Birthday Entry XX: Kuh Valentin

Date Submitted: June 16, 2009

How I met James...

I won't forget the time I met Alexander James Von Marco Leyson. It was around August 2007. I was just hired by Genpact as a TL for Wachovia and I was thrilled to be part of the company. Part of it was a trip to the US for training and I was going to go to a luncheon with the Country Manager and some of the leaders who were hired. My soon-to-be colleagues, so to speak.

As I was waiting for Sarah Deaton to pick me up in the lobby of Vivere Suites that fateful afternoon, I couldn't help noticing that inches away from me, there was this guy who was sitting in the lobby also and looking as anxious as me. I was thinking to myself that most likely, he's also waiting for something, but I couldn't tell if he was also hired as a leader for our company.

Seconds turned into minutes and I was still waiting. Worried that I might be in the wrong place, my fears finally went away when I saw Sarah come up to me. She eventually called James, introduced him as Marco (of course) and said he was the other leader that was hired for "W". All this time I was thinking, "shoot", we could've talked while we waited those 20 freaking minutes to be picked up!

That lunch was a bit of a blur for me after that, but I was pretty pleased with the people I was with. Looking around the room of leaders, judging by the looks of them, I figured that the person who would be the most friendly (or at least someone I could get along with) was James.

A few days after that, we had a chance to meet the other leaders and went into training and preparations for the US trip. I haven't exactly bonded with everyone then but I always stuck around James, who eventually said he liked to be called James instead of Marco.

Another time that was most memorable to me was when we went home after training and we decided to get coffee at Seattle's Best in Festival Mall. It was really just my way of spending more time with him since he was a good conversationalist. Hours into our conversation, he eventually admitted to me that he was gay. And this after knowing me for only a week or so.

I remember James being absolutely surprised that I wasn't surprised he said so. Not that I thought he really was at the start. To me, it really didn't matter. And I felt honored and privileged to be amongst the very few in our company before to know it until he outed in 2008.

With this, almost 2 years after meeting him, I consider James a good friend. He is a great leader and is a good fit at our company. I don't doubt his ability to teach teammates and other leaders alike the "W" culture. It's the reason why his team is one of the best.

As a person, he is high spirited and very accommodating. He'll listen to what you have to say and will always have something funny to say to lighten the mood. He enjoys everyone's company and would not judge unless needed.

Overall, I have to say that James is blessed to have a lot of friends and family who love him, whether it's his birthday or not!

Happy Birthday, James! May you have many more to come. =)