A Day in the Life of a CEO at Farrukh Foundation
Humzah, Farrukh Foundation's CEO, emphasizes that strong leadership, defined as ensuring "any individual...leaves feeling that they had some sort of impact," is paramount, alongside effective communication of organizational values to diverse stakeholders. Developing this leadership, however, requires experience and "connecting with other human beings," while practical skills like strategic thinking and financial acumen are also valuable but secondary.
Leadership, Communication, Strategic Thinking, Financial Acumen, Social Impact
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Humzah Farrukh
CEO
Farrukh Foundation
UCLA
N/A
Anthropology, Sociology
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member, Transfer Student, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Strong leadership is essential, especially in social enterprises, ensuring everyone feels impactful and valued.
2. Effective communication is crucial for conveying the organization's values to diverse stakeholders, including donors and program participants.
3. Practical skills like strategic thinking, financial acumen, and business knowledge are valuable but leadership and human connection are paramount and developed through experience.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
Strong leadership is essential for any CEO, but especially for a company that manages social enterprises. For me, being a good leader means that every individual who interacts with our organization leaves feeling they've made an impact and contributed to our mission, improving their own lives.
Another aspect of good leadership is communicating our core values. These important values need to be shared with donors, and with the students and children involved in our programs. This allows us to connect with people from diverse backgrounds. Both aspects are equally important.
There are also practical skill sets that can be learned over time, such as strategic thinking, financial acumen, and general business knowledge. However, becoming a strong leader and cultivating that ability doesn't have an easy learning curve. It comes with experience and the ability to connect with other people.
This is exactly what our endeavor is about – connecting with as many people as possible.