THE MAIN THING FOR EVERYTHING
When as our heroine finds herself at the crossroads and does not understand what to do next she recalls the words of her mother saying "Walk and you shell reach" and she keeps walking. To date, the mother's advice has always helped her.
Maria Akchurina
Post: head of the representative office of Mirantis company in Russia,
Age: 30 years.
Education: Moscow State University, state governance department, she is currently studying at Stockholm School of Economics under International Executive MBA program.
Beginning
I studied in a usual school in Chertanovo, plus a musical school and additional courses of English. The mother hired me as a secretary in her company that worked with securities during my vacations after the eighth grade not to leave me idle. I worked for three summers in such way and understood that business was what I wanted to do.
I knew where I would enter from about the third grade. Someone told me about the Moscow State University and I knew that it was the best higher educational institution of the country and it was difficult to enter it. When I was in the eleventh grade the mother found a tutor to prepare me for entrance into the legal department and she proposed considering the entrance into the state governance department because it had the law, the economics and the management (everything that was interesting for me), the department was established quite recently and competition for entrance there was less than competition for entrance into the legal department.
Probationer
By the fourth year I understood that I wanted to work in consulting. I found the first real job due to acquaintance: a girl from my group brought me to Optima company. It remains one of the biggest on the market of IT services in Russia still. I was hired as a probationer. For the first half of the day I studied and for the second half of the day I worked. My first salary was $350. During vacations I already worked full time for $600. A new boss came in September and he did not need probationers. One of the partners of the company heard that I was reduced and invited me to his company immediately as a probationer too. I worked for a year and became a consultant after graduation from the institute.
Consultant
By August of 2003, I felt bored. The work was routine, there were no prospects and I placed my CV on several sites. Having passed five interviews and having received two job offers, I chose R. and K. Consulting. The company was just being established from the zero level and it was interesting and promising to stand at the cradle.
I came to a position of business analyst and two years later I became the head of the sales department. The reason is that I am not only a good analyst (all our analysts are perfect), I also communicate with clients well and win deals. Ability to reach agreements and to feel the needs of a company is not less equal than hi-tech products. To put this simple, business analyst is a person who communicates with different people permanently and asks, "How do you do this? What if we try it this way? What if we try to change places of these?" Sometimes there are funny moments. One of the companies with which I worked always had cash gaps: they already paid all bills but their clients did not pay, there was no money on the settlement account and the time of their next bills already came. I proposed keeping of payment calendar: to write when money from the clients should be transferred to them for a month ahead and to plan their expenses proceeding from this. Amazingly, it did not come to the mind of director or accountant that one table made in Excel could spare them from the headache of many years. This is a funny example but it illustrates what I have been doing.
Master class
I received the first subordinates at 26 years old when I became the head of a department. The mother never helped me with the "career" but we always could discuss working issues and I could receive her advice of experienced economist and manager. When I was at the crossroads and did not know where to go the mother always told me, "Walk and you shell reach!" It is better to move forward methodically and not to freeze like a jerboa, not to fuss but to walk, walk and walk and you will finally come where you have planned to.
Until 2007, business of our company was running very well, we were winning tenders and sales of our IT products were growing. The market situation changed afterwards and we had no buyers. I phoned the owner and told him that it was necessary to close the company before it grew unprofitable. It seems to me that ability to stop on time is a very important quality of a successful manager. The owner agreed with me and the next half a year was spent on correct closing: not to offend clients and employees and to draw documents. Closing of a company is a difficult moment for every manager: it is necessary to know soberly what you have done correctly and what incorrectly, to rise above this and to walk forward again afterwards.
Director
Almost immediately I was invited to position of director for development of business to Mirantis, a part of the same holding. This Russian-American company worked on the US market previously and my task was development of the Russian business. I evidently managed to do this. When a year ago the head of the representative office quit the company he proposed my candidacy for his place. After his departure the most important thing was to preserve relations with clients and employees. My predecessor created a team, he enjoyed huge respect and every step of mine was compared to the way how he would act in this situation.
In about three months I was watching and moving along the already plotted course and afterwards I started bringing new ideas into life. I created a unified information network for all employees. Now documents are available for each of them in any point of the globe. This circumstance saves much time for the colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I also re-distributed duties of the employees. I have hired probationers who are doing routine work to spare the time of experienced specialists for fulfillment of non-standard tasks. In general, after a year of work I can say that I have been received well as the head of the representative office.
About the dreams
I do not guess what will be next yet. A post higher than mine is either general director of a company or owner of an own company. Well, or mother of several babies whom I wish very much too. When I came to the holding our shareholder talked to me. He asked what I wanted to be in five to seven years. I said that I wanted to be a top manager of a company. He asked, which company, big or small? I answered that any small company dreams about becoming big. He laughed and said that he hired me and hoped that I would manage to do everything. I did.
Written by Alya Chukantseva