, and exchanged numbers with a couple of dynamic colleagues I could do lunch with. Most importantly, I learned about the extent the company truly cares for employees. While the organization we work for requires personal and corporate best from its employees, they do their part in making sure that our needs are taken care of, to the slightest detail.

It was under such heartwarming conditions that a fellow colleague chatted with me during break time. In exchanging information about ourselves, we realised that our previous companies used to work with each other. I was stunned to find out that he was the CEO. Upon a couple of innocent probing questions, he surprisingly shared with me the the trauma he went through under duress from the company owner, and the horrible executive decisions he was forced to make which haunts him to this day. According to him, he was a horrible, unhappy, angry man. I candidly told him that I found that hard to believe as I observed this happy, talkative and jovial person standing in front of me.

As I returned to my seat after break, something started nagging me. The name of his ex-company sounded so familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger down to it. After all, it was a well known company. Then, out of the blue, it hit me. My jaw almost dropped to the floor. A couple of months ago my small group leader had asked me if I had met his ex-boss who had joined our company. Apparently this guy was a gregarious, dynamic leader who had shocked everybody when he quit as he had significant stock options in the company. He gave me some details but I didn't know the guy. I learned that he was from our church too. It had suddenly dawned on me that THIS was the person my leader had been talking about. A quick SMS to my leader confirmed my revelation.

More surprises and coincidences...