“My situation is unique in that when I inherited the company, I was in a family business of one,” says Joelle Goudsmit. She became president of Dimension-All Formworks and Scaffoldings eight years ago when her mother passed away. “It was only me from the family in the business and there wasn’t anyone to talk to.”
During her first few years as a business leader, three of her contacts encouraged her to join YPO saying she would find it helpful. She took their advice and joined the YPO Philippines Chapter in 2010.
What was your first job or business?
Selling sandwiches at 8 or 9 years old. I grabbed all the ingredients from my mom’s kitchen and I had help making the sandwiches… but I assumed all the money was mine and that’s how a business works.
What is one must-read book for business leaders?
The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg. It talks about how we should, as much as possible, have habits built into our days so that we don’t spend lots of time making small decisions throughout the day when we can focus our energy instead on work decision we actually do need to make.
What is the most difficult leadership lesson you have learned?
My WPO mentor was talking to me about how leaders must be inspiring to other members on their teams. Quite a lot of leadership is about the energy that we bring to the table and the energy of the leader is the energy that mobilizes and inspires the team to go forward.
One of the reason I love YPO is that I find it is hard to be inspiring to others if I am not inspired myself. I try to find ways that I can learn, places where I can feed my soul, so I can go home and be full of inspiration for others.
What are 3 insights you would like to share?
- Last year, I traveled 300 days. I learned there are no excuses—it is possible to only travel with carry-on luggage and still bring everything I need, from heels, to a ball grown to everyday clothing.
- One of the best insights I’ve had recently is that I have the freedom to make a choice in any situation about how I’m going to act. A situation is the way it is; how I choose to be is totally my responsibility. There is a possibility to make any situation fun however difficult or challenging that situation may be. And that’s totally in my control.
- It is a great strength to know what I don’t know. If I find that I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m in trouble. It is so much better to be in a room with people who can teach me things.
How has being in YPO positively affected your business or leadership?
The membership might be local but the doors and possibilities open to me are global through the YPO network. And the lessons I learn… it’s not just from the seminars or the education… it’s, for me, about the random conversations I have with members from different chapters. I find that I have never wasted time speaking with a fellow YPOer. There is always a lesson that I walk away with and it’s always very inspiring.