Welcome to Eisenhower Fellows

Spotlight on: Farith Rithauddeen

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It is essential to find out what the impact of spending two months in the US, away from our offices and families, has been. The progress that each of us make as individuals, helps to support and further inspire more people to take a greater benefit from the program, continuing to strengthen relationships and networks at the global level.

Farith Rithauddeen, Eisenhower Fellow from Malaysia for the 2007 Multi Nation Program sits down for the cursory chat over email. This is what we found out:

Has your life or career been any different now that it’s been a few months since the Fellowship ended?

As per my company’s new direction and my new position (where I have passed the running of the company to my no 2 and partner), I am now focusing on more international and high level relationship management. The fellowship has given me more credibility in the areas of technopreneurship where it allowed me to exchange and share my experience and insights of my studies/ research during the fellowship. E.g. The fellowship allowed me link with Babson College the no.1 university in entrepreneurship. With this I managed to convince the leadership in the Government that we need to seriously change in how we teach entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

This has resulted in a collaboration with a private and leading university in Malaysia with Babson College.

I get to travel the country a lot more to share my experience and insights on how the development of entrepreneurship is being developed in the US and how it can be applied in Malaysia. I enjoy this because it allows me to meet new people and exchange views from provinces and communities in Malaysia.

In addition, our company SKALI, has been awarded a project to train IT skills to the unemployed graduates and convert them into IT entrepreneurs.

Have you been able to incorporate any changes into your organization or professional life since the Fellowship?

I am experimenting and slowly refining my skills in coaching and working closely with the new leadership in SKALI to ensure a more sustainable growth for the group. Previously, SKALI has always been associated with me and vice versa. This came out very strongly by a Brand audit we did in Brunei. We strongly feel that this is not in the long term interest for SKALi. Our steps to change this is to expose to the public and the media the new leadership and allow these new leaders to further refine and strengthen their own leadership abilities.

My other area of studies during the fellowship was in Web2.0. Armed with the necessary research and strategic alliance, we are more able to chart and capture the opportunity available for Web2.0.

Looking back, what would you say has been the most valuable lesson you learned during the two months in the US?

That there is a need to further engage Americans on Islam. It is still being muddled with politics and has cause friction between the west and the Islamic world. From the fellowship, I am optimistic, I feel that there is not much difference between the West and East and we need to further strengthen such communication linkages such as the fellowships.

• Leadership is about creating new leaders and about change.
• Change is a necessary environment in leadership. If there is no change then you are not leading.
• New models to entrepreneurship development
• My new friends in the Fellowship.

What, in your opinion, have been a few project successes that you have had since your return back to Malaysia?

I think the main success is the Managed Portal Services (MPS) which was recently awarded. We are to revamp and maintain the government portals, train 4000 unemployed grads and create new 400 IT entrepreneurs.

Second, the Collaboration and bringing Babson’s expertise to Malaysia.

You published a book about Skali? Could you talk a bit about the experience in writing and having your account of the struggles and challenges of a business?

Yes, I did. I am happy to say it is been a success. It took 2 years for us to recollect and organize our history. We did not want a textbook type of book about the dos and don’t of entrepreneurship, nor did we wanted a story glorifying ourselves, but we wanted more of a story and the sweat and tears of surviving the economic crisis, our mistakes and how we overcame it. We are delighted that readers felt it was a honest and open writing of running a new economy company in Malaysia.

Basic message of the book is DON’T GIVE UP ! GET UP AND DO IT AGAIN. Hence the name of the book is “SKALI Lagi” which means “One more time”

What kind of an impact do you hope to being to your country or to your community and do you feel you are in a position to bring that positive influence?

Yes. I think I am but not only me but also SKALI. We are leading and we want to be an example for future entrepreneurs to embark and innovate in the new economy. Malaysia is pushing hard to restructure our society and the economy to be more entrepreneur based. Our book has been an inspiration to the young generation to take the risk and start their own businesses.

We also think we should not stop there but continue to develop new leaders and so that they can accelerate positive change to Malaysia.

Could you share some valuable advice you may have learned through or as a result of the Fellowship?

I think the most valuable advice I have gained is that leadership and change must start with ourselves. Don’t expect others to change if you are not going to take the first step.

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