Mohammad F Anwar - Love as a Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging & Success

Dear Reader,

Writing this feels like a big task because there is so much I want you to know about the culture of love and the authors that have cultivated it at Softway. I think the fact that they entrusted me, a twenty - six - year - old project manager, to write this foreword says a lot about their character and the environment that they have created. This culture can be described in a lot of ways, but what it boils down to is one without fear.

There is no fear of making a mistake because mistakes are treated as learnings.

There is no fear of stepping on peoples toes because we are all rooting for each others growth.

There is no fear of speaking up because we know our ideas and concerns are always valued.

There is no fear of taking on something new because we know that we have support from anyone that we ask.

There is no fear of weaknesses because my weaknesses are supported by others strengths.

There is no fear of leadership because the leaders share their mistakes with us with honesty and vulnerability.

There is no fear of the unknown because we trust that decisions are being made with our best interests at heart.

There is no fear of showing our true selves because we know that we will be welcomed with open arms.

For anyone who has lived in fear, you know that it is unpleasant at best and debilitating at its worst. When fear is present, there is no room for growth and maturityyou are simply trying to make it through the day. When you are able to let your guard down, that is where the magic happens. Those are the times you are able to push beyond what you know you can do and accomplish things you never thought were possible.

I cant speak for everyone at Softway, individually, but I can say that I have heard testimony after testimony of this happening within our Softway family. Stories of extreme introverts taking over the microphone at all - company meetings, stories of people complacent in their roles and then pushed to take on a new challenge, stories of junior team members being given the opportunity to pitch to a client, and stories of a nervous project manager speaking on a podcast alongside some of the most senior leaders in the organization (thanks for believing in me, guys!).

It is our leaders who push us all to become the best versions of ourselves, and they do this by examplenot by being perfect, but by sharing with us when they mess up. They are constantly striving to practice what they preach every single day, and they fail a lot, but they own it and attempt to better themselves because of it. I have learned so much from their vulnerability, simply because of proximitylessons that I will take forward with me in my professional life as well as my personal life.

From Frank, I have learned the art of receiving feedback as well as the art of making a latte.

From Chris, I have learned how to make people feel heard as well as how to throw shade.

From Jeff, I have learned how to make complex problems seem simpler, as well as how a good game can bring people together.

From Mohammad, I have learned how to humbly apologize and ask for forgiveness as well as how to make really bad puns somehow funny.

I have not been a passive bystander in this culture of love. I have reaped the benefits because I have contributed to and sacrificed for this organization that I love. Sometimes that means forgoing sleep for a late - night or early - morning meeting to accommodate our team members in India. Sometimes that means doing things outside of your job description in order to get a project across the finish line. But a lot of times, it just looks like forgiving the leaders that I look up to because they too are human.

You cannot expect to experience a culture of love if you are not willing to be swayed and changed by that culture first. At the end of the day, what we have at Softway is special. Its not just a safe workplace. Its a home and a family. And like most families, we will get it wrong a lot, but that doesnt change the DNA that binds us all together.

With love,

Maggie McClurkin