1. What have you found most challenging as a CEO or executive of a large enterprise?

Being a CEO in a startup was hard initially since it was a new brand. I had the hardest task to choose the correct employees to support and also had to put in a 24/7 effort to establish the brand since it was a new brand..


2. How did you become a CEO or executive of a large enterprise? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I started Irshad Holdings in April 2020 where i registered the company in srilanka in august .. well i was a general manager on OYO times back later due to this pandemic i thought of starting my own brand as i always believe "my name is my brand.".. Now we are well established and functioning with more than 8 brands within the time span of one year.


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

My usual habit is to work days in advance and schedule tasks based on importance. Then as usual I'm more focused on my branding and marketing so we usually spend more time on strategies to market .. and I have a habit of reading more books so i read books and my hobby is doing courses so by now I've completed more than 300 online courses in almost all the fields. Then at other times I conduct workshops and lectures to students and professionals .. I usually sleep late as my night time seems to be more productive to build my skills.


4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

Recently as it's a startup being a CEO taught me a lot of leadership lessons .. i got the practical real life knowledge of leadership when i became the CEO


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?

Start With Why Book by Simon Sinek
It provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.


6. How do you build leadership capacity in a large enterprise?

Enable mastery of professional skills at all levels of the organization. Provide training courses, a list of references and encourage access to free Internet resources. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers course materials on leadership development. These materials enable participants to define the important qualities of a leader, assess their own capacity, examine current leaders and their actions and generate a personalized leadership development plan. Additionally, offer seminars at lunch time to help employees develop leadership skills in areas such as project management, financial planning, team building and customer relationship management.


7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a CEO or executive of a large enterprise so far?

There was a time that i struggled to choose the correct employees and failed for a month and then i realized and had to get back new employees as now i have a best team.