When I first started at Central, I was assistant to the CFO, Andrew Klososky. I enjoyed the busy workflow of the executive life. However, my position expanded to include international accounting. At first, I pushed back. I was comfortable with the executive team. Everyone was straightforward and knew what they were doing. The thought of working with less-experienced employees was unsettling. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has their good days and bad days, but in my current position, I knew I could count on my colleagues to get their work done. Apart from Bairos and I, everyone in the international department was new to Central. I figured I had my work cut out for me. To be honest, I kind of threw my new team members to the wolves. In their assignments, I didn’t take time to train them as I should have. Then, I watched a trainee take a risk and lose $10,000 of his own money. At first, it was hilarious. This new guy who came in with a know-it-all and reckless attitude finally got what was coming to him. As I walked out of the office, seeing the disappointment on his face, it took me back to my early days of accounting. I made a great miscalculation and lost our company much more than what our new trainee lost. I was sure I had lost my job, but my manager did not let me take the blame alone. Our whole team worked together to resolve the issue, and with that teamwork our company ended up making back twice what we had lost. Not everyone is so lucky, and many other companies probably would have fired me for that mistake, but my supervisor showed mercy and the importance of teamwork. My coworkers stood by me and trained me further so I could be successful from that point on. They showed me kindness. After thinking of my past failure and the helpfulness of my first team, I decided to make some changes. I worked with Bairos to come up with more efficient ways to train our new employees and make them feel welcome at Central. I got to see them grow and flourish as part of the International Team. They weren’t the only ones growing. In my time as the International Accountant, I have learned so many new things from my new colleagues. They are wonderful to work with and I hope to continue growing with them in the years to come. Making the switch from one department to another takes a lot of patience, humility, and willingness to learn and grow together as a team. If you keep the right attitude, your team can succeed. Tsong HuaTsong Hua is the International Accounting Manager for Central Products. When she's not at work, she enjoys reading, caring for her two cats, running, and taking vacations. If you’re human (and if you’re reading this, you probably are), you’ve made a rash decision at some point or another. We all do – it’s just part of life. Sure, some hastily-made decisions might turn out to be beneficial, but I’m willing to bet the vast majority don’t end up being nearly as advantageous as we might initially intend. And even though the magnitude of our decisions may differ, the anxiety that accompanies poorly-made choices has the power to stay with us, sometimes longer than the actual effects of those decisions, themselves. I still shudder at the time I lost $10,000 speculating on the foreign exchange market, even though I’ve (begrudgingly) paid every dollar back – yes, I actually took out a loan, wagering that the market would work in my favor. Obviously, it didn’t. At the time, I was still a trainee at Central with VTR. See, I had this friend from school who was sure the FX market was heading in a favorable direction, and he promised he’d be able to get me a large return for a “small” investment. Since he’d done the same for his company on numerous occasions, I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, so I jumped right on that opportunity. That might not have been the worst decision of my life, but it certainly wasn’t the best. After several days, it became clear the currency I was wagering on was actually appreciating against the USD, and I couldn’t get my stomach out of my feet for days. And maybe that brings me to my point – we all make rash decisions sometimes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from those opportunities. If good leaders know it’s alright to make mistakes, then great leaders are those who grow through their mess-ups. Now, I’m not saying that I’m a great leader or anything, but if my experience with the FX market taught me anything, it was to be far more prudent with my financial decisions. A little less than a year later, here I am, Assistant to the Director in charge of efficiencies – and all because I learned from my mistake. When Robert promoted me to this position, it was because of an idea I’d had about how Central could responsibly and sustainably dispose of its waste. Most of the pipe fittings we make here at Central have to be cut down to size, and that creates quite a bit of excess but unusable material. For years, the plant workers just threw out the extra plastic, thinking it trash. But when I had the chance to speak to one of the workers personally, we came up with the idea to recycle the plastic – doing this brought in funds from companies willing to pay for our excess materials and is helping to decrease our impact on the environment. It’s a win-win. And to be honest, if I hadn’t gone through my harrowing adventure with the FX market, I’m not sure I would have cared enough about the value of our trash to envision reusing it. So, take it from one who’s had to learn from many, many mistakes. Rash decisions are just a part of the human experience, but if you can find a way to grow from those blunders, there’s a good chance you’ll be better off for it. AuthorEddie Bairos |
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