Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Google Podcasts | Stitcher
“The secret is simple…do the stuff exactly how your mama used to tell you, dress clean, be honest, be on time, do your work, be respectful….if you do that everything will fall into place”
Today Sid and I got to sit down with our friend Dalmar Sheikh, the leader of the APAC Data Center Expansion Strategy team and an eight-year Amazonian to boot.
Dalmar tells us his awesome story about growing up in (at least) seven different countries (I lost track). Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, Italy, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan…I think there was some China in there….France? So cool. We talk about how it ties into his current superpowers that he deploys at Amazon, how he leads his team, and a little bit about the importance of negotiating with respect, which can vary by culture.
Ultimately, Dalmar leaves us with the wisest of words: listen to your mother. Dalmar, thank you. We’re calling home right now. This was a ton of fun, please enjoy!
2:25 | Growing up around the globe
5:30 | Dalmar as a youth – the skill of assimilating with all types of different groups from a young age
8:10 | Goals for after school – business, something international, which leads to 18 years in Japan
10:40 | Getting involved in the Data Center space very early, circa ~1999
12:00 | AWS origin story, joining in 2012, early days
13:40 | Biggest difference – the magnitude and speed of decision making
19:10 | Leadership philosophy – helping & teaching his team to make critical decisions with limited information and communicating well
22:40 | What is your leadership philosophy? Help the team get the job done while enjoying their work.
25:55 | On the culture of negotiating – it’s not about being aggressive and demanding, it’s about showing respect
28:30 | Dalmar’s superpower – being able to read people’s emotions
30:50 | Outside of work? – spending time with his boys, going to basketball games
32:30 | What content do you consume outside of work? Loving movies, Bollywood!
35:15 | A leader’s responsibility – excite the team, give responsibility, trust, training, growth
38:10 | Life philosophy – do the stuff your mama told you
Dalmar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalmarsheikh/
--
CONTACT THE SHOW:
Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcast
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/
Email | charlie@charleskunken.com (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)
Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/
Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunken
Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe
—
Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’. You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos
The music video to the theme music for the show: ‘Rose Colored’ by Good Baby
Recent Episodes
“Ask yourself what makes you happy.” - Van Tran, Amazon Treasury, Capital Markets