Faysal graduated from “Cesar-Ritz”, a renowned hotel management school in Switzerland and has over 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry .Before Vision Group, Faysal held major positions in rooms division and operations management with leading hotel groups like Hotel Angletaire Geneva, Royal Abjar Hotels Dubai, Rotana and Habtoor Hotels Lebanon.
Best career advice I ever got
Never sell yourself/ your business cheap, and stick to your pricing strategy especially if you are confident that you are offering your clients quality and value for their money.
Favorite Job task I ever had to do
Interviewing a fresh graduate who thinks he owes the world and who would only consider a managerial position to start with! I like it because it reminds me of myself, right after graduating from my Hotel school in Switzerland- I had the same attitude at the time. You later see things clearer: as soon as I started my first job as a reservations officer I knew that I had a lot to learn before I reach my goals.
Most dreaded job task I ever had to do
Analyzing and auditing my Profit and Loss statements with my financial controller every end of month. Despite my long experience in Financial Management, I find figures and numbers quite boring and would spend my time amongst people discussing new plans and strategies.
Best career decision ever made
Vision Group , up til 2007, had two major fields of expertise: hotels & resorts management and hospitality recruitment. Based on a long experience in both industries and in business development in general, we realized that we had to concentrate on one line of business in order to succeed and meet our objectives , so the decision was to close down our hotel management division and divert all our efforts, know-how and professionalism towards recruitment and since then. This was the best decision I have ever made: my team and I have developped an even greater passion for this industry which provides us with an exemplary sense of satisfaction every time we assist a jobseeker with a new career opportunity that allows him to have a better life and future.
Weirdest career decision ever made
Going to Kazakhstan five years ago to manage a hotel resort on China's lake- at that time Kazakhstan was not on the international business map and although I was faced with some rather ackward situation, the whole experience was quite interesting: I have learnt about a whole different culture and way of doing business.
My Biggest Professional Challenge
Proving to our employers that hiring then developing their staff is an absolute necessity: people are a company's best assets and should always be taken care of!
Icons who have influenced my career progression/Role Models
I have been influenced by my grandfather's wisdom, my father's business spirit, my mother' s patience and social principles and by my first boss and CEO in the hotel industry from whom I learned many management techniques and leadership skills.
Most recommended readings (Websites, books)for people interested in my field of work/ industry
Any article or information one finds interesting whether it's in a magazine, a book, newspaper or website. I read and store quite a bit of articles and then refer to them whenever I am planning to set new corporate strategies.
In another life, my perfect job would be
Probably a hotelier all over again as it made who I am today. truth be told, I would have loved to be a singer or a musician in another life and honestly hope one of my future children would have the gift of music: exceptional, creative and spiritual.
My living and working in Beirut experience has so far been
If one can survive in Beirut - on the professional level- and keep on moving forward, this means he/ she can work anywhere in the world and succeed! Even if Beirut is a small city compared to other major business cities in the world- I believe the challenges, competition, surprises and difficulties one can face in Beirut can be just as tough as any other major city- if not tougher. I totally enjoy it!
A successful career thought/ Motto that I live by (and advise others to consider
"Keep walking and do not be afraid of going slowly, be only afraid of standing still": It's a Chinese proverb and I like the wisdom it entails.
