Provide interviewees background
I got a chance to interview Mr. Naif Al-Otaibi, the deputy minister for petroleum affairs in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al-Otaibi managed to secure the prestigious job position that was unfilled for about nine years due to his pleasant leadership expertise. Without a doubt, the interviewee is a learned and experienced man in the management field. In 2001, he earned a doctorate in economics from the American University located in Washington. Aside from that, he was responsible for the management of trade disputes associated with the World Trade Organization for the Saudi Petrochemical and Energy Companies (Mahdi n.p). As a result, he has wide experience in oil company management and policing. By replacing the former minister, Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Salman, Mr. Al-Otaibi is directly answerable to the minister, Ali al-Naimi and is responsible for policy implementation and other managerial responsibilities. He is an ambitious and visionary figure in the corporate field, which seeks to achieve his goals by being influential to the society.
Discuss the interviewee’s response to the questions
During the interview process, Mr. Al-Otaibi was very frank in giving me an overview of his life career experiences. When I prompted him to enlighten me on how he got his job position, he confessed it was as a result of his hard work and dedication. He explained that he had begun his career from an entry-level job to managerial positions at different organizations. In the working process, he managed to get the required skills and certifications for the career promotions. His personal philosophies and views on leadership are based on equality fairness and honesty. In his career, he sought to uphold these values by castigating discrimination based on race or sex. Through his ‘down to earth’ philosophy, he believes in humility and treatment of other people with respect. These values have enabled him to rise in ranks over the years to become the deputy minister.
He developed his managerial philosophies through learning and hard work. He explained that he achieved this through persistence, not giving up, and having an independent mine. Additionally, he values other people’s insight and being righteous. By taking advice from other people, he can better his ideas and learn from his mistakes. As a result, his interaction with employees has been quite productive. He admitted that the primary reason for his success was being gentle to the clients, humble, and persistent in implementing policies. His practical day-to-day issues include scheduling of meeting and agendas while making judgment calls for specific tasks. His ethical responsibilities involve dealing with people from different cultures and having an exemplary knowledge of how people from different societies ought to be handled. Finally, he advised me, to be honest, ambitious, ready to learn and seek to achieve what I want to and no what other people expect of me. Finally, he advised me to read and learn new skills that could assist in the achievement of my career.
Highlight five key lessons you learned from the interviewee
Additionally, I learned the importance of hard work in achieving one’s goals. The interviewee mentioned that he had a humble beginning in the career field as he started from an entry-level job. However, through persistence and hard work, he managed to make the most out of his abilities to senior positions in the firms he worked for. Moreover, the fact that he earned a doctorate while venturing into the corporate field indicated that he was industrious enough to dedicate most of his time to the betterment of his future. I learned that hard work is essential for the betterment of one’s life. Through the deputy minister’s persistence, he managed to achieve quite a success in the corporate field over the years, and he was willing to achieve more by furthering his education. I intend to employ similar effort for the betterment of my life when I join the corporate field. From my interaction with the interviewee, I internalized the essence of working hard in one’s career to achieve targets.
During the productive interview, I acknowledged the essence of equality in the work environment. When I promoted a question on how Mr. Al-Otaibi interacted with his employees, he mentioned that he addressed them with respect, and he valued their opinion. Additionally, he admitted not tolerating any form of discrimination in his management endeavors. As a result, he values equality in the work environment as he does his best to eliminate any form of discrimination. Upholding equality within the work environment made it possible for the deputy minister to implement policies effectively while getting constructive feedback from the employees. This interaction heightens the performance of the corporate field making it possible to achieve the best in the initiatives the firm is engaged in. I learned the importance of eliminating any form of bias in the work environment while fostering equal treatment of the employees. Favoritism leads to the mediocre performance of an organization as it demotivates the lesser-favored individuals.
I internalized the importance of valuing other people’s opinions regardless of their position in the corporate framework. Mr. Al-Otaibi mentioned that he took constant advice from other people within the firms he managed to arrive at the best decision. In most cases, he did not mind the position of the individuals giving constructive opinions. This initiative enhances the performance of any corporate establishment through productive contributions from staff members. I learned that it was important to accord every individual in any corporate establishment with respect and take the most constructive ideas regardless of their source from people positioned at lower ranks in the organization. Through the experiences given by my interviewee, I appreciated the essence of utilizing multiple opinions in the management of any corporate establishment. Disregarding other people’s thoughts exposes one to the dangers of poor performance and failure.
Throughout the entire interview, I noticed the deputy minister putting a lot of emphasis on the essence of making rational decisions. Precisely, he emphasized the importance of sobriety when handling corporate materials and making decisions. He confessed that the impacts of his managerial techniques were largely attributed to the level of solemnity he maintains when implementing policies. By having a sober mind, one is in a better position to take rational initiatives in challenging situations. As a result, it enhances the productivity of an organization and averts the possibility of failure. I learned that it was better to have unique opinions than follow the masses and end up making erroneous decisions. Mr. Al-Otaibi enlightened me on the importance of being firm on one’s opinion even when others convince you it is wrong.
Conclusion
What I learned from being an interviewer
Works Cited
Mahdi, Wael. "Saudi Arabia Names Naif Al-Otaibi Deputy Oil Minister". Bloomberg.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
