We spoke to one Twiller, Alina Croitoru who is an Employee Experience Catalyst at Twill, about her views on overcoming difficulties and that dreaded word – failure.
Failure is a gift
“I genuinely believe failure is a gift. A gift that you give to yourself to learn, to grow, to have the chance to improve. And since I started my journey with Twill, this statement followed my steps. From my own little world, I am happy to share a few of my most important learnings from the community that represents Twill.
“I’ve learned to be vulnerable, to overcome my fear of being unguarded, of showing my sensibilities. The dynamics that people create in Twill showed me that being vulnerable does not make me weak – it only makes me wiser and stronger. Vulnerability gives an opportunity to people to connect beyond what we express externally.
“I found the reinforcement of my belief that before or after our titles, we are humans, this is our first and most important role. Deep down, we are all aware of this aspect. However, I have always felt that due to our everyday pursuits, often these details are somehow forgotten. In Twill, I feel I have been brought back to the root values of genuine humanity – that is how we truly link with each other and this is what makes a business work.
Business is about people
“Business is, to the fullest degree, about people. You may think that reading this from a person that eats HR for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner sounds commercial. But before being a Twiller, I have always had the impression that in this corporate business lifestyle, sometimes it is neglected that our professional approach is anchored with our humanity through the way we work, the way we collaborate, whether we take risks or not and how we react and behave. Every single day gives us insights, gives us learnings from every person we are surrounded with, action that we take and thought that we have.
“I’ve learned that HR does not equal making people happy. It is more about enabling and helping people to find their best assets and use them to enhance their career journey in a more valuable way that gives a sense of purpose.
“At Twill, I have reinforced my ideas that all our principles, perspectives and ideas can come ideas can be converted into reality. Indeed, there are many factors in this whole process of creating something meaningful. However, a large element is the vibe that people build in a company when you have awesome people to work with, that challenge you and believe in the same values as you do. Most importantly, you must not only believe but act. I am happy to work in a company where integrity is truly shown through behaviour.
Use your time wisely
“I have acknowledged now that a career is a journey about learning. What we do is our footprint, sometimes in all people’s life, sometimes in none but our own, sometimes in a few. But doing what you believe in and sticking to your values is always the right and best decision, taking ownership on our actions in any case. If it is a mistake, it is our own responsibility to absorb the learnings and repair what we did with a solution. If we achieve success, always celebrate. If it did not move the mountain, keep searching and trying to find a way to get that mountain shifted! All our actions are of high value even though they can look like a minor activity. Aiming for quality beats by far, quantity and I’ve learnt that is crucial to use time efficiently and in a very well thought out manner. This means prioritising and sometimes choosing your battles.
“Last, but not least, I have realised that our jobs (even though I have never liked this word) are so different, yet so similar. Why? Well, everything evolves when a business has a customer-centric mindset. If a Business Development Manager’s focus of service is the external customer, a developer’s activity revolves in building a reliable product so that the previous role can showcase the quality of the product.
“I see business like a round cycle, without end because every dot is significant and consequential. Each role contributes to overall success. Learning is a never-ending process. Learning is about seeking progress. Growth stays in taking risk to fail. Growth stays in learning.”
