Areej Mohsin Darwish graduated
from Sultan Qaboos University
and started her career with Petroleum
Development Oman (PDO) as
an Analyst Programmer. During her
tenure with PDO, she gained valuable
exposure to various systems and
processes and learnt how teamwork
plays a vital role in achieving goals, as
she could see continuous improvements
in her work. She says she was
indeed privileged to have been born
into a family rich with business experience.
“I learnt so much early in
life from observing how my father
(Mohsin Haider Darwish) conducted
business”. As Joint Deputy Managing
Director, Areej is currently handling
the Automotive Division and Internal
Audit & Computer Systems function
at Mohsin Haider Darwish LLC. Now,
as part of the senior management,
she is actively involved in the decision
making process charting business
strategies and operational plans
that align objectives with corporate
goals. Excerpts from an exclusive interview
she gave Oman Vistas.
What are the factors you think are
responsible in helping you to reach
the position you are in today?
I strongly believe that hard-work, determination & motivation are crucial
factors to achieve success. Learning
the nuances of business from a successful
businessman like my father
certainly gave me a solid foundation
on which I could build a strong career.
My early years in the company gave
me an opportunity to get first hand
experience on handling the various
business activities and ventures of
the company. This early hands-on experience
is now helping me a lot in
my decision-making responsibilities as part of the senior management.
How does it feel to be an achiever
in a man’s world?
I do not get the feeling that it is still
a man’s world, at least not in Oman
anyway. Thanks to the government’s
wise policies, more and more women
managers are likely to come up in
Oman, and I feel very proud to be one
of the early success stories.
Are there enough opportunities
for women in Oman?
The government under the wise
leadership of His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos Bin Said has taken up a twopronged
strategy to overcome any
existing gender bias in the corporate
world by mphasizing on girls’ educationand providing specific training
facilities for them. I believe in the
long run this will lead to the placement
of more and more women in
managerial positions in companies
in Oman. Infact in the banking sector
you can see this trend in action, with
a large number of women managers
proving their competence and getting
rapid promotions. As more and
more women entrepreneurs come
up and set up their businesses, opportunities
for women managers in
this country are bound to increase.
How do you balance your professional
life and personal life?
I try not to take any work pressure
home. To me both my family and
my job commitments are important,
and I always strike a balance to ensure
that the two do not overlap.
The time spent with my family energizes
me for the challenges that
I may face at work, while a satisfactory
day at work makes the evening
at home even more pleasant and
relaxing.
What is your advice to women who
aspire for top positions in life?
The one advice that I had received and
would like to pass on to other women
aspirants is to have a strong belief in
your own abilities and determination
to reach the top. Remember that you
are as good as, if not more, as a man in
all aspects of life, including business.
Women have certain strengths over
men, like compassion, better instincts,
the ability to remain cool under pressure,
etc., and we should concentrate
on these strengths to come up in business
as well as in life.
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