39.0 Lessons from Startup Career – My Managers

39.1 What is "Lessons from Startup Career - My Managers"?

Every person has his/ her personalized startup career story. The startup career story vary for everyone; some start at young age, some start after graduation, and some have re-starts multiple times. This is the startup career story from the founder of Mentality Evolutions, yours truly - lessons from my managers.

39.2 Lessons from My Managers

My startup career spanned for about more or so three years. In these three years, I gained resourceful leadership lessons from three managers.

My first manager was more than a respectful woman. She holds a family with two kids, a carer to her parents, a manager to her nine direct subordinates, and managed the accounts department of a franchisee which operates nine restaurants. As a manager, her remarkable leadership impacted yours truly through teamwork, lead by example and empathy. Being a manager to lead nine direct subordinates was no easy task, but she was able to influence in making teamwork a reality. Everyone communicated and delivered throughout easy times and hard times. She connected the tasks between one subordinate to another that allowed teamwork to happen. Her second lesson was leading by example. This was evidenced through two scenarios:

1. She, at times, boosted her subordinates' morale by working together on her subordinate's task.
2. She points out a rule "I will not give my subordinates a task that I am not able to do."

Empathy as another lesson was done through listening. She listened not to reply; she listened to understand.

The second manager is a strongly accountable person. The two lessons surfaced through her characters were accuracy and timeliness. These were evidenced when there was a task nearing its deadline, and she was all-out on achieving that task before the deadline.

Finally and the most recent, the third manager who contributed more than just professional lessons but personal lessons as well. He holds a family with two kids, a carer to his mother, a CEO that communicates with all staffs, and manages and re-thinks the direction of the organization. As a CEO, he was different than the norm CEOs existing today. He is a CEO to a non-profit organization, who emphasizes on purpose to all engagements he carries out with his business partners. The lesson he engraved into yours truly was empathy; an in-depth empathy. Empathy that was driven by acceptance and understanding, thus leading to peace. Peace through empathy can be achieved internally and externally. The lesson given by him was one, and it was this lesson that made peace within and without achievable.

I hope this experience sharing benefits you as much as it has benefited myself, wa la hawla wa la kuwatta ila billah. Insha'Allah, the next topic will be posted in the near future.