Meet Shefiq Abdulla, the CEO of Dubai-based Telephony Group of Companies, an ICT solutions and services leader with over two decades of experience serving the private and public sectors of UAE and the region. Currently, Telephony’s team has over 600 employees in the UAE, with over 300 employees spread across other regions, entirely committed to delivering state-of-the-art telecom technology.
Shefiq started his career in Sales as an entry-level junior sales representative selling the company’s ideas, innovations, and excellence to the customers. However, he gradually succeeded on the way up and soon became the Chief Executive Officer of the Group Businesses.
“A lot of people consider me lucky for achieving a lot at a young age and becoming a CEO for the whole group. If you look at it from my perspective, you realize that it means that I had to take a lot at a young age and mature early. Everything I do now and with every struggle I face, I feel more determined to continue the path. I hear a lot of whispers about me being a workaholic and so committed to this journey that it might consume me.“- Asserts Shefiq. “But the truth is I find pleasure in what I am currently doing, and this is what gives me power, focus, and a good sense of direction. When you do things out of pleasure, you simply immunize yourself against all the criticism and negativity that you hear now and then.“
A Diverse Portfolio
Telephony Group of Company offers a diverse portfolio for its clients, which is reflected in the number of projects it undertakes and its expansions to other countries worldwide. Telephony treats its clients as partners and offers all the possible guidance to help them choose the solutions that best serve their businesses most effectively. Instead of chasing revenues like many other companies, Telephony Group of Company wants to ensure repeat businesses and a lifetime relationship with its clients.
Shefiq believes that when a company understands its partner’s business needs and offers advice on the right solution and guidance through implementation, it can easily create a win-win situation and profitable business relationship for both.
Success and Failure
“My greatest accomplishment is getting the chance to spread what I know to the world. Knowledge is wasted when not shared. Maybe my audience is small today, but at least now I have a voice and people to read, interact and comment on my thoughts. That is by itself an accomplishment for me.“- says Shefiq.
Shefiq prefers to measure success differently as he doesn’t link it to achievement or growth. Instead, he links it to the positive influence that he leaves on people’s lives.
Around five years ago, Shefiq decided to take a different path and start to effect change, so he started with himself and went on a personal transformational journey to learn from the wise and the giver, to get enriched with knowledge. Shefiq immersed himself in readings and took a vow to spread that knowledge. One day he plans to write all that journey down for the benefit of others and to encourage people to be less selfish and more human.
Although he failed in various situations and times, every time, Shefiq chose to clear his head, review his mistakes, and start over again.
Shefiq states, “Perhaps the most important one to mention here is when I happened to expect everyone around to be of the same drive and understanding of the importance of transformation to the sustainability of any business, including my own. Now, I am more mindful of how I want to achieve my objective and will hopefully soon share that vision out loud.“
Implementing New Ideas
Shefiq believes new ideas require a welcoming attitude and an open mindset. He says, “If we don’t first start with that, we are likely to fail in our attempts or suffer to reach our goals. I am against the idea that change requires time, not when you are in technology, and you are demanded to innovate consistently.“
He wants to convince people regarding the necessity of new ideas instead of enforcing them. With everyone onboard, things mostly go efficiently and smoothly. Shefiq wants to start first by developing a work culture that helps support innovation, quality, and sustainability which are the primary growth driver for any company.
Future Plans
Telephony Group of Companies has a strong vision, with high moral values and dedication, customer-centric innovations, and business ethics. The organization is built on three core pillars- People, Purpose, and Peace. Under Shefiq’s leadership, it further intends to grow, expand, and innovate while maintaining and spreading these values to everyone it works with.
Additionally, the organization plans to offer digital services to improve efficiency, transform, and grow businesses in the future. It also wants to empower communities to pursue ultra-digital transformation and use technology and innovation to change people’s lives, especially youth and women.
To enable 3000 women entrepreneurs globally by 2025, the organization is also planning to guide and help ten women in 2022 to start their entrepreneurial journey with it.
