Success Story: My GVR Journey - Marjo Hahl

Marjo’s Success Story

It is funny being asked to write this, my success story, as I don’t really think of myself as successful. I’m not used to telling people about my personal successes, perhaps that’s the Finnish way or just my way. Either way, it feels a little odd to do this but here it goes….

Sometimes I don’t realize, or I forget how far I have come, what I have achieved, how many people I have influenced, helped, or inspired, and what I am really capable of doing. Writing this story made me actually stop and think about that a little…

I have been in this company for 20 years and in that time covered a few different roles (accounts receivables (yes REALLY!), sales assistant, sales manager, key account manager). It took me a long time to understand that flexibility and the ability to adapt is not something everyone has and maybe I took myself for granted in this respect. Each role I had gave me something different. I learned that you need to struggle to see where your limits are and discover what you really are capable of...and it’s not comfortable to put yourself into that situation and not always easy to find the opportunity either.

I like people (maybe strange for a Finn), and my rewards come when I feel I can do something for others that makes a difference to them. It's not money or titles (note to manager that they are nice too by the way) that are My indicator of My success, but rather it’s the level of trust people are willing to offer me. They say, “Trust is earned” and when I look back over my career, in those different roles I can see now where I was successful and where I wasn’t, where people trusted me enough to let me try and where I hadn’t earned that trust.

The key to my success: stop taking myself for granted. Stop underestimating what I am actually capable of. Start trusting myself. I earned that.

Marjo