The right way to use our full potential is to make decisions and take action, not staying immobilized, waiting for things to fix themselves.
Our society evolves thanks to our talent and work, avoiding negativity, pessimism and complaining.
I was once appointed Manager of the Consumer Credit Department in a renowned Financial Institution in my country, Venezuela. At the beginning this was a project in the Institution that took approximately six months to be approved, one of my functions at that time was that of Business Officer of Mortgage and Vehicle Loans, being appointed by the Area Vice-President to assemble and discuss before the Board of Directors of the bank the project.
This was not an easy task, because it required an exhaustive investigation where I took as an example similar products in other institutions, what were their regulations and how the credit analysis would be carried out, and of course to project financially the income and expenses that would be incurred.
For the approval before the Board of Directors in the course of six months I had to work on approximately 12 proposals together with the Area Vice President, his assistant, and a credit analyst.
Together we discussed the need for the product, the cost of the product, how to implement it through branches and agencies, the advantages and disadvantages of the financial product, and what the return would be for the institution.
After the 12 proposals for the approval, correcting them according to the observations of each one of the directors, the approval of the product was obtained, but before the implementation it was necessary to request the authorization of the Superintendence of the Institutions of the Banking Sector, (Sudeban).
Another step to follow, which was carried out in parallel with the authorization request, was the creation of a Standards and Procedures Manual to comply with the requirements of the bank's Internal Audit.
It took me a year and a half to do everything I have said so far, in conjunction with my work as a Business Executive.
During this time I encountered negative attitudes from other management, adverse opinions of the product, co-workers who tried to demotivate me, excessive workload and many people with hidden interests flattering me. In fact, the stress almost made me give up and abandon the project.
I was always in favor of positivism, I avoided complaining about the workload and continued to methodically carry out my work of implementing a new product, I requested the incorporation of new personnel. At my insistence, I was authorized to hold meetings with the departments that would be involved in order to get this project off the ground and begin to bear fruit. All this turned out to be successful thanks to the collaboration I received from the planning, audit, credit, technology, legal, and liquidation areas of the bank.
The representatives of each of these areas presented their opinions and suggestions about the new financial product to be offered to our clients, which served to adjust: the Rules and Procedures Manual, the way in which the operations would be analyzed, the budget necessary for this new department to function, the need for department personnel, the automation of a new system to settle the approved operations, and the compliance with legal regulations. The idea was to interact as a system, as a gear that would make a machine work.
With these actions we were able to anticipate many situations that would have been difficult to solve without having applied the knowledge obtained in these meetings.
Thus, the product was launched to the market, attacking different niches of the population, we provided prior approval credits supported by a contract that had all the characteristics of a promissory note, we were intermediaries that helped develop entrepreneurs who needed small machinery to start a business, home equipment through the purchase of white line and brown line, real estate repair, purchase of merchandise for retail sale, vehicle repair, dental services and many other things.
Our department managed to be one of the main sources of income for the Institution and something very important, we had the lowest delinquency rate of all the bank's financial products for a long time given the forecasts taken before launching the product in the financial market.
Since I had the opportunity to live this experience I have realized that it is important to be positive, to always move forward, consulting and involving others always having a goal, with clear ideas, and explaining and transmitting to others the opinions in a clear way so that we all understand the usefulness and importance of our actions.
To this day I am still optimistic, persevering, applying what I have learned and I have to tell you that I have had other experiences as satisfactory as the one I have described, it is important to have confidence in ourselves and in our attitudes and abilities to achieve success in what we propose. It is always important to give credit to the people who help you either in the work or personal sphere, working in a team and giving a sense of belonging to others makes you feel good and therefore you can exploit that extra percentage of skills that lies within you.
This is my participation in the 88th topic of the weekend suggested by 
Option two: Best performance
Explain a time when you performed at your best. What was the situation and the thoughts, attitudes and actions you applied to cause you to perform so well. Have you managed to replicate that feeling again and if not, why not?
Thank you community for allowing me to participate in this thoughtful dynamic. I bid you farewell until next time.