Ильдар Хусаинов – The power of freedom (страница 4)

I was convinced that for a businessman, it is important to strive for success and to achieve a certain status in the professional sphere, and that a penchant for spending a lot along the way can be detrimental. One must find a balance between personal desires and the needs of the business. For example, my car isn’t the most expensive one among the employees of my company. For me, the true sign of success in business is not what kind of car a person drives or how much money they spend, but how they impact the lives of others, how they help their clients and employees grow and develop. Only this is memorable and has true value. Ten years will pass, and you won’t remember what car you drove or what suit you wore in the mornings, but you’ll never forget and will always be proud of your achievements.

Balance is equally important in all aspects of life: medicine in the right dose can heal, but in excess, it becomes poisonous. In real life There is no clear division between what is “right” and what is “wrong”; everything depends on the boundaries we set for ourselves. Understanding where these boundaries lie and being able to respect them contribute to building a stable and effective system, whether in personal life or business.

Chapter 2. About Self-education

Over time, I began to rethink many things, and before discussing how to cultivate valuable qualities for life and business in others, I believe it's important to share how I developed these qualities within myself. Reflecting on my childhood, which undoubtedly had both joys and challenges, I realize that my journey as an entrepreneur began back then. I transformed and nurtured many personal qualities in myself; however, the most important aspect, in my opinion, is how I changed my attitude towards understanding my significance. I am convinced that the more a person recognizes their importance and value to their work, the better they perform.

When I was 23–25 years old, I did not realize my own significance as the head of the company. Let me give you an example. In 2007, there was an event that I’d mentioned in my first book. I went to a football tournament in Neftekamsk, took the team with me, and spent quite a bit of money over two weeks. At that time, there was no opportunity to work online. Basically, I didn’t have the right to leave the company for such a long period just to play. Now I understand how critical each day and each hour is, and how important the role of a leader is. But back then, I just wanted to participate in the tournament. And we won! The prize for first place was 160,000 rubles, which fully covered our travel expenses. We even gave part of the money to the team. However, I disapprove of the decision I made back then.

In 2023, the veteran football championship of Russia took place. Any athlete will relate: when you get the chance to play for Tyumen region at a high level, you start considering the event special. We reached the finals, where we competed against players who had previously played for the national team and in the Champions League. We took second place – the first time for Tyumen region in 80 years. It was amazing! Two similar events, and my attitude towards them was completely different. In 2023, I spent a negligible percentage of our free funds to participate in the competition, whereas in 2007, it was 5%. I didn't stop working – I attended meetings and conferences – and I don't consider that time wasted. I am convinced that the head of a company must always recognize their significance and prioritize their business. By 2023, the company was quite large, I had established online management processes, and participating in the competition was a completely reasonable action. In 2007, I did not think quite the same yet. Recognizing our own significance makes us more responsible and effective both in sports and in business.

At every stage of a career, the better you understand your significance to the business, the more effectively it develops. However, many entrepreneurs face a common problem: they try to separate themselves from their work, which is impossible. It's like in the movie "The Mask" – the mask becomes a part of you. In reality, an entrepreneur cannot separate themselves from their business, no matter how hard it may be to admit. Not until ten years passed had I realized it myself. I thought that if the business shut down, I could just do something else. But it doesn’t work that way: the business is a part of you, and you are a significant part of the business, and sometimes it’s hard to accept that.

Understanding one's significance in a company and the responsibility that comes with it is extremely important. This is connected with the internal motivators of each individual. For example, socially motivated people seek for opportunities to communicate and interact with other people, so different processes are important to them. Those who are results-oriented, the "achievers," want their business to be large-scale and well-known. There are also those for whom money is a priority. Monetary motivation is the simplest; it is easiest to manage people of this type, whereas managing "achievers" is the most challenging. They want to work only in large and successful systems and strive for significant positions. Such individuals are drawn to entrepreneurial culture, i.e. its principles, ethical norms, and traditions because it offers them exactly what they need. If you can create such a culture, these people will come and stay for a long time.

Let’s move on to what I’ve learnt about the 4 key principles that will help every entrepreneur enhance their significance and find their place in the system:

1. It's important to realize your connection with your business. Ask yourself, "What do I give to my business, and what does it give me?" I recommend taking some time to have a conversation with yourself to get an honest answer to the question: "Why do I need this business?" If the answer is simply "for the money," it might be worth reconsidering, because you can't build something great just for money.

2. If your motivation is just a pursuit of being busy, it's worth considering why is that. This is also a questionable type of motivation that is unlikely to lead to significant achievements.

3. If the goal is to impress your friends or acquaintances with how cool you are, this may work for a while, but it won't lead to long-term success.

4. The best type of motivation is when you dedicate your life to your business, genuinely love it, and are willing to do more for it than for your loved ones. Only if you are sincerely attached to your work do you have a chance to achieve real success.

If I think back to 2005–2006, when I was 26 years old, my life looked like this: I was working, studying, and could afford to go to the gym at 3 p.m. There were times when I could put something off for five months, thinking, "It can wait, it's not a big deal." I didn't realize how much I could do and I was afraid to communicate with partners. I started my business in 2000, and for the first five years, I didn't meet a single developer or banker because I didn't understand how important such meetings were. The thing is, our business depends on partnerships, but initially, this wasn't obvious to me: I thought there was an internal system, and it was enough to make things right within it. It took me some time to understand that modern business can’t work without external integration, interactions, and good connections.

After being a manager for 25 years, I can say that the first thing to do is to merge with your business. If you don't do this, you won't achieve success. Initially, I didn’t feel a strong passion or drive for business. From 2000 to 2008, I was like most people: I went to work and did what I had to do. I was involved, but only because it was necessary. The only thing I aimed at was making money. In 2008–2009, a lot changed, and I began to fall in love with the business. I started to think of it as my baby. I got a strong feeling that we could change the entire real estate sector, and our company should be a leader in it. However, at that time (2009) we were not among the 50 largest real estate companies in Russia. By the end of 2024, we became the top company in Europe and seventh in the world by business volume. And all of this happened in just one decade.

When my attitude to work changed, I started working until ten in the evening. When something didn’t go well, I literally felt pain in my chest. After 2011, the whole new period of my life began when I realized that I and my company "Etagi" were one and the same. I realized that I wanted to dedicate my entire life to the development of this company. There were many challenges ahead, and I am sure that the readers of this book will understand that my journey was not easy.

I haven’t noticed how my business gradually took over my life. Work became my daily focus, and I put my afternoon workouts on hold – a situation I can’t relate to at all nowadays. I don’t know what would have had to happen back then for me to prioritize my workout over work. With each passing day, I felt more and more the energy that you get from teamwork and responsibility. I realized that managing the company is my main calling, and I cannot let my people down. Many people think that I work like a robot now, but that is so not true.