“We’re screwed. Start looking for another job” ... Employees secretly peek at the department head’s “Death Note” and are unexpectedly touched [Warm Stories]

[Financial News] A story about an employee who happened to open the notebook of a department head, whose notebook staff called the “Death Note” because of the constant notes taken at every meeting, and was moved by the unexpected entries has drawn attention.

According to the workplace community Remember, a post titled “The truth about the department head’s notebook, dubbed the Death Note at work” was posted on the 9th and is drawing a strong response.
According to the post’s author, identified as A, the department head on their team always insisted on using a small notebook instead of a laptop or tablet during meetings.
The department head carefully wrote things down when A spoke in meetings, when the youngest employee spoke, and even when a manager made a casual suggestion like, “How about a Chinese restaurant for lunch?”
The employees, who had no idea what was being written, called the notebook the “Death Note” and would joke with one another: “Hey, you were in the department head’s notebook earlier,” and “We’re screwed. Start looking for another job.”

Then one day, during a meeting, the department head stepped out to take a call, leaving the notebook behind. No one had intended to look, but A couldn’t take their eyes off their own name at the top of the open page.
But beneath A’s name was a thoughtful note: “When nervous during a presentation, speaks quickly. Don’t interrupt.”
Below that were other team members’ names alongside notes such as, “Assistant Manager ○○ has been losing confidence lately. Praise them in front of others”; “The newest employee keeps giving up when trying to ask a question. Ask them first”; and “Manager: can’t eat spicy food.”
These weren’t notes about people’s shortcomings or performance. They were evidence of the department head’s efforts to notice each team member’s difficulties and personality and find ways to help.
A little later, the department head returned and saw A looking at the notebook. Flustered, A apologized: “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking on purpose, but I saw my name.”
The department head glanced at the notebook and asked, “You saw it?” Then, pointing to the note about A’s presentation habits, smiled and said, “Then do me a favor and erase just one thing. You’ve gotten a lot better lately.”
The department head’s notes didn’t end there. That afternoon, when the manager protested about the words “can’t eat spicy food” next to their name, saying, “I can eat spicy food just fine,” the department head rummaged through the notebook for a while and replied, “You ate tteokbokki at last year’s company dinner and drank two cartons of milk,” sending the office into fits of laughter.
When the manager asked, “You still remember that?” the department head replied nonchalantly, “I write things down because I can’t remember.”

A shared their thoughts, saying, “Everyone laughed, but for some reason, those words stayed with me for a long time,” and, “I thought that at work, people who remember their tasks well are the competent ones. But maybe people who make an effort not to forget the people they work with are good employees, too.”
A added, “Today, too, the department head opened the notebook as soon as the meeting began. Now, when someone jokes, ‘Starting the Death Note again?’ the department head says, ‘Don’t worry, nobody’s dead yet.’” A added, “Strangely, I think I wouldn’t mind having my name in this notebook.”
After reading the story, online users responded with comments such as, “This is what true leadership looks like,” “The higher you rise, the more you should put people before work,” and “What a warm boss—you can tell how much they care about the team.”

[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter