I recall a time in the early days of my career where I was given the opportunity to manage a team. At that moment, I felt excited and highly motivated to give my best effort realising that senior leadership had put their trust in me. The first day into my leadership position started off with a lengthy discussion with the Sales Director on the expectations for the month, quarter and the year, gaps and areas of improvement for the team. Everything looked urgent, needed my attention and the subtle cues indicated I had no room to fail. After the 2 hour meeting, I felt mentally exhausted. I started to question my ability – am I going to be successful in this role? Did I make a mistake by accepting the promotion? Will I disappoint my senior leadership team? All these questions were left unanswered at that moment in time. But one thing I was absolutely sure about – I enjoy working with people, it drives me to give my very best.

I looked within for inspiration and asked myself a deep rooted question – how would YOU like to be managed? And the answer was a simple one – ‘do unto others what you would have them do unto you’. I led by this principle and my efforts started bearing fruit – sooner than I expected. We developed a strong team culture and this led us to achieve great things together, as a team & individually.

Today, I still keep to this leadership principle. It has never failed me and has become a core pillar in my leadership style.