Why I Decided Not to Work for a Boss Again ( A Tribute)

My early 30s made the toughest years of my life as a working solo parent.

At that time, I was in Manila, balancing the demands of a high-profile career and parenting a young teenager who had undiagnosed ADHD while making a tough relationship work. Coupled with long hours in traffic and little sleep, I went through mental health issues that eventually led to severe burnout.

My parents were already in the U.S. when these things were happening. Meanwhile, my sisters and close friends were also navigating their own lives—grad school, parenting little kids, and their own careers. I felt I didn’t have much support system to help me navigate this unchartered territory of my adult life.

Thankfully, support came at work. Much of this became possible because of my boss, Chito Sobrepeña. Sir Chito—called ‘sir’ in a culture which practiced honorifics as a sign of respect—led an esteemed career in the public sector before moving to corporate social responsibility and family philanthropy. He was a true technocrat who rose from the ranks in the National Economic Development Authority, leaving the government as the Deputy Director General after serving as the Cabinet Secretary in the late Philippine President Cory Aquino’s administration. In the private sector, he led from a position of trust building the late Forbes Asia’s Hero of Philanthropy George S.K. Ty multi-billion social responsibility initiatives.

But this post isn’t about the many achievements that made it hard to replace his shoes as my boss when I decided to segue out of corporate life.

It was about Sir Chito’s brand of leadership.

Compassionate and Empowering Servant Leadership

Sir Chito was the type of boss who didn’t condone office politics—although our work involved a lot of working in politics. He made staff members talk with each other when issues arose instead of talking things through him. He applied the same principles even in our dealings with external stakeholders.

At another community project with Sir Chito and the late environmental activist and chairwoman of ABS-CBN Foundation Gina Lopez

As a boss, he led with his Christian faith—balancing high standards with human compassion. I distinctly remember the time when I managed a community event that didn’t generate the attendance we aimed for. He didn’t show any signs of disappointment and blame. Instead, I saw true servant leadership at work. He rolled up his sleeves and demonstrated a lesson on leadership communication that I remember up to this day: sit at the eye level of your partners. We took the microphone off the stage and made a circle out of our chairs. Our community partners, including myself, were defensive, but he switched the tone of the conversation to collaboration simply by just listening.

Growing my career in the Metrobank Group as the head of the GT Foundation secretariat during its formative years came from a place of support, autonomy, and trust. I felt a lot of backing from Sir Chito and his deputy, Sir Nick Torres, that I felt the liberty to be creative and resourceful with setting the foundations and solving some of the birth to toddler challenges of the George Ty family foundation.

The GT Capital/Metrobank Group contingent at the ASEAN Prosperity Summit in Manila

In executive coaching, I often offer the idea of mentoring and sponsorship to clients who are trying to break into more senior roles. Sir Chito provided both and more. I grew and built a lean team of high-performing leaders, impacting thousands of lives across the Philippines and winning industry awards for our programs because of Sir Chito’s mentorship.

As a sponsor, Sir Chito literally provided a seat at the table for me. For those who are unaware of norms in traditional Chinese Filipino corporate workplaces, one has to earn their way in with maturity and seniority. Sir Chito let me facilitate and present board and executive committee meetings—both in and behind-the-scenes, as well as sat me in on private lunches and conversations that allowed me not only to have a full picture of how the Philippines’ top business, political, and civic leaders think and even banter, but to also be part of it.

Winning a Philippine Quill for speech writing was a first—and working closely with Sir Chito gave deeper insight on his strengths as a communicator

Sir Chito made us felt seen for our strengths, giving us stretch assignments and opportunities to showcase these even in our fun events. For all our hard work, he provided space for staff to recharge and celebrate that deepened our relationships. Over here in the U.S., workers repeatedly say your colleagues aren’t your family; Sir Chito’s culture-building challenged that.

Most of all, the most heartfelt experience I had of Sir Chito’s compassionate leadership came at the time when I had to negotiate for a working arrangement that would allow me to attend to my parenting and mental health issues. He told me that in all his years of leadership, that was the first time that he encountered an issue like mine. (A lot of context is removed for brevity.) Yet, he offered me the support I needed—flexibility, a means to relocate, and more—to still deliver my best work.

At my farewell party in 2017

He not only allowed me to bring my daughter to work and let her sleep on my shared office’s couch, he made her feel welcome and supported as the father figure that we needed at that time in our lives.

At this point in writing (12:18pm in Central Standard Time), I’m taking a pause to hold and honor this memory of Sir Chito.

Having Sir Chito as boss for six of my 12-year CSR career defined the kind of leadership that brought out the best in me. He led from the depths of his Christian faith and magnified God’s greatness through his unwavering drive for excellence and empowering servant leadership. His achievements notwithstanding, he held a role in my professional life that was never rightfully filled even as of writing.

GT Foundation team started as a team of one and grew to a lean and high-impact team by the time I left in 2017

* * *

When I left the foundation, Sir Chito requested a simple project. He asked me to write a primer on managing him, which was inspired by one of my favorite Harvard Business Review classics, Managing Your Boss by Kotter and Gabarro. I completed the project with earnest dedication and just recently, recorded two tribute videos for his 2025 retirement, as requested by his secretary, Janice.

Below is a copy of my main tribute—

Thank you, Sir Chito. You are missed.