There was a lot of hard work and sacrifice involved which I soon discovered when I started my apprenticeship. During my apprenticeship in Europe, I learnt how to work. I gave up the comfort of my friends and my family to learn the profession. You only had work and barely enough income to enjoy anything else. In Europe, your parents expect you to leave home by the time you are 18 and make something of yourself.
Most parents expect their children to be around all the time.
But over the years, I have grown to understand that you are only as good as the team behind you. I encouraged my department heads to take greater ownership of their operations and led them to express their creativity and talents. But at the end of the day, it was still up to me to make the final decision and ensure that our products and services complied with the established standards. Through empowerment, we received better suggestions, increased morale and stronger ownership of responsibilities. Some are also not too comfortable about expressing their appreciation.