10 Lessons From the Last 10 Years

Back in 2014, I saw an opening at Dell Technologies on the Al Akhawayn Alumni Association Job market page. I was recommended by Oum Keltoum T. an alumna of Al Akhawayn University to whom I will forever be grateful for the tip, and a few days later my career as a salesperson started; and boy did I have a blast doing it!

Two main reasons were behind my good time at Dell Technologies , the formidable folks I met and the learning opportunity, which was a result of the first reason and the good organization of the company. I learned from some very smart, skilled, hard working, ethical, and genuinely good people, the likes of Mohamed AKKAD , Matinou APITHY , Saad Bekkouri (MBA, PMP) , Omar BOUARGAN . , Rachid Chakiri , Bachar El Bakkali , Ilham EL Graoui , Salma GAOUZI , Faycale Goulhiane , Mohammed Hebbazi , Abdellah Maliki , Tawfik Riday , Anas Saldani , Salma Semlali , and many others; I was lucky enough to have them cross my path and share their knowledge, guidance, insights, and tips with me. And for that, I would like to thank each one of them from the bottom of my heart.

A few years later, with a bit of luck, I got to meet Fouad AMRANI , whose leadership method was truly inspiring; and there I was, joining Ingram Micro North Africa where again I was fortunate to meet amazing colleagues, IKRAM DILAJ , Leila El Menzhi , Smail ELKADEM , Nassim Hajjioui , Toufik nainii , Nouha D. , Tarik RATBI CPA in progress , and Mouad Saissi Hassani . And although my time over there was brief, it was an enriching experience, thanks to the generosity of the highly skilled team that welcomed me. ?I then moved on to work abroad in a completely different field, following my friend Omar EL FILALI 's invitation: events planning. At Richard Attias & Associates , I met people from different backgrounds from all around the world, Dourra El Omari , Kieran Gopaul , Sebastien Leclerc , all internationally experienced professionals from whom I learned immensely.

I will not talk about the entrepreneurial journey, today, to avoid writing more than I already did on this post but I will include a few of the lessons and tips learned from it as well. So, here are my 10 lessons from my last 10 years:

?

1-???? Find your core values, write them down, and live by them. Those values are what define who you are. In my line of work, I sometimes have to deal with people with different values than mine; and although temporarily, it makes my life feel miserable. If there is a conflict between your actions and your values, as written by DARREN HARDY in his book The Compound Effect, your life will more likely than not feel unsatisfactory. So find your values, and find the people and companies that share them in order to thrive in life.

2-???? Be nice first, you will be amazed by the power of reciprocation; I strongly advise any of you to read the book Influence by Dr. Robert Cialdini . Be retaliatory, do not be the pushover others can abuse. Be forgiving, there is nothing to gain from holding a grudge, being at peace with yourself and with others is more important.

3-???? Deserve what you want in order to get what you want. As the late great investor Charlie Munger said: ‘The best way to get something is to deserve it’. If you want to have nice good friends, deserve them! If you want your employees to give you the best of them, deserve their hard work and commitment. As simple as that.

4-???? Hard work pays off. We, sometimes, tend to forget that simple principle: The good old value of hard work, day in, day out. Nowadays, we have a tendency to want things fast; a quick promotion, a managerial position upon graduation, a fancy car early on… but there is a major issue with that mindset; it might lead you to take shortcuts, to frustration, or to both. The long enriching path of hard work is the safest way to your goals and objectives. I do not know of any successful person that is not a hard worker. You might think that they are talented; yes, of course, some are, but talent is merely the tip of the iceberg. Hard work is what makes that talent valuable, impactful, and successful. And trust me, it is more important than talent itself. Ask any recruiter, they would take a hard working untalented individual over a lazy talented person, every single time. So set your long term objectives, work hard to reach them, and compound your small achievements one step at a time.

5-???? The Business world is different from what we study in the academic world. I might be wrong about that point, but that is the lesson I learned from my experience. It took me some time to realize it but once I did, my perception changed; it does not mean that you should not learn from your academic years, but rather that you should combine and supplement it with lots of (pre)work experiences, and then be prepared for the unexpectable business journey. There are many reasons behind why I believe there is a difference between the two worlds but I will not cover them since it would necessitate a long discussion and/or debate.

6-???? Opportunity, a derivative of luck, plays a major role in our lives. However, that does not mean that one should sit and wait for it to come around. In fact, Being prepared to recognize and seize it is more important than being lucky itself; as the saying goes: ‘Opportunity comes to the prepared mind’. Do what you need to do, look for ideas, friends, books, projects, jobs, ask questions; ask for help, insights, tips, examples, explanations, do it as long and as much as you can and hope for luck to come your way.

7-???? Invert (reverse, if you are an engineer)! This is another tip I learned from reading the book Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Inversion is? a powerful mathematical concept that you can use to make your life easier. Let me explain it with an example where most of us use it without realizing it: Suppose you want to be in good terms with your neighbors. Chances are you do not think of what to do in order to be so, but rather just think of what to avoid doing in order to avoid problems with them and stay in good terms…simply because it is way easier. You can apply it to become a good leader, too: think of all the ways you can hurt your collaborators; unfairness, micromanagement, sabotaging, not giving credit to their work… List them all, and avoid them; you will be far better than most managers.

8-???? Never take anything for granted. Every morning we wake up, we assume that we will be back home by the end of the day. Every time we meet someone, we assume that we will see them again. Every time we forget that anything could happen, something happens. Do not take the simple things for granted, and cherish every moment of your life. Make the most out of every moment, of every relationship; realize how precious what you already have is. Never taking anything for granted will also help you prepare for the unexpected, the Black Swan event that will eventually happen; think of Covid, the global financial crisis, the sudden loss of a very close person, or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, events that unexpectedly happen but have a major impact on your life. I recommend reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb ’s book, The Black Swan, if you want to learn more about the subject.

9-???? Surround yourself with ‘high quality’ people and be grateful to and for them. People that will make your life better, enjoyable, easier, and from whom you will learn a lot. That is one of the aspects where I consider myself to be extremely lucky. Starting with my family and parents, who constantly allow me to capitalize on their knowledge and their work’s results to compound it; ?my soul mate and confidant Malika Bouayad , who is a role model for me in terms of hard work, organization, dedication, ethics, resilience, commitment, and who on top of that has to deal with me every single day (which speaks a lot to her patience and endurance as well); Yasmine Kamal and Yassine kamal , two positive energies fueling my life (basically the same person in opposite genders). My second pillar is my chosen family. Amine Bajeddi Yassine B. Omar EL FILALI Safae El Hachimi Fahd El Hassan Taha Essassi Yassir ESSYAGI Hamza Haddour Reda Hjiej Gumbo Kibelloh Yassine Legrouri Amal Ounir Ibrahim Youssef OUAKRIM , I learn so much from you guys, your families, your experiences, your wins, your losses, your ups and downs, and I appreciate having you in my life.

10-? Last but not least, Keep Learning! Be a learning machine. Read books, reports, case studies, annual reports, annual letters, 10-Ks, articles; watch quality interviews, quality conferences, listen to quality podcasts, debates, learn new languages, discover other cultures, open yourself to the immense amount of knowledge available and never stop learning. My parents started learning music theory at 58; my father started learning Spanish at 52, my uncle Abdelillah KAMAL started learning Lute at almost 70 and my late grandfather kept working and learning from his work until the age of 80. There is no excuse to stop learning! And if you still have the chance to learn from professors around you, do it. Although I could have done more to learn more from them, I will always be grateful to Jawad Abrache , Samir Aguenaou , Catherine Bachleda , Ahmed Belkhayat , Naceur Amakhmakh , Nicolas Hamelin , Abderrahman Hassi , Mustapha Hogga , Abdelmounai Lahrech, Raina M. Rutti, Ph.D. , Avis Rupert, Harit SATT, PhD, DBA .

?

I hope that one of these lessons will one day prove helpful and useful to you. I apologize for the long format according to today’s standards; I tried shortening it as much as possible. I have met so many other people and friends that contributed to the person I am today; Afaf Aderdoun , Bouthaina El Bakkali El Hassani , Sofia Benothmane , Franck Bertrand Ayinda , Oussama El Maaqili, MBA , Hajar Essassi , Abdelaziz Gouraizim , Hania Laaroussi , Ahmed Lahlou , Omar Moutei , Amine Oulamine , Houda Ourkia , Mehdi Sabwat , Driss SEKKATE , Abla Talbi El Alami and many others I forgot to mention who directly or indirectly influenced me. ??

I look forward to meeting new positive energies and learn from them, and hope I can give back at least a little bit from the modest knowledge I have received so far.