Tragic experience in life made me a leader.
Losing my mother at the age of 20 and my father 4 years later put me into the position of the leader in my family and the responsible person for my younger brother. At that time, I just finished my medical internship and I have to make immediate decisions to adjust and manage the situation. An opportunity was arisen for me to work at the top pharmaceutical company as a product specialist.
There is a Tao saying; if you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow. The great thing to work at a multinational company is that I experienced diverse styles of leadership and management. There are many ways to develop the leadership skills by reading or taking courses but one of the best ways is to find a role model whom you think is a good leader and observe and learn from him or her. My role model in my early career life was my General Manager. She is a young, brilliant, passionate woman and I learned from her how to think critically about business plans and how to make quick strategic decisions. Also in the product specialist position, I helped and guided newcomers and junior colleagues.
I worked my way up to the product manager position after working for two years. There are eight product specialists in my team. One of the ways of leadership I found helpful is getting constant feedback from the people around you. After every weekly role play and presentation practices, we constantly give each other feedbacks in an objective and constructive way to help others identify what you're doing well and what you need to improve. People develop more by getting perspectives from other people. By that way, my team members improve their skills and confidence and seven of them got into the high sales achiever club in the third quarter.
When being talked about the leadership, there is one topic which has a huge influence on me that is Women in Leadership. Nowadays, all over the world people are discussing and agreeing that involvement of the women in leadership is the most beneficial way for the community and country as a whole. I have the privilege to work under the leadership of the women and see women in the leadership position. I also try to set an example for young women by maintaining integrity, passion, and courage towards my career. I encourage them to develop individually and help them to advance in their careers. I believe that helping young women succeed is the important factor for the success of our country, economy, and the future.
