1. What have you found most challenging as a leader of a small or medium enterprise?

As an entrepreneur, the focus is to provide value to our constituents. in our case, customers and contractors. We pride ourselves on being a solution in the middle.

One of the challenges for any business is how to set yourself apart from the competition.

It should be no surprise that growing revenue tops the list of business challenges for small businesses. Growing revenue opens up more significant opportunities for marketing and expansion, showcases security, and suggests future growth, making the company more attractive to investors.

Second, increasing profit demonstrates that a business has begun the road toward maturing as an operation.

Third, finding the right talents that are also in line with our company's core values.

And, of course, rating capital and securing funding to get off the ground and expand. Most VCs view new ventures as risky, so ensuring the necessary capital is never easy.

2. How did you become a leader of an SME? Can you please briefly tell the story?

No one dares to succeed unless he dares to fail. Nurturing students' minds lead us in the right direction, which requires a leader with a vision. Leader commits himself/herself to enhance the growth and capabilities of the people around them, building a strong team that he/she can rely on, trusting them, and empowering them through sharing responsibility and information.

I love taking risks. Working for anyone is a dream killer. Yes, you can do it to get real-life experience. Interestingly, when working for someone, it's easy at first, then it gets hard later. Building your own business is quite the difference. At first, it's hard, and then later, it gets easy.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

The most critical factor in winning your mornings and owning your days is to get up 15 minutes earlier and work on your No. 1 priority before anyone else is awake. It's that simple.

Every morning I wake up looking for any fire to put out. When things are right, I spend some time looking for new ways to improve our business and see where the trend is going and try to get there first. It's a never-ending battle; that's why only a few made it.

After 10 am, I start replying to emails and make some calls. I always work 90 take 10min break.

I watch what I eat, cut down on caffeine. And during my break, I usually take my dog for a walk. Get some fresh air.

4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

1- talk less, listen more
2- focus on few things; never get overwhelmed
3- Get out and about every 90 min or so
4- Be authentic
5- If you don't ask, you never going to get what you want
6- If you don't go after what you want, you will never have it.
7- if you don't step forward, you will always be In the same place

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

BUILT TO SELL by John Warrilow. it's about when to step away and let your employees have some ownership of their assigned tasks,

6. How do you build leadership capacity in an SME?

Your leadership tendencies make you who you are and the team around you better or worse. A leader is a personalized assessment based on your personality & values that provide insights & guidance to help you lead more effectively and connect with people in powerful ways.

As a leader, you have to be engaged with your team and clients. Here are some simple questions to ask.

Do you ask others for their opinions?
Do you expect your team to motivate themselves?
Do you set standards and goals for others?
Do you place achieving organizational objectives above fulfilling personal needs?
Do you feel comfortable with confrontation?

And, of course, take leadership courses and read books. We are a student of life till we die.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader of an SME so far?

In a past company, we had a small team that worked remotely. We got together a few times a month but otherwise relied on email and calls to stay on the same page.

This was great to allow everyone to be efficient and focused on their work.

Unfortunately, it also created management blind spots.

Over time, another leader and I noticed one of our best team members seemed to be disengaging. They didn’t bring the same enthusiasm and extra touch to their work we previously saw.

In a one on one with their manager, we discussed their recent work. Did we need to let them go? What happened?

Neither of us knew the answer.

We realize it was a lack of communication. The lesson was, I’ve always kept in mind that you can’t take any of your good people for granted. You have to make time to check in on them and assume if there’s a problem, it could just as much be you causing it as anything wrong with them.