People always look for someone to look up to. We have great leaders in different industries that we admire. These leaders serve as our beacon of hope that another great leader will arise because of their influence, contribution and success stories.
I believe that we become the people we look up to. In most cases, we act like them, think like them and emulate their actions to attain the same levels of success.
Following our boss
In job, our boss plays a big role in our development. Their decisions will affect the path that we are taking. Sometimes, our chances will depend on their approval. This means that we need to consider his side in terms of development.
In my Operations Management class, my professor said that we can convince our bosses or sway their decisions at times, but at the end of the day, we follow our boss. Furthermore, the more we interact with them, they more that we become like them unknowingly.
That means, you may need to leave the company if you think you got the wrong mentor. Mentorship is a very important connection to be established. If you know that you are learning something from your boss, then that would be very beneficial to your career because you get to interact with him/her most of the time. Overall, this means that your boss should be your idol.
Emulating your idol
Your idol will greatly affect your life especially when you invest so much time studying his ways. It might change your perspective in life that will eventually affect your decision-making in the future.
In my opinion, you must know who you really are and what are the things you want to emulate from your idol. After all, we are all unique and we cannot be the exact copy of a different person. This means that we select the good and leave the bad. Always consider being ethical at all times.
Another thing to consider is our time allocation in life. Is your job taking most of your personal time? Or is it the other way around? In my opinion, it should be balanced in order for us to develop holistically.
Obeying Google’s rule
However, as my professor had mentioned, successful people are the ones with extreme obsession on what they do that only them can understand. We may find ourselves in this position in the future, but always be ethical.
As per Google’s rule, don’t be evil. In their business, they can do advertising and other services, but they always put their morals in doing business.
In my perspective, we can all be great. All we need to do is find the right mentor, pick the good and leave the bad points from great leaders, and always be ethical.
The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal he keeps in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Lasallian Business Leadership with Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics. Visit his blog at https://kamilahlimangeles.wixsite.com/raymondangelescsr.
The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.