Journey of Professional life
I was inspired from the early days of my childhood by my father who cultivated many things in me. As I got older, I still recall some of his words about life …. “Work hard but never forget to praise yourself when you accomplish”, “When you work, work hard but when it is time for leisure, enjoy it to the utmost”, “Happiness is an inner act and it is your responsibility to be happy”, “Failure is a step towards more success”, “Determination and persistence should be part of your character” and so many other words that keep on ringing in my head.
During my school and university days, I used to escort my father to his private business. Though in the 70s and 80s, managing organizations relied heavily on a highly bureaucratic system, yet I did not see that type of bureaucracy in our family business. Indeed, my father believed that the success of any organization was a product of creating an innovative work environment coupled by determination, experience and employees’ continuous performance improvement through skills and knowledge acquisition. This is the professional setting I was brought up in, by all standards, created an entrepreneurial spirit within every aspect of my life.
As a fresh graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration who was inspired primarily by her father, many teachers at school and university professors who were true role models and shaped many aspects of my, I wanted to pursue an academic career but also was dreaming of painting a success story in the business world. With all the determination to become successful, I immediately started my MBA while working for an insurance company.
On my first day at work, I could see so many busy sales representatives who are striving to fulfill their sales targets. I truly asked myself “how could have a fingerprint in that place with all those people who have a lot of experience and well-established connections with major clients?”. I decided I had to be different and build on a competitive edge that others do not have. That was one of the moments I recalled some of the things I have learned from my father and the knowledge I acquired from my academic life:
- My father always used to tell me “Understand what you are going to do before acting”. Great, then I must understand the different insurance policies that I am going to sell.
- I have learned from my early academic life that success comes from serving a niche that is not yet tackled or one that is not properly tackled. Great, there are many foreign companies that are served by sales representatives who might have language barriers with their clients. At that point, I could see a competitive advantage that I have, simple as it is, which is the English language. Aha, I must manipulate on that and work my way through those clients who will find it much easier to communicate with me.
- One real question that kept following me and kept annoying me was whether I have a passion for that industry and whether this is the career I would like to pursue? Truly, the answer was “not really”. However, this was a suitable job with flexible working hours and a place where I can start building up experience while pursing my MBA studies. I said to myself “You need to love what you are currently doing, you will be able to build experience and get exposed to the business world and that in itself is an excellent opportunity in your career”. This was among the things I have learned from my father which is simply building inner positive energy in whatever one does.
When I earned my MBA, I thought it was time for a career shift, I need to pursue my dreams for success and getting a full-time job which, I consider as a second turning point in my professional life. My post-graduate studies gave me more intellectual insight into what I want to be and my passion for helping others guided this phase of my life. I started building my skills to becomes a trainer who can help others build their skills and become successful in their lives. In addition, I got the opportunity to work with one of my professors on some consulting assignments. I truly believe that he was a true mentor and coach and role model to me. Thanks to his continuous advice that I have and will always follow in life. As stated by him “Always remember that people have entrusted you with their businesses hoping to make it better and more successful, be part of their success and not failure… If you are training others, then they have confidence in you, share your knowledge, skills and experience so you can positively impact their lives and be part of their success”.
After working for around three years at one of the most pronounced universities in Egypt doing some marketing, training and free lance consulting services, I joined one of the private sector companies I was doing consulting service for – a holding company operating in six different industries ranging from manufacturing to service. This is where I really got a way above average salary and bonus package but, also more importantly, learned what it is like to be in the real business world:
- Having to deal with different personalities and characters is not an easy task. I learned that interpersonal skills are those skills that takes a person from lower levels of management to higher levels. I would confidently say that communication skills is on top of the list.
- Understanding and working on the ground is a different story than hearing the experiences of others. I have learned that success is truly a factor of doing and failing to accomplish and most importantly learning from your failures. I am a true believer that "Failure breeds success"and "persistence to learn from failure is true success".
- Facing problems that need solutions are characteristics of the real business world. I have learned that I should look at each problem as a unique situation that needs a unique solution and provides a way of building professional experience. I would confidently say that building a successful career needs building problem solving a decision making skills along the way when we are climbing our professional ladder.
- People and not systems are among the most important drivers for success and failure. I have learned that many organizations fail not because of a poor system but because of poor commitment. I could see from my experience that successful organizations usually invest more in their human capital ... It is people who drive systems and it is systems that facilitate interactions.
- Leading organizations is not a one way activity nor a one style thing. Since every situation is a unique one that incorporates different elements with different settings, so must leadership be. I have learned that I should use all my senses when leading people, a mixture of commanding, listening, analyzing and reflecting on the thoughts and ideas of others.
I, always had in the back of my mind a passion for helping others towards achieving their success. Although I could really see joy and happiness in doing that, yet I still have my own dream for being successful in the business world. That was the point where I could see that consulting, mentoring and training others would satisfy both my passion and my dream to be successful - another turning point when I decided to start-up my own firm, Excellence Consultants, a name inspired by a book I have read over ten times "In Search of Excellence". So be it done, I will start my own firm and everyone around me was really shocked. I could read and hear some of my friends, family and professional associates saying "Why would you leave a very well paid job with a very well and highly paid income to go into a dark room where you might not even earn what you are doing?!" Well, it was my dream and I have realized it. I have turned my passion into my profession and every time I hear a success story of my clients, I feel it is my own. My early career enriched my professional insights and my entrepreneurial dream has come true. I have learned in my journey so far that:
- Success is not an easy road …. It needs persistence, commitment and passion in whatever we do. The road to success has a bundle of emotions - success, failure, happiness, sadness, stress, triumph and much more.
- Being creative and innovative does not make you a successful entrepreneur, it is all about being dedicated to what you do, learning from your failures and helping others to become successful. Sometimes, we do not need to reinvent the wheel to become successful entrepreneurs.
Thank you for reading through, I hope you like my journey. I would love hearing about success stories of others. Let us share our experience and be always part of others success
Hala Omar