Name: Fatimah Binti Osman

Title: Country Lead_Sales Director

Organisation: Oracle Corporation Malaysia Sdn Bhd

I am a mother of 4 beautiful children, and that is my foremost pride. Apart from that, a sales personnel who brings about 3 decades of experience and loves to chart new growth, a passionate reader, and a person with high empathy and EQ.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Fatimah's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

I take all challenges in a stride but I guess there will be challenges that will make me falter, for a bit, and one of those is bringing the best out of my team members. That would mean instilling confidence in them, enriching them with the right experience, enabling tools for them to perform, and most of all, empowering them with the skills to make and own the decisions.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I became a leader because another leader acknowledged my skills. My former VP, who is my dotted line leader, saw my capabilities and entrusted me with the role of a sales director, and it took my current leader, the current VP who empowered me and entrusted me to the current role of becoming a country lead.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

The days are super crazy and I hardly can take a breather. I normally prepared myself a day before, going through my calendar and preparing mentally for the many meetings that I need to partake in, knowing the customer scenarios before I engaged them, and addressing the team's needs on arising matters.

In the evening, I would then go through again of the day's events again in addressing post activities and most importantly, refresh my mind by indulging myself in some readings, to calm the nerves and soothen the soul.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

I have attended recent learnings provided by the Organization and I came across these, at least to me, a powerful message of having 3Cs, Clarity, Climate, and Competence for me to become a better leader.

These are like wake-up calls, though they may sound simple, prepare me and provide me with the framework where I need to put priorities in place.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I treasured 'Leaders Eat Last' by Simon Sinek because it is a powerful book. As I have said, my success came from my team's successes. How do I do that? One of the key takeaways from the book is that leaders must have a strong sense of purpose and a clear understanding of their "why" to inspire their team members and create a shared vision for the organization. In doing so, leaders who create a Circle of Safety, where team members feel safe, valued, and included, foster a sense of trust, collaboration, and belonging will lead to increased productivity and success within the team, my team.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Know yourself and know your strengths. Strengths came in multiple fold, and find the passion in yourself.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I believe in the ability to make my team successful and imparting the right knowledge and empowering them to make that decisions, is one of the meaningful moments for me.