CEO Today Middle East Awards

CEO TODAY MIDDLE EAST AWARDS 2020 27 Construction What is success to you and how do you gauge it? I believe that time is money. In any business, the critical element to success is strategic business planning and most importantly - decisive decision-making. This decisiveness in decision- making, even amid ambiguities, is what potentially converts your efforts to results. Smart but slow decisions always prove to cause bottlenecks and affect the pace of your business. To me, success is a sense of fulfilment which comes along with doing projects with a social commitment, wherein at the other end, society as a whole is benefitting. This is majorly why we choose to work on a lot of infrastructures, government and school projects. Although a healthy cash flow shows business excellence, I believe that money or power alone cannot define an entrepreneur’s success. What does this award mean to you? It is a true honour to be nominated and to have won this award and I ‘d like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers and the esteemed jury members of The CEO Today Middle East Awards for finding me worthy of this recognition, and also congratulate all the fellow winners. The impact of an award, in my opinion, spreads wider than just the winners. It belongs to everyone in Airolink who strives to continuously do their best and is truly committed to offering nothing short of excellence. What’s your golden nugget of advice for other CEOs? I think that my 10-15 years of experience don’t put me in a state where I could advise others as I am still learning a new lesson or two every day. But this doesn’t stop me from sharing my thoughts on what I believe in when leading a team and building a successful business. Rather than racing ahead in the market at a breakneck-speed, I believe in the wisdom of taking things slowly and steadily - a sustainable approach wherein decisions are weighed, ensuring that projects align with the vision of the company. My entrepreneurial journey has taught me that leadership is a shared activity - one needs to actively seek advice from others. Over time, you should be able to master the ability to make quick judgements and precise decisions which is a requisite while leading a high-performing firm, where time is money. For the budding CEOs, I would say that your emphasis should be constantly on studying the market to keenly observe the changing trends, upcoming competition, and prepare yourself to move one step ahead. More importantly, I would advise any aspiring entrepreneur to dedicate time to build a strong support system of friends and confidantes. They are the ones who keep you steady, protect your interests and ensure you are always rooted.