This Executive is an Organizational Genius, here’s why
Dimitris Kitsios will never admit to being an organizational genius, but a look back on his eventful story suggests otherwise. He was once managing the Program Development for an $11bn Airport Capital in Abu Dhabi, running a premium supermarket store with nine thousand SKUs in Dubai and nurturing a family as an expat man, all at the same time.
Despite being hugely successful, he humbly admits that he had many failures along the way and that “you can do everything, just not at the same time”. We were excited to talk to him during our latest Building Leaders episode, not least because the Stanford graduate worked as an Executive for some giants in the construction industry like Archirodon, Parsons, and DAMAC, as well as going through the grind of an entrepreneurial pursuit during the same lifetime.
Reinvent yourself before someone else does it for you
Dimitris is used to dealing with change. During his early career, he was moving countries every other year. Asia got his career going, studying in the US opened his mind, and the Middle East fed him with ambition and opportunities. Despite being a structured and practical thinker he is also an adventure seeker who tends to re-invent himself with every opportunity and advises you to do the same. Considering the circumstances, you might not even have a choice.
Once an engineer, always an engineer
It’s time to reclaim the meaning of the word “engineer”. Demetris points out that engineering is a way of thinking and a way of solving problems that can translate into many aspects of a business. “Nowadays many engineers are morphing into technologists”, he says, pointing to the SEKTOR team as an example. For Demetris, going to an engineering school was a conscious decision. It was an open pass that would allow him to morph into any kind of professional he wanted to be.
Why you need a University education
There’s a big question mark hanging over Universities at the moment. Are they really worth the investment? Degrees are taking a hit in their reputation as an insane amount of knowledge is available online (many times for free), however, Dimitris sees something worthwhile beyond the specific set of knowledge that a degree offers. “It is about the interaction, the network, the lifelong friendships, and the potential partnerships” he explains.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Stanford taught Dimitris how to think, not what to think, and as the great French writer said, it inspired the longing in him to go and achieve big things.
You don’t need a license to pursue your dreams
For the last 2 years, Dimitris has been a trusted advisor to DAMAC’s Chairman and the main man responsible for assessing risk for Dubai’s largest developer. Despite his vast experience and his influential role, he talks like a student who is eager to learn something new every day. As he says, learning is what gets him out of bed in the morning. He has the same hunger to succeed as when he first started but always backs up his ambition with a plan. As Demetris says, that is just about everything you need to pursue your dreams.
Listen to Dimitris’ full story here:
