Aldwin Catral (Team Supervisor - OIC)

I apologize that this announcement is late. Most of you already know I am now a supervisor trainee. In case I haven't told you personally, forgive me. Being a supervisor-to-be is very taxing. I haven't been able to accomplish half of what my peers are currently doing. Though Mike Montero - my Team Manager - tells me it's ok and I am excused, I don't feel I should be. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

At around 2pm on January 11, I got a call from my Team Manager telling me that I didn't have to go to work that day. I would go to work the next day at 6am because I would be promoted to team supervisor/OIC.

I was excited for a while and when I told my friends and family, they became excited for me. When they congratulated me, I didn't really know what to say. I have problem accepting compliments. It's not that I don't appreciate them, it's that I don't know how to react to them.

When I went to work, I got slaps on the back and handshakes. The supervisors welcomed me. It sounded like I was part of a club or something. LOL Nelissa, my former supervisor a year ago, would be my mentor for the next couple of days. It turns out though that the reason was because she would be promoted to Team Manager. I was happy for her, naturally. But I realized that I would be taking over her team. Yikes!

So, she introduced me to the team. I met all 13 of them; only 7 would remain with me. The others would be transferred to different teams to make my workload easier. It's a good thing they did too because I don't think I would have been able to handle them all.

It was an auspicious time for me to be promoted just when major changes were in the works. I can't say much but it seems that we're at a crossroad where we have to make some tough decions.

One of them turns out to be serving warnings to my direct reports for making mistakes. Four in a row usually means termination. I don't know if I'll be used to it. I understand that it's nothing personal. I try to convince myself that it's a way of letting them know that they have to do better, not punishment.

I try to make light of it, keeping up morale by cracking jokes. But I wonder if it's more for me than it is for them. I'm not used to being in charge. I'm not used to being looked up to as an expert or guide. I realize though, that I have to get to used to a lot of things now that I'm a supervisor.