Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO for Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) shared with Kuwaiti youth his extensive experience accumulated over many years, beginning with graduating from college until he assumed a leading position in the executive management of Kuwait’s top banking institution in Kuwait, highlighting the key challenges that he encountered during this long career.
This open discussion between Al-Marzouq and fresh graduates took place as part of “TAMAKAN” program’s activities. This year’s event was part of the collaborative efforts between Creative Confidence and NBK for the fourth consecutive year.
The Keys to Success
During the open discussion, Al-Marzouq said: “Passion is a crucial aspect of professional success since it motivates the acquisition of new skills, and promotes continuous development throughout your career.”
Al-Marzouq called on the participants to “make their ambitions sky-high” and to constantly develop their skills and acquire experiences that will enable them to achieve their goals, emphasizing the need to make the best use of training and development programs like “TAMAKAN” which serves as a gateway, bridging from their academic life to beginning their professional careers.
“You must be ambitious and strive to gain new skills every day. Never stop learning since it is a limitless process that should continue throughout a person’s professional journey,” Al-Marzouq advised.
A Learning Hub for Financial Education
Highlighting the key milestones in his career, Al-Marzouq noted that NBK provides a unique work environment that helps employees to develop continuously and opens horizons for talented professionals to advance and succeed, especially since the bank always does its best to provide the most advanced training programs for its employees in collaboration with the most prestigious educational institutions worldwide.
Al-Marzouq went on to say that NBK is a leading learning hub for financial education, given its rich history, elite professionals, and vast resources, all of which provide newly acquired talents an unparalleled opportunity to learn and grow.
The Advantages of Taking Initiative
Al-Marzouq encouraged participants to take the initiative at work, assuring them that those who take the initiative would always have a greater opportunity to learn and gain experience, allowing them to stand out in a crowd.. He differentiated between two types of initiative-taking; the first is through accepting challenging tasks, saying: “Through this, you may acquire new skills and experiences that make you stand out at work.”
“My passion for banking and my professional ambition motivated me to undertake challenging tasks early in my career, and this significantly impacted my career path and professional life.”
As for the second type of initiative-taking is assisting your coworkers. “Every time you take the initiative to help others, you go through a fresh experience that differs from the routine tasks, and you gain a different view of work and higher potential to develop and innovate,” Al-Marzouq explained.
Speed and Precision
In his speech, Al-Marzouq referred to the importance of learning tools that help employees perform their tasks quickly and accurately, which has a positive impact on their performance, saying: “In my early career, I was working on Excel, and at that time, it was considered a revolutionary software in performing tasks, and mastering it helped me a lot to finish my work quickly and accurately.”
Al-Marzouq urged young people to concentrate on developing these talents and mastering such tools to get things done efficiently and effectively, expand their horizons, and learn new things outside of their regular employment.
Learn from Everyone
According to Al-Marzouq, the people you interact with every day, including your coworkers, are a treasure trove of information that may help you grow professionally and personally.
“A person learns during his career from a bad manager just as he learns from a good one, so strive to benefit as much as possible and set personal matters aside,” Al-Marzouq remarked.
Good Reputation
In response to a question regarding the key lessons he gained during his career that he wishes to pass on to young people starting their careers, Al-Marzouq emphasized that having a good reputation has a significant impact on a person’s career path and life in general.
“You have to maintain a good reputation, which should also be a trait of the work team and your organization,” he added.
“It is imperative to maintain all professional confidentially, and to be honest, you have to refrain from discussing insider information with others outside your place of work, even after joining another institution,” he noted.
Promotion is Important… But
While Al-Marzouq acknowledged the significance of career advancement, he cautioned the attendees to put in the time and effort required to learn and build experience in the early stages of their careers, and to be patient if a promotion is delayed for a long period of time. However, he emphasized that this does not preclude the possibility of making rapid advancement later in one’s career, provided that one works diligently and deserves the promotion in question.
After praising NBK’s promotion system, which rewards excellence and accuracy at work, Al-Marzouq said that the Bank’s management provides all the necessary tools for success and innovation.
When asked what his thoughts were on what makes a successful career, Al-Marzouq said, “It’s not only about obtaining a promotion and making a lot of money. You have to consider the value you’ll bring to your company if you go to a different place of work.”
