Tonight I’m going to write a bit more personal stuff - don’t say you haven’t been warned :)
I’m quite impatient usually and it gets me really anxious when I see someone making an obvious (at least to me) mistake without realizing that. In some cases I realize that this mistake is so obvious to me, because I did it myself in the past or at least I’ve managed to avoid it, when I was working on a similar case (so I’m able to recognize the problem easily now). It’s the experience that helps me today and it’s normal that some other, younger people may not have this experience yet. The key is not to learn everything by yourself. Don’t misjudge me please - I’m not pretending to be a role model or some kind of a mentor for people. What I’m saying is - I find many of those younger people simply lacking someone they can learn from.
And I’m considering myself very, very lucky, because I always had a true teacher / mentor / whatever you may call him, when I was in a need of one. This post will be some kind of a “thank-you” message and even if none of them will read it (I’ll replace the names with single letter acronyms, so noone accuses my of asslicking syndrome ;P), I feel I owe them at least that kind of gratitude.
- Marcin K. (Kraków) - He taught me to always remain reasonable and that true efficiency is based on lowest level details. Thanks to him I’m never afraid of challenges and I believe that real out-of-the-box thinking can make wonders (PROVEN!).
- Jacek P. (Wrocław) - Many important lessons, but two of them were especially important - always be the one in control, always be one step ahead, always be prepared. And always value what pays off and what doesn’t.
- Marcin K. (Kraków) - BEST. CONSULTANT. EVER. I’m proud I could work with him and I had a pleasure of being part of his team. I’ll always mention it as a bright spot in my so-called “career”. Being pro and honest. With a smile. I wish to be Kotarba, when I grow up.
- Tomek S. (Warszawa) - He showed me how to always be daring. He was (and is, AFAIK) never afraid of any challenge and that was very inspiring for youngsters like me. Thanks to him I know, that a good consultant learns all his life.
Gentlemen, you have my eternal gratitude.
Ok, enough of personal stuff for now. If you’re wondering what made those people so great managers, below you can find a link to a very interesting post made by J.D.Meier from Microsoft. Someone has recommended it to me few days ago and to be frank I totally agree with all the statements there. A-MUST-READ.
10 Things Great Managers Do