I stopped looking for the next rung and started looking for the exit.
I built my own ladder.
Self-employment was a natural move. I had ideas, I had ambition, and most importantly, I was done waiting to be found. And here’s the thing - when you step into
leadership without a playbook, you tend to do what was done to you. And what was done to me? Nothing. hired people, I set targets, I pushed for results. I thought culture was just a side dish, something you sprinkled
on top with a few team outings and birthday cakes in the break room. And then I couldn’t help but notice my business started bleeding talent.
At first, I chalked it up to bad hires. But the pattern was undeniable - new employees would come in fired up, then plateau, then spiral downwards
Some quit. Others stayed, but their negativity was like a slow leak in the hull of a ship. It dragged everything down. And I – fearless, self-made entrepreneur that I was - had no clue as to why.
Then it hit me. Culture isn’t a side dish. It’s the whole meal. While I spent years obsessed with numbers, productivity and hitting targets, I ignored the thing that actually made those results sustainable - the workplace environment I was creating.
When I finally got it, when I started putting culture first, everything shifted.
People stayed. They worked harder, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. The business thrived. And I finally learned what leadership actually was. My First Scar The realization didn’t come out of nowhere. A coach asked me this question, “What is your first scar in business?” When I looked back over my past work history, a moment came to mind; one I hadn’t thought about in years. A moment that had quietly shaped the way I avoided confrontation and leadership for far too long. I was 20, studying at university, working part- time for a company that ran speed reading courses including free introductory sales presentations. They sent me to a small town about 90 minutes’ drive away from the metropolitan city where we usually did our
promotional talks using TV and radio advertising.
This time, the situation was one of those rare, perfect storms. Local TV and radio ads ran for a free presentation in a local hall. What we didn’t factor was that this small town had been in the TV viewing zone of the nearest metropolitan city. For a year, they’d seen our ads for presentations in the big city. Now, we were finally on their doorstep.
Page 77
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker