What is the secret of success? Why do many leaders fail? What is the real cause of burnout? And how do we find the balance between work and personal life? I discussed questions like these with dr. István Molnár, a patent attorney, lawyer, university professor and the Business Development Director at SBGK Law Firm. A brutally honest, enlightening, and inspiring interview about successes, failures, the profession, and life.
“Sometimes I feel that it is more my failures than my successes that have led me to where I am today. Accordingly, it does not mean that I regret my failures, but rather, I consider them as creating value.
I was only 28 years old when I was appointed the CEO of a university knowledge transfer company, BIOPOLISZ. The company soon became one of the 50 most promising companies. I put tremendous effort into that company.
Finally, after 8 years of operation, the project was stopped due to the unfavorable macroeconomic situation. Therefore, I decided to leave. When I left, I had absolutely no appreciation from the management for my dedication and hard work. It took me a long time to deal with that experience.
If I could go back in time, I would definitely choose the same path again. Later, I understood that my perceived failure had created valuable partial results. The methodological innovations discovered in the company are still used in research and development today.
I also grew a lot as a manager. Thanks to these years, I understood how to change my communication style and my attitude towards my team. Still, when the project ended, I was so disappointed that I promised myself I would never take a management position in my life. Interestingly, 6 months later I became the Managing Director of Danubia IP.
With this experience, I can see why several managers fail in their roles. They can’t balance the workload between employees, they don’t pay attention to their people, and they fail to match the competencies to the task.
The result can be an unmanageable amount of tasks for certain people who must overwork beyond their capacity to maintain performance. Other parts of the organization may develop an attitude of avoiding work. These processes can only be reversed by replacing the management.
Sometimes managers are afraid to delegate tasks, and they want to do everything themselves. For me, delegation is a form of trust in my colleagues. They probably take this as a sign of trust, too. To create such an honest and pleasant environment, I believe that communication skills alone are not enough. You have to value and appreciate the people you work with.
This is the reason why I cannot share the old-school perspective that employees should sacrifice their lives and health for the company or a project. For me, my team comes first, the tasks come second, and these are more important to me than my career.
This attitude is especially important in our field. It is hard to find a more stressful sector than intellectual property management. An invention is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that there are occasions when you simply cannot afford to make a mistake.
I keep most of the stress associated with it to myself. And it is not because I am perfect. It is because I know that if I put that kind of pressure on my colleagues, they won’t want to be in my team. And the people I work with are precious to me. So, it is my responsibility to communicate in such a way that our working atmosphere is pleasant, trustworthy, and based on mutual respect.
I don’t think being a good manager requires extraordinary talent. It is about doing your work with diligence, being trustworthy and appreciative of the people you work with. I also believe that success in general, requires more persistence and less talent. The ability to persevere, to repeat, to start over again, and to adapt or change when necessary.
Personally, I am not able to not try things again. I am not able to not start it again, even if I have failed. So, when we talk about destiny, I think it is mostly the sum of the decisions that you have taken in your life. With some exceptions. The reason why I have this professional destiny is that I never avoid difficulties and I continue and persist even if there is no tangible guarantee of future success.
Like my first Iron Man experience. With my immense workload at the time, I simply didn’t have enough energy to prepare for the race. I felt devastated after the competition and told myself I would never try again because my physiology was not made for it. I soon realized that it was just a lie I told myself. Therefore, I started to train 15 hours a week. 8 years later in the same race conditions, I progressed 4 hours and I won the gold medal in my category.
Sport is like this: it is very objective. The more you push yourself, the better the results you get. A work environment is different. Suppose your management doesn’t want to change the old enterprise management software. The harder you push, the more tension you create. Such a problem can lead to an irreversible breakdown in human relations. So, while in sports you may apply brute force, in a work environment it can destroy everything. For human relationships, mutual respect and honest communication are the only way to go.
Over the years, failures and difficulties returned cyclically, either in my professional or personal life. What they all had in common was that they made me act because I wanted to change my situation. I have an inner motivation that pulls me forward and a fear of failure that pushes me from behind. Even when I was not sure I would succeed, I never blamed myself for the decisions I made and always listened to myself when I knew it was time to change.
What I consider the key to success is what we often call an entrepreneurial spirit. “Will I take on new projects and risk failing to learn during the implementation? Will I recognize the need to change in time? How do I manage criticism? Do I feel anxious about certain tasks, standing in front of people?”
Such questions can determine whether I can bring about a change that will affect my destiny rather than just being the subject of life’s changes. But what should always remain in the focus is the need for good people around you, value creation, self-respect, and the recognition if it is time to change.”
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