Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan needs no introduction. Probably one of the youngest person to hold the Chairmanship at Axiata Group Berhad, he held his first Executive position in his 30s.

UNIRAZAK was fortunate to receive his visit recently as a speaker at the UR CEO Series where he shared “Survival Tips in Corporate Malaysia”.

“There is nothing wrong to try new things. I go to a new industry every 3-4 years and it may not be a good thing but it makes me happy.”

“Your willingness to learn, to try new things, to communicate and your persuasion skills are basic skills you need to move between industries. At each new place, you learn the basic technical things to excel in that industry such as maths.”

He shared how he managed to leapfrog a decade to get to his executive position. He took on the task to rescue another company, take it through the markets, spoke to key stakeholders, and have a business plan including restructuring.

“It’s not unusual for young individuals to become CEOs through owning their own companies these days.”

He expressed his confidence that there were potential CEOs within the crowd.

Tan Sri also spoke on looking back at what one does to stay grounded. One has to accept what we did right and what we did wrong, accept it and move on.

He also shared that it was important to accept the fact that as one makes a decision, it can be based on instincts. There is no way for one to have all the data points and facts needed. One needs to be flexible enough and be grounded enough to change what is not working and the best leaders are the ones who are able to accept that they made a fundamental error, and the product will not work.

Razakians joined the live talk at Level 9, The Commons, UNIRAZAK and via the university’s Youtube Channel, MyUNIRAZAK.

UNIRAZAK thanks Tan Sri Shahril Ridza for spending the afternoon with us.