Dr Saeeda Jaffar, Senior Vice President GCC Visa and one of the 50 most influential business women in the Middle East according to Forbes, is Ulrike’s guest in this episode where they have an open and authentic discussion around Saeeda’s own journey and how solid skills in self-leadership and a conscious way of taking decisions lead to a successful and purposeful career.
Whether we are at the beginning of our career or already in the middle of it - it is essential to look inside ourselves and understand what is it that we want to do. What is it that we want to accomplish? And when we know what that is and what the right solution is for us, we should just go for it.
To have a purposeful and successful career we need to tap into what we believe in and find out what we are passionate about. And then, given the context of our realities, we can choose our own path and focus on that.
If you want to get valuable personal insights of Saeeda into her own way of taking decisions and in what she does to continue to grow and develop herself, this episode is for you!
Want to get proven techniques on how to flourish and land that leadership spot you’re after? Get your free e-book “Top 10 Achievers’ Lessons” by clicking here!
About Dr. Saeeda Jaffar:
Dr. Saeeda Jaffar currently serves as Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. In this role, Dr. Jaffar and her team are focused on driving Visa’s business growth in the region with key clients and partners from financial institutions, partners, and governments in support of Visa’s mission to help individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. With digitization high on the regional agenda, Dr. Jaffar and her team are committed to making Visa a partner of choice, while unlocking growth opportunities for new and existing clients and partners across the GCC.
Dr. Jaffar’s leadership and expertise of 20 years have enabled her to expertly deliver pragmatic and practical solutions to strategic issues, drive bottom-line impact, and achieve rapid results. Dr Jaffar also currently serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees at Kuwait University. She has previously served as a non-executive board member at United Arab Bank and Ishraq, a hospitality company. She has also served as an Advisory Board Member at the Bahrain Fintech Bay.
Over her professional career, Dr. Jaffar has worked in the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S. on a wide range of strategic, M&A and performance-related issues with clients across a range of industries, while specializing in financial services including universal banks, private banks, investment banks, private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, government institutions and family-owned businesses.
Prior to joining Visa Inc, Dr. Jaffar was the Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal ME, the world’s leading turnaround and restructuring firm and held leadership positions at McKinsey & Company as well as Bain & Company, serving clients across the U.S., Europe and the GCC.
Dr. Jaffar is an Emirati national and earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University, where she was the valedictorian. She earned a master's degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
About Ulrike Seminati
Ulrike Seminati is a long-standing senior executive, coach and author. After over 20 years of being a successful leader in corporate organizations, Ulrike believes that female leadership is one of the biggest untapped potentials in the world. Ulrike is known for combining all her experience and years of excelling in the corporate world with powerful self-development techniques that she gives it to hard workers like you, allowing you to flourish, realize the root causes of your struggle, and finally land that leadership spot you’re after!
Outline of the Episode:
[02:10] Choosing my career path early on in my career
[05:51] Taking bold decisions along the way
[09:52] How to your intuition can come into play
[13:23] The challenges of thriving on an international level
[14:55] Learning to lead yourself to lead others successfully
[19:32] Finding your blind spots by collecting honest feedback
[21:23] Cultural differences across the globe
[24:12] Now go out and make it happen!
Resources of Dr. Saeeda Jaffar:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saeedajaffar/
Connect with Ulrike!
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Email: contact@ulrikeseminati.com