Hussain Dawood Delivers an Insightful Talk at HSM Shaheed Memorial Lecture
Thursday, September 10 2020
Mr Hussain Dawood, Chairman Dawood Hercules Corporation, Engro Corporation and Karachi School of Business and Leadership addressed the first Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad (Shaheed) Memorial Lecture, a series of insightful talks that aims to feature people who are epitome of success and have made tremendous social impact in the world at large.
Addressing the audience, Mr Dawood expressed his deepest gratitude towards the administration of UMT for inviting him as the guest speaker. Remembering Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad (Shaheed) he said that the two of them shared the same set of ideas about leadership and the degree of success and hence it is an honor for him to present the same frame of reference to the audience today. He said Dr Hasan joined his company as a Financial Analyst and shared a close rapport with him. Later, in 1990 he established ILM which later transformed into UMT, an incredible success story that embodies true leadership and mentorship of a person who kicked off his journey with absolutely nothing in hand.
Addressing the guest lecture, he said that his journey embodies daunting challenges, yet he continued with resilience and commitment. After his father’s death in 2002, he had to resume his responsibilities and develop a fundamental base for their business enterprise. Talking about the business milieu back then, he stated that after nationalization, a stringent anti-privatization policy hindered private sector and business activities, and led to innumerable and reconcilable family conflicts. People comment that I was born with a golden spoon, however, for me, each individual is born with his/her own set of challenges and what matters the most is how you overcome them, he added.
Mr Dawood said that leadership is an innate characteristic and his approach towards learning and leading from the front is based on practicality. Leading yourself is vital and for that, you need to set a time dimension. You need to ask yourself about your goals and the time frame you require to accomplish them. To encounter challenges, you need to be consistent in terms of decision making. You may have the same set of challenges that I had back then. Every individual struggles in life, whether it is the fear of failure, lack of self-confidence or external influences, Mr Dawood reiterated.
He urged youngsters to develop a sense of humility, as this is the best methodology to move ahead in life. Good decision making is all about instant accountability to yourself and to the creator. This sense of accountability acts as a guiding light and saves you from making immature decisions in life. He said that he believes in trying, as an individual might fail in accomplishing his goals but still cannot be deemed as a failure. Concluding his address, he thanked UMT for inviting him to the lecture and said he was honored to be a part of this insightful and thought provoking series of lectures.
