Business

Saturday October 10, 2009

Syed Faisal: A number tells a thousand stories

By ANITA GABRIEL


DATUK Syed Faisal Albar’s ride to the top seat of two corporations – The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) and now, Pos Malaysia Bhd – reinforces the marketability of financial acumen for the CEO job.

This accountant CEO was “moulded” in PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Price Waterhouse) for about 10 years in both its offices in Kuala Lumpur and California. He joined NSTP as financial controller in 2000 and three years later, was appointed CEO.

Below, he talks about what it is about working in PwC and the accounting profession that preps one up for CEO-ship.

StarBizWeek: What is it about PwC – its nature of work or environment – that has prepared you for the tough job of a CEO?

Syed Faisal: There are many areas but one that certainly stood out was the “deep-end” syndrome. As an accounting firm, PwC has to provide solutions to clients. The issues that clients face can never ever be the same. Therefore, there is no “one-size-fits-all” template that can be used. Whenever I’m asked to solve a problem, almost often I will start by scratching my head. The Bakun project financial due diligence in 1997 was one. I felt as though I had been thrown into the “deep-end” of the ocean to either sink or swim.

In a funny way, this helps build two things – courage and ability to use common sense.

Even now, the accounting base gives me confidence to face complex situations.

What are the values it has taught you that you feel is important to make a good CEO?

There are many but I will quickly pick three – the discipline of paying attention to detail, ability to “zoom-in” and “zoom-out” and building relationships.

Paying attention to detail is the starting process of sizing-up any challenge or issues. Detailed thinking is a prerequisite to be strategic. It is a necessary virtue that new managers lack these days.

The other invaluable trait is the ability to “zoom-in” into details but at the same time “zoom-out” to still maintain the big picture. Being analytical means that you must not be embarrassed to ask silly questions. I believe most adverse situations can be addressed by asking the most obvious questions which tend to sound silly at times.

Equally imperative is that the nature of work forces you to build relationships. You see, most days are spent out at the client’s place. These clients are new people that you meet. To snoop into their business and get pertinent information, you need to build relationships so they trust you, to tell you more than what is required. Some of the creative management manoeuvres are discovered through mere corridor chat.

Is it the nature of the accounting profession – ability to dissect accounts, number crunch, financial savvy – that accords one with the necessary tools to become CEO?

These traits you mentioned are not the “be-all and end-all” but they do assist.

More often than not, financial numbers are seen to be understood only by geeks. But the reality to me is, numbers always tell a story. If the cliche is “a picture tells a thousand words”, I would say that “a number tells a thousand stories”. Almost the entire story of an organisation’s operation is captured on the financial statements. For example, if Pos Malaysia struggles with revenue growth, it could be that we were not allowed to increase postage prices for the last 17 years.

Numbers lead to a bigger picture on why certain things ended up the way they are. You can somewhat read the thinking of the board or management in terms of their aspirations and where the focus of the organisation lies by just reading the numbers. So, yes, it helps to have this ability in managing an organisation.

There is naturally more to leadership then just financial acumen, right?

Agreed. In fact, I would say, there are much more. Because of the risk-averse nature of the environment in accounting firms, it can be a counter-productive trait in building businesses. Managing is about anticipating and leading is about taking positions. I believe you need both to be a leader. Financial savvy does not teach you these and does not coach you to have required EQ.

Clarity in communication, the ability to inspire others and being forceful or directive are the necessary EQ and crucial elements of leadership that may not be the obvious tutelage elements of accounting firms.

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