| Nearly all the highly successful Leaders, I have known have one thing in common: They’re driven by a compelling need to empower their teams and to enable them to prove themselves. That’s no coincidence. Not only is that compulsion often self-fulfilling, but it also provides critical insight into the making of some of the world’s greatest business leaders and what it takes to become one.
Such a person whom I do not perceive as my manager, but more as my mentor & most of all as a leader, Mian Omer has all the traits of a powerful business leader to lead his team inclined towards the mission, vision and core values of Ilaan.com as a relatively progressive organization. Sure enough, what Mian Omer has accomplished with sharp business acumen, is somehow beyond what anybody else in his position could have managed to come this far. He is widely known to have established a unique and competing presence of technology-enabled businesses into gaining market share in company’s largest business segment despite negative economic indicators in the region. He always treats us with respect and encourages us to be open with him at all times. Initially, just days after I was hired, I was astounded by his aggressiveness, his competitiveness, and the grandiosity of his vision. I sometimes joke about him being a high-tech Napoleon (in a good way). The first thing that comes to my mind is that he is a force to be reckoned with. Before I even begin to recommend his leadership traits, I realize that he comes naturally as a leader with a robust vision of taking the company light-years further with his team whilst establishing sound practices based on our company’s core values of Trust, Agility, Partnership and Initiative. Trust He instills in trust and empowerment to decide and act accordingly relying on our best judgement repetitively. This not only gives us a sheer sense of motivation to perform the tasks but helps shape our personality. For instance, he had trusted me with crucial business responsibilities multiple times (Single handedly launching Ilaan.com Karachi’s office and taking care of the entire region, his relentless support was enough to keep me going ) and ensured that I follow complex directions in a thorough and detailed manner. This attitude has always encouraged me to work independently without close supervision when it was appropriate. This can-do attitude has played a significant role into developing the person I am today, effectively contributing to team efforts.
Partnership
Suffice to say that his confidence in our abilities to handle new situations, and the respect he gives out by sharing his knowledge in the team instills in the powerful value of team learning. Agility Mian Omer is a daring corporate professional who wins the respect of others through his integrity and unwavering desire to bring out the best in his teams. He unfailingly handles conflict with grace and intelligence. He is an organizational whiz who can work on multilayered tasks and balance multiple projects concurrently and encourages his team to do so. As an example, even sometimes whenever I have struggled with the timelines (be it coordination, team management for time-bound matters, he will just let me know that I have got potential to deal with the challenge, hence empowering me to act as a decision maker and getting things done on an urgent note, in a qualitative time. This create a positive workplace environment in-fact gives me the assurance that my professional development is equally a priority for him as it is for me. Initiative With a keen eye on details and accuracy, he maintains an upbeat demeanor, always encouraging us to take initiative, risks and reach for the stars. For instance during the course of “Launch of Ilaan.com Karachi office”, along with collaborating, his own outstanding initiatives of collaborating on business to consumer, business to business and business to government, modelling the international workflow of business, client engagement and best business practices, along with the direction to the entire team had a significant impact on spearheading a great outcome on the utilization of ilaan.com’s product portfolio in Pakistan. That’s how we learnt valuable lessons that taught us self-reliance, and helped us gain self-confidence. Positive Team Interaction His strong human relations skills enables him to act as a role model for all of us as a team .His inbuilt strong verbal and written communications skills enables him to relay information to the entire team as a cohesive unit in a clear and coherent manner (clearly visible in his emails to the team on regular basis listing down priorities and adding notes of encouragement to the action items he deems significant) Never seen a leader not appreciate his team. Mian Omer is good at what he does the best; appreciates and praises all of us as we master each step of our new assignments. This attitude encourages us to work harder and learn new tasks and skills. For instance, during team meetings, when he gives criticism, he combines it with praise for what we do well. If something does go wrong, he does not publicly blame anyone else. If addressing a group, he explains the problem and enunciates steps being taken to prevent future occurrences. Humility, Patience and Accountability Mian Omer strives to complete each task and assignment on time and demonstrates to us as a team that he is a responsible person who keeps his word. This also helps others trust him and shows that he has a high level of accountability. He maintains a sense of bravado and self-assurance and is willing to admit his flaws, not focus on them too much. Having patience with others is one of his added virtue, because he realizes that co-workers each have their individual levels of learning and adapt to new tasks and job assignments accordingly. This consistently shows his need to reflect on his performance marked with self-confidence. He is definitely not a leader who appears insecure and continuously mentions the shortcomings of his team. Powerhouse of Work Ethic A leader like him who shows professional respect to everyone he encounters is respected because he treats other well, keeps himself accessible by his team at all times and instills in the confidence of them approaching him with their challenges whenever required. He encourages all of us to reach out to him and makes sufficient time on weekly/daily basis to lend an ear to the progress of our tasks and intercepts when needed. Conclusion These are some of the very few factors that make Mian Omer shine like a star. However I still feel that there is a lot more to him that just meets the eye which deserves every iota of recognition. He is one great mentor who inspires me all the time, makes me realize that we should focus on our strength rather than the weaknesses. He is a naturally caring person with a strong helping orientation towards those who consistently demonstrate a strong commitment and a higher service orientation towards our clients Under his leadership support, I am led to believe that if I want to make the best of my life, here’s how I have to do it: Be aware of what’s going on inside and around myself and face the reality and deal with it as openly and honestly as I can. Adversity, friction, stress, competition is tough stuff, no doubt, but he teaches all of us and leads by example that it is part of our lives and nobody has it easy. If we do pay heed to this simple reality, we definitely have a better chance of waking up to a happy tomorrow like him. |
fragiledreamz 