The Second University of Career: Becoming a Leader Through Learning

In my previous post, I wrote that symbolically, our new office transformed everything: the company was slowly transitioning from its teenage years into the stage of a mature young adult, and I, as a leader, finally realized that I didn’t understand what it meant to be one.

I also mentioned two books that followed one after another — “Manager in 24 hours” by T. Misiukonis and “From Craft to Business” by Nerius Jasinavičius. The third book, “Principles” by American business investor Ray Dalio (whom I also consider an authority), probably had the most significant leap forward into my next career stage — or, more accurately, the proper foundation for what PrestaRock has become today.

Speaking of Ray Dalio, his book’s tone and style felt like an older version of me wrote it. It completely matched my worldview in every aspect I had read. Honestly, it was strange — in a sincere way — like conversing with my older self. I should note that I hadn’t previously developed the same principles as Dalio, but I agreed with 100% of what he described. It was probably the perfect book I could have read and absorbed at the time.

Ray Dalio’s Principles laid the cultural foundation of our company, which we still follow today. Every new employee or intern’s first day is explicitly dedicated to getting to know and understand our company culture. On that first day, we establish a tacit understanding of the principles, culture, and values we will follow together.

This is the moment to pause and reflect on the importance of reading books. It slowly became a hobby whenever I could fit it in, and each book had a real impact — transforming my inner outlook and thoughts on myself, entrepreneurship, process building, and more. But still, books weren’t the only thing I lived on.

I remember when my first training with N. Jasinavičius — a year-long course — cost just over a couple thousand euros. It raised a big question: Can the company afford this? Will I learn something useful for that price? What if they only talk about things I already know? I had many questions and doubts. But after experiencing the value of that training, I began investing all my earned profits in learning — both for myself and my team — through dozens of external training sessions. That’s what helped us become standardized as a team and laid the groundwork for everything to come.

August 2019 – Unlocking Employee Potential

In a 2-day training with Tomas Misiukonis I learned how to lead feedback conversations and discovered coaching as an alternative to control.

• I learned which coaching methods to use at different stages of employee growth, which helped employees grow faster while reducing my workload.
• I solidified our feedback process — standardized and recurring every three months — enabling employees to receive raises regularly.
• I learned to listen, hear what was being said, and respond instead of trying to direct people toward what I thought was right.
• I learned how to give constructive feedback when work wasn’t done correctly.
• I began resolving conflicts through mutual agreements, rather than relying on anger or negative emotions.

September 2019 – Sales 101 with Darius Pietaris

During the AMVER training, I realized I knew absolutely nothing about sales. These first sessions with Darius Pietaris became my guiding star:

• I learned to identify clients’ pain points and understand what mattered to them, combining this with my technical knowledge to offer meaningful solutions immediately.
• I learned about objections and how to handle them, which gave me the confidence to ask why someone wasn’t interested and secure sales afterward.
• I formed my first active sales habits, which were highly unfamiliar to me as an introvert. I overcame my fear of picking up the phone and asking for feedback or initiating contact.

September 2019 – Sales day with Owen Fitzpatrick

Knowing that sales and marketing were my weakest areas, I sought to deepen my knowledge. These might seem like “light” courses at first glance — but the devil’s in the details.

• I learned which words to use when talking to clients — and which to avoid.
• When I watch Apple product launches, I can spot the exact American-style phrasing that triggers the desire to buy — and I know how to use it myself.

January 2020 – Building the Team Matrix and KPI Metrics with Lina Jankauskienė

Two days of training were so impactful that despite returning exhausted from Vilnius, I immediately began building the foundation of our PrestaRock competency matrix and global standard salary system.

• We eliminated confusion around who was junior and who was experienced — we defined clear role expectations.
• I outlined job levels and goals, creating a transparent growth plan tied to learning objectives.
• Standardized all performance indicators by role and profession and linked them to compensation.
• Built our first company dashboards, inspired by AMVER, to track weekly data and prevent issues instead of just reacting.

January 2020 – Salary System and Motivation with Jurga Bajoriūnienė

This 2-day training built on everything I learned about metrics and helped me tie it to employee motivation.

• I realized salary systems begin with employee satisfaction, job quality, and relationships — another mindset shift as a leader.
• For the first time in 5 years, I understood what motivates people and how to use the “carrot and stick” principle effectively.
• Based on the role, I learned to identify when to apply bonus systems — and when not to.
• Transparency and alignment between company profit-tracked metrics and compensation became a value we still uphold.

May 2020 – Working with Key Accounts with Vygantas Keras

Even though I was a good executor, I wanted to become a partner, and this training showed me how.

• Learned how to build B2B relationships — not just B2C — and why partnership matters.
• Learned to recognize when a client sees you as a partner and how to get there.
• I realized that clients’ employees don’t always work in their company’s best interest—often, they’re just trying to keep their jobs or earn bonuses. I learned to work with that.
• Learning to identify stakeholders, separate their desires from those of the company, and find ways to meet both leads to stronger relationships.

October 2020 – Long-Term Motivation with Gintarė Varnelė

Six months into our salary and metrics systems, I saw they weren’t enough. I still didn’t know how to motivate people in the long term.

• I learned what motivates employees and how to assess each person’s motivators. I helped identify who to let go and who to grow.
• Learned to shift people from external to internal motivation by giving them meaningful goals tied to company results.
• Learned how to adjust our agreements and feedback to encourage internal motivation and independence.

September 2021 – Two Negotiation Trainings with Darius Pietaris

Sales, marketing, and negotiation are still my weakest skills — but they’re essential when working with Lithuania’s biggest brands.

• Learned that negotiation is about ongoing practice — not just tactics or theory.
• Started seeing counterparts as partners in negotiation, seeking mutual gain and shared value.
• I learned to prepare: what losses I could accept, what wins I was aiming for, and what the other side might want.

September 2021 – Employer Branding Strategy with Jonas Banys

All I’d learned so far made me want to show that we are a great company, but I didn’t know how. This training gave me a great introduction to company strategy.

• Reconfirmed that we must first solve employees’ problems and make them happy to become a good employer.
• Gained a clear, step-by-step plan for positioning ourselves as a top employer in the market.

Since then, I’ve kept a similar learning pace. Sometimes, I wonder if I’ve had too little training in the past two years — because, after each one, an evident transformation took place, both in myself and the company. These weren’t just “attended” events — I applied the material that week.

The three books and all these business trainings helped me take the next step: to understand what I didn’t know and shape the kind of company I want to see.

I imagined PrestaRock growing like an octopus from a central core — me — while I, like Ray Dalio, think and know which direction to move in and how to make things work at their best. My employees are an extension of that core: extra arms implementing what’s been thought out, tested, and refined through experience.

But… did everything go smoothly and successfully? What challenges did I face? What wins did I experience while growing alongside our clients? I will discuss this further in the next post.