August 04, 2023: The IBA was honored to host Mr. Ghias Khan, President & CEO of Engro Corporation, at the IBA City Campus as part of the “Mentorship Program – Transforming Leaders” an initiative of the alumni affairs department. Continuing with the initiative to offer mentorship sessions for mid-career alumni and help them along their professional paths, the first part of the series brought together several alumni and corporate individuals to listen to Mr. Khan speak. The session titled “Resilience & Reinvention: The Perseverance-Pivot Dynamic” focused on the personal journey and experiences of Mr. Ghias Khan through his professional career.
Ms. Malahat Awan , Director Alumni Affairs, Resource Mobilization & Corporate Affairs, welcomed the speaker, Dr. Abdullah Zafar Sheikh (Dean of School of Business Studies) and the attendees to the session. She iterated the focus of these sessions and informed the audience that this was the first of many sessions promised by Mr. Ghias Khan. He began his talk by sharing his experiences after graduating from IBA and starting out as an entrepreneur successfully running and selling his 1st company Inbox Technologies. He reinforced the importance of pivoting to identify new opportunities and being open to try new things and not becoming comfortable in the same role which saw him rise through the ranks and take over the mantle of running one of Pakistan’s largest energy & engineering conglomerates.
The session covered the different stages of his life and the thought process behind his decision-making and the motivations and targets that Mr. Ghias set for himself. The audience asked questions ranging from what makes a successful leader to how one identifies mentors. Mr. Ghias spoke about the importance of taking chances and being open to new opportunities. “One should work hard AND be present so that when opportunities appear, they can take a chance on them”.
Mr. Ghias promised to continue these sessions with focused topics that would benefit the alumni struggling to decide on their next steps as well as rise up the corporate ladder. IBA is grateful to Mr. Ghias Khan for taking time to engage with the alumni and give back through sharing his knowledge with the alumni community.
