Learning by Experience 43

There was an enormous burden on my shoulders..

First of all, it is something that feels very important for a person to be a CEO / general manager etc. "in his own country". I don't think this feeling in any other role... Including all regional and global roles. First, your mother is very proud.

 

Suddenly I had a huge office room - how pointless – my own driver, a much better income than before, and a great prestige. Thank God I always care about what you do and how you behave, not yourself. I've never been in the mood.

 

In 2008, at my old company, where 110,000 people worked, 5 people were awarded a year of excellence, they gave me the Leadership Excellence Award (photo below). I was elected Turkey's first three most successful leaders under the age of 40. I've been listed on countless lists and received numerous awards. Also, our job was going great.

 

However, did I feel great? No!!

 

There was an enormous burden on my shoulders! I was taking everything very seriously to deserve all this. You start by caring for those who bother you with the "I'm calling from an important place" attitude, and talk with people that I wouldn't normally want to spend even 5 minutes saying, "Let's not miss something" ... The fact that I was doing it “one-to-one”, my effort to be active and visible on every platform, I felt that I had to solve all the problems and give advice to everyone, and running a company of 2300 people meanwhile made life very tiring and unpleasant ... I remember very well that I was thinking, "God, what a shirt of fire I wore".

 

I was “very, very successful” but I was “very, very afraid of failure.”

 

The first advice I will give to friends who have recently taken on an "important" role is that they should choose well what is important and what is not, do not try to do everything and do not get into the anxiety of giving justice to this position they have. Don't let them wear themselves down. I will explain its effect. I only learned this from experience.