As a speaker at various congresses, both in Poland and in the world, you talk a lot about the fact that the human face of an entrepreneur helps a lot in achieving success. Isn’t that a typical business approach?

I recently read another book by Brian Tracy, who says that successful people are those who look for opportunities to help others too. I absolutely agree with this, because I myself am an example of an entrepreneur who built a company, but I also help and inspire other entrepreneurs. When talking to them or people who are just starting their business, I emphasize that in addition to making the company stable and resilient, developing and making profits, you should also pay attention to its employees. Employees are a huge potential and value in the company. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to finances and other aspects of business, we should have a lot of energy for the people we work with. It is in us that we must have the strength to skillfully draw people behind us, so that they can perform their tasks and implement projects with energy and passion. Of course, it also helps to achieve success if what we do professionally reflects our passion. Passion motivates the most and raises the energy to act, to believe in our undertaking, even when we encounter complications or someone tries to cut our wings. In difficult situations, as entrepreneurs, we must also show our employees that we also have a human face, we have a moment to stop and think, because we are only people, not robots. We also have our doubts, but as leaders, taking into account the opinions of our managers, we make the final decision and we take full responsibility for it. The big mistake of business owners is that they can’t admit that sometimes they don’t know something and have to think about it. No one is the alpha and omega. At the same time, it is worth giving employees a chance to show their new ideas. The fact that someone can convey their ideas, share their opinion, gives people the feeling that they are needed, that they can prove that they are the creators of elements added to the company’s strategy, and not just passive executors of orders. By showing a human face, we do not have to be afraid that employees will lose their respect and respect for us, quite the opposite. We will be more authentic and credible to them.

My rebel nature always helps me and motivates me to act whenever someone says that something is impossible or impossible. This feature also helps me in situations when I encounter difficulties, then I get up and fight with employees for what is ours. I believe that if we know what we want, we can set the right path to it. Perseverance and responsibility come in handy here. We have to work on self-discipline all our lives, because it helps to keep ourselves and the company at the right level. Commitment and strong motivation are another success factors. It is not enough to be determined to achieve something. We must be focused, because only such a state of mind will allow us to be persistent and not be discouraged by failures, which always appear on the way to the goal. And coming back to the question, traveling around the world I see this approach of entrepreneurs more and more often. I believe that companies are getting better in terms of management. I believe that we live in times when people are becoming more and more aware of the importance of mutual respect, cordiality and justice. I am an optimist and I agree with Brian Tracy that the future of our civilization can be better when we become better and empathy is permanently at the forefront of values.

Do you have any proven ways to ensure that the people we employ in our companies are constantly involved in our projects?

And here again I have to repeat – be close to the people we employ. Personally, I want to participate in the recruitment of my employees, because I want to feel if there is positive energy between us. I have a good intuition for people and after a few sentences I know who I am dealing with. I am looking for that twinkle in their eye that shows that they are a person who will want to develop together with the company. I also look for the energy with which this person speaks, because this energy reveals whether they will be willing to commit themselves willingly, or whether they will just sit out the hours. There are plenty of people who have the same approach to work as I do, regardless of their function – they never want to rest on their laurels. They want to be good at what they do, because it gives them inner satisfaction and motivation to work and develop. But of course, the example should come from us, the employers. We should show our commitment, our interest in them, their problems and their successes. At BetaMed SA, I employ over 3,250 people and I know each person with whom it is possible personally and I try to be attentive to their needs. I take great care to ensure that my people are properly rewarded for their commitment. My success is when an employee is happy to get up in the morning to come to work.

Looking at Mrs. BIO, you can see several diplomas, and some quite fresh, does a woman who has been so successful want to learn something more?

I believe that it is worth constantly developing and learning, especially if you have the desire to do so and it gives you satisfaction. Learning broadens our horizons and perspectives on management and the company from different perspectives. The world is constantly moving forward and there are new products that are worth knowing. We are never so wise that we cannot learn more. Acquiring new competences, both hard and soft skills, has basically become my pleasant habit. Wisdom is a great strength. But we gain this wisdom not only at universities or courses. There is also wisdom that we gain with experience, and running a company for years you will experience everything. Be prepared to make mistakes and remember that the best lessons are when you have to get up off your knees. I’m not afraid of making mistakes, because I know that only those who don’t work don’t make mistakes.

Do you have any advice for dealing with failure?

I always say that some things are out of our control and we cannot predict them. What we can influence is our approach to what happens to us and how we react. We have an influence on ourselves and we can either break down and give up, or we can tell ourselves that we can do it and that everything is for a reason, but it will definitely be good for us. I’m an optimist always. Of course, I experienced not one difficult moment, because such is life, but I know that the biggest failure would be if we acted under the influence of panic. Therefore, a trader must learn to be balanced. Over the years, we learn how to distance ourselves from problems and how to respond to them appropriately. It is very important to hire people who have different characters and temperaments around you. This helps us to properly manage the tense atmosphere and make the right decision.