任太太的記事簿、日曆和一杯冰水 Mrs. Jen's notebook, calendar, and a glass of ice water

施錦秀 Dora Sie
1971年夏天大學畢業後不久即加入林麥，持續工作了23年後退休，林麥可說是我職涯的唯一。當時在香港新成立的「營運總部」設於星光行的609室，我是第一批被錄用者之一，從此在任太太這間辦公室裡工作了7年，結婚後轉到台北公司的「秘書組」直到退休。在任太太身邊工作這麼多年，有幾件令我印象深刻、還時時提醒自己要向她學習的事想和大家分享。
相信每一位林麥人對任太太掌上那本寫得密密麻麻的記事簿一定印象深刻，換成在今天，那就等同一部I-Pad了。記得在609時，每年歲末都要為她先備置兩樣東西：一是在專賣進口貨的「文儀文具店」才買得到、她慣用的記事簿，另一樣則是桌上型一日翻頁的日曆。記事簿一年一本，掌上大小，與帳務有關的資料以客戶為單位依字母排列記錄其中，一目了然，口袋裡一本屬當年度的加上一本去年的就足以讓她對整個公司的營運掌握了最基本也最重要的狀況。任先生要見客戶或處理Claim 一定先請教它；要請Buyer吃飯前先翻一下、佣金付款情形就可先打個底了；公司每位業務員的業績表現、調薪多少相信也少不了它的論斷呢。公司雖然有一套完備的會計帳務在運作，但是任太太卻是用她獨特的方式在管理，和任先生一起將林麥的事業版圖不斷拓展茁壯起來，另外由此也可見她做事嚴謹縝密又能綜觀全局的一面！
再談談那本日翻一頁的桌曆吧。原來它除了是日曆外對任太太來說還具有「記憶訓練」的功能哦！每天下班前她都習慣將明天待辦的事簡要的條列在第二天的日曆上並記下共有幾項，每晚睡前在腦海中複記一次，必要全部都記得了才能安睡，第二天進辦公室翻開當天的日曆前，她總會先說出個數字，然後一一把待辦的那幾件事對上了，一口氣念完之後，就像為自己贏了一個大大的獎賞一般，然後才展開一天的工作。我也曾想學習她這樣來訓練記憶力，但終究沒有她的毅力，至今還是逃避的心態直接用「Open book」的方式妥協了事，不過多年後得知她竟罹患老年失智症，對照她一直以來的精明能幹，真令人不禁噓唏啊。
有關一杯冰水的故事則是讓我見到了任太太高EQ的智慧。有一次任先生情緒非常激動，在辦公室裡快要發飆，當時是一件甚麼事令情勢如此緊張我已不記得了，但讓我印象非常深刻的是任太太一聲不發，馬上遞了一杯冰水給任先生，一切盡在不言中，即時就把緊繃的氣氛及任先生的情緒先安撫下來了，否則在那個當下任何所說所為都隱含著風險，冰水有沒有喝已不重要，但事情卻是有了比較理智的處理了。直到現在，當自己面臨類似的情境時，我就會想到任太太的這一杯冰水！
如今她已離我們而去，但是與她相處時的點點滴滴卻難以忘懷，僅以上面三則故事與大家一同緬懷與她共事的那些時光。
Shortly after my graduation from university in the summer of 1971, I joined Linmark and worked for 23 years until my retirement. So, Linmark was the only company that I worked for in my life. I was one of the first group hired at the new "Operation Headquarter" which was established in Hong Kong at the Star House room 609. I worked in Mrs. Jen's office for seven years, then after my marriage, I was transferred to the "Secretary Section"in Taipei until my retirement. After having worked closely with Mrs. Jen for so many years, there were a few things that impressed me most and reminded me to learn something from her. I would like to share them with every body.
Mrs. Jen's notebook was impressive to everyone who is close to her, because it was so detailed and thorough. It was just like her I-Pad. At the end of every year, we had to prepare two things for Mrs. Jen: a new notebook and a new calendar. Her notebook could only be found at "Man Yee Stationery Store". The palm size notebook had all commission billing information of all customers arranged in alphabetical order. She always carried two notebooks, one of the current year and the other of the previous year. This way she could easily have a general understanding of the whole Linmark's operations. Whenever Mr. Jen wanted to meet a customer, or settle a claim, he always consulted Mrs. Jen with the notebooks first. Referring to the sales figures inside it might also serve as an advisor to measure the performance of her staff. Although the company had a comprehensive accounting system, Mrs. Jen had her unique way of managing the company and its numbers. With Mrs. Jen's ability to understand both details and general picture of the company operation, Linmark was able to expand its territory to many countries over the Asia.
Talking about Mrs. Jen's calendar, it has two major functions. One is used as a calendar, and the other is used for her memory training. Mrs. Jen's daily routines included writing down what she had to do the next day with sequence of numbers. Every night before going to bed, she would recite them. After remembering everything, she went to sleep soundly. The next morning she would say a number of what had to be done, and check them out one by one. She would feel like winning a big prize if if she could remember everything to be done. I also wanted to train myself like her, but I failed because I wasn't so perseverant as she was. I was very sad to learn after many years that she had suffered from Alzheimer's disease in her eighties since she was always so smart and in control when we worked with her.
This next story is about a glass of ice water which displayed Mrs. Jen's good EQ and wisdom. Mr. Jen once was very angry and emotional in the office. I did not remember what made him so mad, but I remembered Mrs. Jen handed him a glass of ice water. I did not know if Mr. Jen drank it or not, but he immediately calmed down without acting out of anger. Now whenever I am in a similar situation, I think of Mrs. Jen's glass of ice water.
I had many memories of Mrs. Jen. Now that she already left us, I would like to share with all Linmarkers these three most memorable stories which I treasured in my heart.