The person I'd like to talk about is a woman called Folake, who was my manager when I started working at a hotel in Lagos about five years ago. I worked on the front desk, and she was the head of reception.
At first I thought she was cold and unfair. She hardly ever smiled, she corrected the smallest mistakes in front of everybody, and she insisted on things that seemed pointless to me, like checking the spelling of every guest's name twice. I remember complaining to my friends that she must have enjoyed making us nervous. I seriously considered asking for a transfer to another department.
What changed my mind was an incident about six months later. A guest accused me of losing his passport, and he was shouting at me in front of the whole lobby. I was completely panicking. Folake walked over, calmly took control and spent two hours helping him search. It turned out he'd left it in a taxi. Afterwards she found me in the staff room and told me I'd handled it well, and then she explained that she was strict because small mistakes in hotels can turn into huge problems, exactly like that one. She also admitted she'd been given a very hard time when she started.
Now I feel enormous respect and gratitude towards her. Many of the habits she gave me, like double-checking details and staying calm under pressure, are the reason I've been promoted to assistant manager. We still meet for lunch every few months. I've learned not to judge people too quickly, especially those who seem tough.