I highly dislike standing in the spotlight. I don't care for praise or acknowledgment of my achievements. But sometimes situations get out of hand and one is forced to step in and simply own it. This happened to me in several instances throughout my career. When I founded Lagopa, a high-end manufacturer of industrial rattan furniture, I was in my late twenties, employed, and looking forward to working on my own. I didn't mind clocking in long days and working more, as long as it would be for a project created by me. Planning, taking decisions on the go, and solving problems had always come easy to me. I was good with words, but a little apprehensive about spending time meeting people. Nevertheless, I finally ventured into a business I knew nothing about and in a country, I had not even visited yet. In the beginning, I was working remotely from my office in Beirut while still being employed. A few months later, I quit the job to focus on my own trade. I flew to Cebu twice to check on operations. I also went to Germany several times to inspect the warehouse and sales office there, while I managed the creative and print department and a small part related to commerce in Beirut. Within a few months, it became urgent to dispatch someone to Cebu and restructure the production to make it from A to Z in-house, instead of outsourcing the manufacturing to a third party. And so I traveled to the Philippines to stay there. I rented a factory that was located conveniently and scouted for employees to get started.
Fast forward a few months, the manufacturing plant is receiving German raw materials and also its brand new equipment and machinery from Europe, mostly Germany. It was a long tiring day with all the paperwork and the meeting and calls I had to endure to get our shipment released. They would be delivered the next day. I was excited to inform the workers that they will have the ability to mass produce in less time. I failed to notice that their "yes, Ma'am Marie" was sort of mechanical. In my mind, once they tried the machines for themselves, there would be no need to tell them about the efficiency we would reach. The following morning, the containers were offloaded under my supervision. Several hours later, when I noticed we had to step it up a little to avoid keeping the containers overnight on the factory's premises, I took the initiative and started carrying some of the small boxes to show my teams that we were all a working family. The look on the faces of the workers was priceless and it was hard for me to remain serious. With the help of my brother, the awkward moment was quickly overcome. I gave instructions on how and where to place what machinery before I drove to the city for a late meetup. The next few days were very busy for me away from the factory. The business needed clients that would place orders regularly to be sustainable. So far, a lot of money had been spent and our sales were still not covering the investment. Since no one had said anything to me, I assumed, wrongly, that by now the machines were being used. To my dismay, when checking the plant in the afternoon, I noticed that even though all had been placed and connected according to my directives, the machines had not been turned on yet. I asked my brother to join me in the hall and we just turned on the cutter with its installed bed. I had barely looked at any of the workers, just greeted everyone with a hello as I entered that space. A few moments later, they curiously stepped closer, one after the other, and soon they wanted to try the machine too! We repeated our scheme and within the hour, the whole plant was activated 😊
Several years onward, it was time to let go of my workers as I was closing shop. I had been struggling for many months to keep Lagopa running as I loved what I did and was very much aware of the precarious situation of many of my employees should they remain with no work prospects. We had shared good and not-so-good moments and when they all stood by me against the partners who were threatening me on various levels. When it was in fact their interest to walk away from me, I was one against many, my employees remained unconditionally loyal. They even offered to shelter me in their modest homes, made sure I knew that they enjoyed their professional experience with me, and expressed outright that my kindness, my fairness, and the way I managed the workflow, cared for each one of them while being as demanding as the business necessitated, didn't go to waste. They highly appreciated my leadership and wished I would find a way to stay for them to work with me. Those were their words and they went straight to my heart. Despite enduring huge losses, I learned a lot from them through the years, and apparently, they also acquired additional ways of doing things by my side. As I remember their final words to me in our meeting room, I still feel a knot in my stomach, more than a decade later. Somehow, I managed to do something right, even if I couldn't keep the company alive. A few of them kept in touch with me through Facebook. They give me updates on the rest of the crew and never miss asking me whether I would come back to Cebu and invest so that they can join my ranks...
Quotes about leadership that speak to me:
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers - Ralph Nader
The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves - Ray Kroc
Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example - Cory Booker
A leader sees greatness in other people. You can't be much of a leader if all you see is yourself - Maya Angelou
Leadership is not communicating what we need. Leadership is communicating what we can contribute - Simon Sinek
The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude; be kind but not weak; be bold but not bully; be thoughtful but not lazy; be humble but not timid; be proud but not arrogant; have humor but without folly - Jim Rohn
Leadership is the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by passion, generated by vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose - Myles Monroe
From my multiple professional experiences, in different countries, I found out that diverse cultures still have prevalent aims. I never envisioned myself as a boss. Or even a leader. My goal was pragmatic and practical: work with every person to make things function as smoothly as possible. The plan was to make a difference in the lives of people who did not have the privileges I had had in my life and to learn from them because life is about giving before taking. I'm glad my impact lingers years after I have last seen any of my employees. They do make me remember that specific experience and look forward to visiting the Philippines again soon...
