D. CITE AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE OF WHEN YOUR LEADERSHIP HAD AN IMPACT ON OR

CHANGED A CERTAIN SITUATION, AND JUSTIFY HOW AN IE MASTER’S DEGREE

PROGRAM WOULD HELP YOU TO STRENGTHEN OR IMPROVE THIS COMPETENCE.

IE MBA Application BySherif AbdelRehim

MY LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIESWe are all strong in our own ways. For me my core leadership strength is in 3 areas that complement one another. I see the light in the darkest times I translate the vision into reality I ask my team and myself this very simple question when they

think it can’t be done; What needs to be true to do this?

In this presentation I’ll take you through 2 examples that will demonstrate my strength in the above areas and I’ll highlight how studying at IE will further enhance these areas.

EXAMPLE 1: SOUTH AFRICA OPERATIONS STARTUP

SOUTH AFRICA OPERATIONS START UP Last year I was asked to start up a dry laundry operation in South Africa. The scope was clear and seemed straight forward. We planned to finish construction of the operations facility, install the process equipment and start it up.However, due to schedule delays a lot of activities where done in parallel to make the deadlines. The Challenges: Incredible amount of rain! Leaking ceilings Equipment electrical units soaked in water!

SOUTH AFRICA OPERATIONS START UP CONT.The Pressure: This is one of the companies greatest projects and already announced the

expected start up date in Wall Street! The rain is not stopping The team is losing hope day by day!My Role: After looking at the resources I have, I decided that we will still make this happen.

I just had to come up with a plan and get everyone onboard. We needed to meet the dead line, so that meant, what needs to be true is the following; Dry operations Working electrical components In 3 days!

SOUTH AFRICA OPERATIONS START UP CONT. 2Translating the vision into reality:Now, the team was looking at me trying to understand how can we do this? So I started breaking down the 3 requirements set earlier into actionable activities. Dry Operations: Cover the equipment with plastic sheets and build water

channels to divert the rain water away from the areas we work in. Working Electrical Components: Dismantle all parts, put in a dry room with

heaters for 2 days. Monitor progress every 2 hrs. In anticipation for unrecoverable damages, I’ve reduced the scope to the bare minimum required by the project.

In 3 Days: Redirect various team members from “task driven” to “flow to work”. Prioritized work based on fundamental business need only vs value added scope and drafted an hourly plan for every person and every task.

SOUTH AFRICA OPERATIONS START UP CONT. 3 Day 3: Operation started on time with required capacity!

2 Weeks Later: Recognized and awarded by our Global Technology Director for exceptional leadership agility and technical mastery.

EXAMPLE 2: BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE

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BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE In any business, cost saving is always a continues challenge. We are all trying to achieve best value creation for our consumers by reducing our cost to be able to price down and increase our sales and profits. Recently I joined the Product Development function. This is the function that is most concerned with value creation. Consistently, management have been giving us savings targets that are needed to deliver share holders returns and stretch targets to deliver better results than forecasted to gain share holders confidence in continuous growth. Historically PD function has been delivering between the committed target and the stretch target. However, in my section we decided that we want not only to deliver the stretch target, but even exceed it.

BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE CONT. 1Seeing the light: At first the global teams thought that this is unrealistic and

historical data show that it was not done before. But I saw a different reality, historically the teams were always delivering and getting the base target was not a challenge for them. Which meant that this was not their full potential!

Moreover, some members didn’t want to over commit to management this plan as they had a lot of doubts that we can deliver.

For me, management needed to be part of the team rather than customers in order to enable my ambitious plans and relief the pressure of over commitment from the team.

BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE CONT. 2What needed to be true:This was what I went to management with to deliver my plans and made them part of the team. 1. I presented the estimated savings and got their full attention2. I told them if you want these projects, you need to help me

remove obstclas 3. Then I engaged them in periodic meetings to solve actual

projects problems rather than going to them with just updates as we’ve historically done.

BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE CONT. 3Vision into reality:This was the most difficult part. Historically the team did typical loss analysis and elimination exercises. However, I knew that this wasn’t going to get us to where we wanted to go. So I asked the team to do the following.1. Focus on the “ideal case” (value stream mapping approach)2. Don’t jump into action to reach a stage between the current and

the ideal stage, but analyze the gap instead.3. Determine a plan to close the gap based on available resources

and priorities.4. Break down the projects into smaller projects for faster execution

and early wins

BUSINESS COST CHALLENGE CONT. 3Results: Delivered more than double our functions typical annual savings Recognized by our Vice President for achieving more than 25% of

the total business unit annual savings Asked to write the new global “Current Best Approach” to be the

new standard for delivering saving projects in the company.

IE EMBA – EMPOWERMENT

Work in one of the best companies globally.

Develop managerial skills and gain operational experience.

Enroll in a top EMBA school

Partner & Startup a Consulting Firm

ScaleThe IE EMBA for me is the best way to achieve:1. Knowledge is power, looking at

the program and talking to several graduates, this is exactly what I need. The IE EMBA broadens the knowledge of it’s graduates much beyond their core expertise.

2. The Executive program in specific is highly focused on leadership and organization development, this will boost my career and make me a better multi skill leader.

3. I envision to start my own Engineering and Operations Consulting firm after graduation and only via this program I can achieve this!