Wolsey oh Wolsey !

Thomas Wolsey ( 1473 – 1530 ) was an English political figure and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. When Henry VIII became king of England in 1509, Wolsey became the King's almoner. It was to Wolsey’s advantage that Henry VII had introduced measures to curb the power of the nobility and was prepared to favor those from more humble backgrounds. With his strong drive for power and the ability to build a strong rapport with the King, in 1509 Henry VIII appointed him a position in the Privy Council.

Here is where it got very interesting. During his fourteen years of chancellorship, Cardinal Wolsey had more power than any other Crown servant in English history. As long as he was in the King’s favor, he had a large amount of freedom and had his hand in nearly every aspect of its ruling. It is no wonder he manage to raised nearly £200,000 in 1522. That’s a lot of money during that time !!!

And of course, with the money comes the great houses of Cardinal Wolsey which includes Hampton Court, Westminster and Oxford. Would you believe he even planned a magnificent tomb at Windsor. But, he was buried later at a Park ( without a monument ).

Him being in power solely relied on his good relationship with Henry VIII, of course when that fails, he failed miserably too.

So, let’s move back to today .....

Someone who is good in building rapport or shall I say strong PR skills, driven by a strong desire to be in power and remained in his / her position solely due to the good relation with the boss could perhaps have some similarity to Cardinal Wolsey, right ?
Yes, there is someone just like that. Is this person clever, smart or intelligent? Well, I beg to differ. The better words to describe would be cunning, opportunist and sneaky!

On a bright morning, in the meeting room, ‘Cardinal Wolsey’ aka the-one-who-should-not-be-named aka Exhibit A , puts the entire blame of non completion of the team’s strategy and goals on his @ her ex boss !

“ Oh dear... I have no clue this was done; this thing just fell onto my laps; I can’t do much about it; my ex boss wanted it to be that way, “ said Exhibit A. This person then goes around spreading rumor to the entire planet! Grrrrr ....

Exhibit A: Boss, here are the names to replace my ex boss. I think these guys are fantastic. Good strategist.

Boss: Good strategist huh ? I don’t think they are good enough.
Exhibit A: Oh.... on 2^nd thought, maybe you are right. I didn’t feel that strongly about them too...
Boss: Hmmm... but maybe they could be better at something else
Exhibit A: Oh yes, yes.... I totally agree. They could be better at operations maybe.
Boss: Actually... now that I look at the names, I don’t think they are up to expectation
Exhibit A: Yeah, exactly ! That’s what I told my staff. But they won’t listen, they keep suggesting these names!

See how he flips flops ALL the DAMN TIME! Trying to  maintain that rapport. He just goes along with the Boss. And how long did I last with Exhibit A? Hmmm .... well, let’s just say I escape before I go bonkers !

Who's the boss Part 1

" When I was a boy, I use to love swimming in the evenings. One day the tide was high, and the wave pull me to the middle of the ocean. I was afraid I would die, and so I prayed for safety. And God helped pull me back to shore .....

Henry VIII is like a boy swimming in the ocean. He is pulled strongly by the waves, yet he does not asked for help, he does not scream, he wants to swim on his own. Let him be... when the time comes, he will realize, he is no longer swimming... but drowning ! "

Let us get to know a bit about King Henry VIII before I start on my little story.

Ok so from the various books, stories, screenplay, history that I have read about King Henry VIII, it tells a story about a man who was lucky enough that his Dad won a war and so got him the opportunity to inheret the throne of the English Monarchy. Because he was a handsome man when he was made King ( and top it all, inhereted LOTS of $$ ), he obviously knows he can get any women he wants. He first got married to his brothers widow ( since his brother pass away ), and had many mistresses on the side. He then fought to marry a cunning women, Lady Anne Boleyn , to the point of even breaking the relationship with Rome as the Pope at that time didn't allow him to divorce the first wife !

But guess what, when he later realized he wasn't all too keen with Anne Boleyn anymore, he got her beheaded and married another women !! Many more lost their heads during his reign. In the  1430s these heads was later hung on various parts of London to warn others not to go against him.

Don't let me get started on what he did to the Churches, monasteries and educational centres - basically he blew them up and if he could he would have made them dissappear from planet earth. Why did he do it ?? Because they simply won't fulfill what he wanted ! Notorious ? Indeed ....

Back to 2011 !

Apparently, there is someone who kinda wanna be another King Henry VIII. No no...there wasn't any beheading .... but there was, what shall I call it ? Metaphoric Killing.

The 'just-follow-what-boss-wants' or the 'dont-argue-even-if-you-think-it's-right' attitude will get you by with this person. Not meant as a criticism but just an observation.

Oh yess, there is the screams, the yell at you moment, the files flying out the room, the shut-up-and-listen-to-me moments. There were many of it.... And if you speak, argue, fight for what you believe, disagree.. you would be killed. Pick up your stuff, pack it in a box and start job-streeting !

So there you go, the King Henry VIII of the 21st century....

More ? Yes..there is more. Cardinal Wolsey coming up.

Machiavelli Said .....

Niccolo Machiavelli ( 1469 - 1527 ) a famous Italian Historian once ask a question : " Which is better for a King ? To be loved or to be feared ? "

Somehow I feel bossess these days should ask the same question to themselves. It is still a valid question to search an answer to. I happen to know 2 types of bossess, one who happen to 'wanna be loved by ALL' and another who 'wanna be feared by ALL'. As I am attentively reading the history of one most notorious monarchy of England, The Tudors, I can't help but relate one of those bossess to Kind Henry VIII and the other happens to have a similarity to Cardinal Wolsey who was King Henry's chancellor.

I have then made a decision to move on with my life and stay far far away from these 2 bossess. It was indeed a nightmare. Especially when you come close to someone who reminds you of Cardinal Wolsey ! ( Someone who wants power, manipulative, sneaky and cunning <-- to name some of his/her traits ) or shall I say 'skills' instead.

I don't think I have actually stumble upon a boss quite like this one ( in my 11 years of working experience ). And though people say ' do not burn the bridge ' when you move on, I set the bridge on fire and hope it burns to ashes !

I'll tell you why in my next posts.....

What to do when you have nothing to do

So, when you've got nothing to do.. Here is what I do, attempt to finally start blogging and this is my first post. It is indeed history in the making. I can't believe I decided to join the blogger-band-wagon, but here goes... Let's see if I can keep up.

Tomorrow is Hari Raya, however yes yes, I am still working as this is the very first year I'll be celebrating it in Kluang and we will be leaving tomorrow morning. The picture above is taken at around 6.30am ( London time ), which was taken sometime in May '11, during a trip I made there for work. Boy..i sure miss it. It's a nice place to see.