IS IT TRUE THAT YOU CAN STAY AWAKE FOR 72 HOURS?

Setel Express CEO, Faizal Sulaiman set the record straight during the first Ask Me Anything session. 

The answer is yes, he can but it isn’t encouraged. It happened during the 2022 financial audit, where Faizal and the Setel Express finance team crunched their way through the 3-day audit closure.

Known to be a strong-willed man of focus, Faizal said that mental model was handed down to him by his late father. Growing up, he didn’t have much but he had enough. All thanks to his father, who albeit earning a minimum-wage salary, was determined to make sure all his children graduated from college. 

Just like his father, Faizal believes in setting clear goals and working towards them. When asked about how he managed to stay focused and be present in the moment, he spilled his secret formula, which is monthly prioritisation. Each month, Faizal will set 3 to 5 goals and maintain his daily to-do list around those goals. ‘The monthly goals mustn’t exceed 5. ‘If there are more, it means we’re not prioritising’ said Faizal. 

The importance of setting goals was emphasised when asked about becoming a good CEO. ‘The question should be addressed to an actual good CEO’ he said humbly before sharing his insights. According to Faizal, a good CEO will set the strategy of the company. Then, they will assemble and retain the right team to execute the strategy. Lastly yet importantly (and realistically), they need to make sure the company has enough funds. 

The atmosphere became bittersweet when Faizal shared about the dissolution of Setel Express delivery feature. ‘Sometimes I wonder, was I able to do more, be more convincing during the meeting about this delivery feature?’ But he didn’t dwell on those thoughts. Instead, Faizal believed that Sometimes you need to fail in order to do something bigger. 

After being with Setel for almost 3 years (17 years in PETRONAS), he learned the importance of having data, understanding customers, and having the right team. Data is important to support conversations and arguments while knowing the customer avatars will help us understand and identify the pain points effectively. But all those data and customer information will be useless without the right team.  

Faizal aims to create a legacy by taking the company to the next level because ‘Setel is my home. That is why I walk barefoot in the office.’