Nazir a footballer at heart

By Chong Pooi Koon
Published: 2009/06/01

'What's my regret in life? Not being a professional footballer,' says chief executive officer of CIMB Group Datuk Seri Nazir Razak

HE HAS achieved great success in his field and is probably one of Malaysia's finest bankers around. But if you listen to Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, one reason why he had ended up in finance was probably because he wasn't good enough to be on Chelsea's payroll."What's my regret in life? Not being a professional footballer," the witty chief executive officer of CIMB Group revealed in a session sharing thoughts with undergraduates at the final round of Malaysia Future Leadership Program 2008/2009 in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

"That's simply because I just wasn't good enough," said the avid fan of English football club Chelsea. Nazir spoke passionately about the ethical value he thinks most important at work - integrity.With a career life started in the 1980s, he had come through a dark era of Corporate Malaysia that's quite different from today, a period he said helped culminate the Asian financial crisis in 1997/1998.

"When Tun (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) said the crisis was due to the action of hedge funds, he was correct. But there's also a lot of corruption," Nazir said."I had watched this and said at the time; I hope more and more Malaysians will do business with good ethics," he recalled.

CIMB Group, under his helm, has transformed itself into a dynamic and respectable company in Malaysia today, no mean feat for a government-linked company.It's often very tempting to bend rules in the chase for high returns, Nazir said, but the consequences will prove dire.

"The first and second time, you are nervous. By the third and fourth time, you'll probably start to enjoy the gains. But by the fifth time, you'll slide straight to jail," he warned.He advised the students to honour their words to the supervisor, be committed, and bring with them energy when they first enter the workforce.

"In CIMB, if you are leaving work at 5pm and you happened to bump into me, I'll ask if you are working half-day."In the Malaysia Future Leadership Program organised by business newspaper The Wall Street Journal Asia and CIMB Group, teams from nine local universities and colleges took part in the contest that kick-started last October.

The teams were required to submit a business proposal on "Opportunities for Financial Services Amidst Economic Crisis" and present it to a panel of judges. Points earned from the proposal are carried forward to the grand finale, where there were rounds of business knowledge quizzes. Sunway University College walked away with the grand prize on Saturday, while Universiti Putra Malaysia presented the best business proposal among the teams.

Speaking from the viewpoint of an employer, Nazir said there is a wide gap between academia and what the new graduates understand of the real business world. CIMB hopes to bridge this gap through educational programmes, he said."There are so many people out there with the right academic certifications, what makes you stand out in the room is the way you communicate the EQ (emotional intelligence) and the ability to deliver at workplace," he said.

The traits that he looks for in new hires are the ability to debate, be quick off the mark, and the ability to work with others.More questions were thrown at Nazir by the students. They were particularly curious about his philosophy in life and business, success and failure, as well as his views on Islamic finance. The anwers were both entertaining and motivating.Nazir said his biggest fear is failure.

Striving not to disappoint is what drove him to success, he said."I may be fortunate to be in a position to achieve, but you'll still have to go get it yourself if you want something, the opportunity will not land on your lap," he said, pointing out that he had demanded some of the job promotions in his two decade career in CIMB, rising through rank and file.Being the youngest of five boys, he said he spent his life "screaming the loudest to be heard" in the family.

"Sometimes, you have to claim for what you deserve. You have got to plan your way to achieve your career goal. It's not going to happen if you just sit there hoping for human resource to plot your future," he said.On success, he said, it's often "found at the edge of failure", risking to sound a tad cliche. "I usually succeed after when I was screwed up," he said. Not one who'd cry over spilled milk, Nazir said the determination to prevent negative events from recurring is the cornerstone to success."When bad things happen, don't despair, it's how you react to it that builds character."