I am convinced that I have aroused your curiosity about how did I become my boss’s leader, and I will try to answer the question and make you not regret the time you spent it reading this story.
But before that, let’s do an imagination exercise.
I would like you to imagine something. Imagine that you walk on a country road. And somewhere on the road, you find a beautifully painted porcelain jar. The jar breaks, but it is so dear to you that you want to keep it with you. So you start to glue with gold the whole piece. Thus, your vessel becomes much more beautiful and much more valuable.
That vessel is you.
And every time you have been hurt, the world has created wounds from which you have learned something, damages that you may consider unpleasant to others or even unloved by you. But each experience has helped you become stronger, wiser, and more valuable.
This Japanese technique of gluing with gold vessels is called Kintsugi. And I think a leader should not be ashamed of his wounds but learn from them, share with others his wisdom, and use his acquired skills. That’s what I did. This is how I became my boss’s leader.
My job interview:
At the first interview, he did not look for a web designer because he was the only designer in his company. When he told me, he wasn’t looking for someone, but I can leave my CV, I told him the vision. Wouldn’t you like more time and a person to help you take some of your attributes? Could you put me on a test? (from day one, I told him what to do).
A week later, I was a part-time employee. Two months later, I had two part-time jobs. I was honest with my boss, and I told him this and that I wanted to work full-time at Touch Media if he thought I was doing well. That’s how I got to work full-time.
This year I made the fourth anniversary of working at Touch Media, and my boss came to me to ask for advice on managing his company. How to find new employees and how to motivate them. Find solutions to collaborate better with clients and what improvements he could make for us.
How did I get into this situation?
For those who do not know, I will tell you a secret! Bosses are people too. And often, they are alone in building their company. They need appreciation as their employees, courage, and clarity as we do.
When European Union talked about the implementation of the GDPR on all the sites. I researched and sent my boss a presentation on what we should have (pages, forms, and pop-ups).
For each Touch Media employee, including my boss, I did a diploma of appreciation, in which I wrote to them what I appreciate in professionalism and as a person. My boss was so happy that he framed all certificates and put them on the wall in the office.
My proposal for a medical card for employees was accepted.
I did a presentation called Touch Media Evolution. I started timidly by telling a story from the book Alice in Wonderland.
At a road junction Alice meets the cat and asks: Which road should I take? The cat asks: Where do you want to go? Alice: Anywhere, it doesn’t matter. The cat then replied: Then any road is good.
Alice in Wanderland
And I was talking about the fact that when you have clarity of what you want, you can choose the best route and arrive at the best destination.
It is not easy to take the initiative and open yourself. Those around me see what I say and who I am on the outside, but they don’t see my fear, doubt, and the times in the past when no one wanted to take the lead in telling the truth and resolving problems. I began to be a leader out of necessity, but I remained a leader and became my boss leader to give life to my vision.
Finally, I would like to tell you about a dream of mine, which also has a lesson.
The role dream:
I was on a theatrical stage, and three scenes took place around me. One with dance, one with mime, and another one with replicas. The pieces ended it, and a dwarf who smoked was headed to me. I tried to run, but I couldn’t.
He told me: I liked how you played, but why did you always choose to play the secondary role? I would like to see you in the lead role.
How often did you play the secondary role when you could play the lead role? I showed you my way to becoming the boss’s leader. Now the decision is yours. Become your boss leader.
Photo source: Freepik.
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