My Team and I Grew Together. Here Is What I Learned In The Process.

Through over 13 years of my tenure as a CEO and a Managing Partner, I have been mentoring and seeing hundreds if not thousands of professionals grow. And I grew alongside them. Together, we made mistakes and decisions, took leaps of faith, and celebrated our successes. This is what I have built this piece on — things that taught me valuable lessons that still help me every day.?

100+ 101 of time management

Since SupportYourApp’s first steps and the first hundred people, I learned that I needed to manage my time to the best of my ability. There were so many calls, planning meetings, brainstorms, and interviews. It became pretty obvious quite quickly — a time management solution was a must if I wanted to increase my team and to grow myself. Without it, oversights were unavoidable.?

To this day, I plan everything with the help of my virtual calendar. I schedule everything I need to, down to birthday congratulations, which helps me be on time and not forget important tasks and events. This is also what I advise my team to do, especially during peak seasons, when communication and team meetings accumulate.

500+ Risking can be a friend

We hit 500 teammates at the end of 2019. 2020 began with the COVID-19 pandemic. It also began with a pivotal decision — we decided to look for new teammates abroad. That was a risky decision, but that was a risk we were willing to take.?

Why was it risky? Because we did not have extensive previous experience of communicating with international candidates. Because of this we had to review a lot of processes to accommodate a team that would be spread across different countries.?

One of the most significant pressure points was ensuring that the team’s communication and productivity did not decrease without managers’ on-site control. Back then, the entire world was starting to work remotely, so a lot of tools and techniques for retaining productivity were emerging. We established regular calls, started utilizing task management solutions to their fullest, and made communication our strength.?

We also extended our Onboarding team and reviewed the structure of our HR department. This way, we made sure every candidate and newcomer got the attention they needed and had all their questions answered. We wanted to show everyone — even with us being in different countries, we were still one team and were there to support each other. This became the cornerstone that still defines our communication.?

Today, SupportYourApp has teammates in over 80 countries, so it is safe to say that our risk paid off.?

700+ Achievements of others are my achievements as well

I revel in seeing people around me grow. Seeing how a support consultant I have added to our team myself has grown to a Chief Officer or even the CEO of the SupportYourApp spin-off company is a special kind of pleasure.?

The realization came around the time when the first SupportYourApp’s spin-off — Label Your Data — was launched. We chose one of the former support consultants to be the CEO of the company. Together with my team, we went to San Francisco, where the project was presented and introduced to global business leaders.?

As my team was growing, I started seeing more and more success around me. We kept on promoting professionals to our Service Delivery, Technology, Integrations, HR, and other departments, which only inspired me to keep on going. This was the time when I realized — SupportYourApp and I are inseparable and our successes are common. To this day, when I am asked about my personal achievements, I have a hard time answering the question. And not because I do not achieve anything myself. I just cannot separate the achievements of my entire team from my personal ones.?

1500 Control is not everything

My management style has been evolving for as long as I have been the CEO. First, I thought I wanted to be everyone’s friend. That didn’t work because my team ended up not taking me seriously. After that, I decided I needed to be more dictatorial. I wanted to be on top of everything and everyone. That worked for some time, but when SupportYourApp crossed the milestone of 1000 people on the team, I understood — controlling everything was no longer an option.?

Since then, I adapted a new approach to management. Today, I am a leader and a mentor. I take pride in having the opportunity to lead my team of 1500 people from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures. My goal is to show them all the different ways they can set and achieve their goals.?

For example, the art of delegation. It took me so much time to master and wield it to everyone’s advantage. Now, I have a team of professionals who took over the process of setting up and overseeing digital ads, communicating with potential clients, and conducting milestone talks. It gives me room to concentrate on strategic tasks and look for new ways for SupportYourApp to grow and develop in. It also taught me that knowing everything is impossible and turning for help is completely normal and is a must when it comes to achieving common business goals.?

I also strive to show everyone that I am there for them and always ready to back them up or help them come up with new ideas. After all, their success is my success.?

Letting go of control was not easy, and it took a lot of trust. When it was done, I saw how important that step was for me and for the future of SupportYourApp.?