I used to ask more often: "How do we solve this?"
Today my question has become: "How do we solve this, who owns it afterwards, and what do we change so it does not come back?"
That may be the biggest change I have made as a leader.
How I led in Albania
In Albania I had roles with broad management responsibility. I was close to sales, inventory, the warehouse, costs, cash flow and the development of the partner network. I also managed a network of 61 active resellers.
That meant I could not look at many problems only from the point of view of one department. A decision about sales affected stock. A problem with stock affected the customer. A weak relationship with a partner affected revenue.
My style was more direct and very focused on the solution. When there was a problem, my instinct was to get inside it, understand what was happening and push for us to move quickly towards a solution.
With the team, too, I always preferred to stay close to the operation. I never liked the idea of a manager who knows only the report, but not what happens where the work is done.
The weight of the process
What has become much more visible to me in Germany is the weight of the process.
In many of the roles I have had here, it is not enough for the work to be done. It has to be done according to the process, it has to be documented and, when necessary, it has to be possible to prove that it was checked.
I have seen this very clearly in logistics and in hospitality alike. In logistics there were KPIs, a clear split of responsibilities, procedures, operating rules and escalation when something went outside the standard. In hospitality it becomes even more visible. There are checklists, reports, shift handovers, checks, and much clearer limits between what you can decide yourself and what you have to escalate.
Another thing is that documentation carries weight. A problem only one person knows about is still a problem for the organisation. But once it is documented, it can be followed up, an owner can be assigned to it, and you can see whether it is repeating.
What I took from Germany
The biggest change is process discipline.
I used to be very focused on the result: the problem exists, it has to be solved. Today I add another question: what has to change in the process so that we do not have to solve the same problem again?
That is why today I give much more weight to SOPs, checklists, KPIs, the handover, documentation, and the ownership of a task.
I have also learned to separate initiative from authority more clearly. I can identify a problem, analyse it, propose a solution and do my part. But that does not automatically mean every decision is mine. This line seems much more important to me today than before.
And I have learned something that can look bureaucratic at first, but has a lot of value in operations: if a process only works because a good person remembers it, you do not yet have a good process.
What I kept from Albania
I have kept staying close to the operation. I still do not believe you can lead a process well from reports alone. You have to see what happens where the work is done. In logistics that means understanding what really happens on the ramp and with the people during the shift, not just looking at the percentage at the end of the day. In a hotel it means understanding what really happens at the reception desk during a shift, not just reading the report in the morning.
I have also kept flexibility. When a problem comes up, I do not like to answer straight away with: "That's not my job." I first try to understand whether I can help the situation without crossing the limits of my role.
And I have kept the human relationship with the team. Process matters, but people are not processes. An employee can have the same task as yesterday and come to work today in a completely different state. Management has to see that too.
I would not say these things are "missing" in Germany. That would be a generalisation I cannot back up from my own experience. I can only say they are parts of my style that I brought with me and did not want to lose while adapting to a more structured working culture.
What I would do differently
I do not have a single, clearly documented decision from Albania that I can reconstruct with certainty and say: "That was the mistake, and today I would do it this way." And I would not invent a story just because the essay needs a dramatic moment.
But there is one thing I would do differently today in general: I would document more.
If a process worked because I knew it, today I would try to make the system know it. If a problem was solved, I would not be satisfied just with the fact that the problem went away. I would want to understand why it happened and whether something in the process has to change.
And I would separate personal responsibility from organisational responsibility earlier. It is not always good for a leader to become the person who solves everything. Because the organisation can start to depend on that person instead of improving the way it works.
Two strengths that complete each other
I do not think one working culture should copy the other. But from what I have lived, I see two strengths that can complete each other very well.
From the structured way of working I have experienced in Germany, you can take more process discipline: clearer standards, documentation, defined roles, measurement and continuity. That makes an organisation less dependent on the individual.
From my experience in Albania, I would keep the speed of reaction, the closeness to people, and the ability to adapt when reality does not match the plan. Because even the best process on paper will one day face a situation that is not written down in it.
Today I see my way of leading exactly between these two worlds. From one I took the instinct to get into the problem and not wait for someone else to solve it. From the other I learned that solving the problem is not enough. You have to build a way of working that makes its return less likely.
I have not become less flexible.
I have become less willing to let flexibility replace the system.