I was running a team - but had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

8 years ago, I was a copy editor. Within months, I was running the entire marketing team... with major events at Suntec and Expo on the line.

And I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

The managers I reported to had started leaving, one by one.

So there I was.

Not only did I have no one to report to...

I now had a team to manage.

Video editor. Web designer. Email list executive.

And me... the guy hired to edit copy.

The challenge?

We had major events coming up. Thousands of seats to fill. Every marketing channel had to fire at once.

I started hiring. Another copywriter (who I eventually had to let go... painfully). A media buyer. A web and funnel builder.

Bought books on copywriting and marketing for the team to read and implement.

Sourced video gear so we could run ads and publish content.

Could this tiny team fill thousands of seats at Suntec? At Expo?

Gratefully... we did.

Thousands spent in ad spend. Online. Offline. Every channel pushed to its limit.

It was brutal. But it compressed years of learning into months.

What I didn't realize then: the fastest leadership training isn't a course.

It's being handed responsibility before you feel ready... and choosing to figure it out anyway.

That experience quietly became the foundation of how I think about building teams, running under pressure, and leading through uncertainty.

Some of us have been thrown into the deep end before we felt ready.

That's how learning happens, sometimes.

-Rusydi

P.S: If you ever want to learn marketing, mindset, leadership and business building...do let me know. We are opening up slots for the Revenue Operating System next month.