KUALA LUMPUR: “What you see is how you want to see it,” said Amir Hamzah Azizan, CEO and managing director of Petronas Dagangan Bhd, alluding to the importance of the firm’s philosophy of ‘seeing things differently’.

“We try to make opportunities where people don’t believe there are opportunities, and make things happen. Hopefully in the process we set new standards in the industry by being agile, dynamic and innovative,” said Amir at The Edge Billion Ringgit Club’s (BRC) third Meet the CEO session, which was held yesterday at HELP University.

The former Malaysia International Shipping Corp Bhd (MISC) CEO and president obtained a BSc in Management from Syracuse University, majoring in Finance and Economics. He also completed the Stanford Executive Programme with Stanford University and the Corporate Finance Evening Programme with the London Business School.

Despite years of experience in the industry, Amir seems to take after his late father, Tan Sri Azizan Zainul Abidin, in his humble, soft-spoken mannerism. Azizan is widely credited for transforming Petronas into the internationally-recognised name it is today.

Amir was introduced to the audience by The Edge’s deputy editor-in-chief Azam Aris, who in 2008 published The Quintessential Man: The Story of Tan Sri Azizan Zainul Abidin, a biography of Amir’s late father.

From the 150-strong audience that turned up for the session, a question was posed with regard to how Amir has contributed to Petronas Dagangan in terms of his leadership abilities.

“What I hope I’ve been able to do in the various roles I have played in my career is actually to make a difference in the lives of the people around me,” Amir responded. “What I hope I will be remembered for is actually leaving footsteps in the sand”.

He explained further that to be part of a team building something previously thought unimaginable, and to share that with people around him was the ultimate benchmark. “If I’ve done that; if my team has actually done that, then I think we’ve all lived a very fruitful life”.

In terms of avoiding failures, Amir stresses the importance of humanising processes. His humility is apparent in his admission, “When you run an organisation it’s the people who actually develop it, I don’t”.

“What I do is, I hope to be able to energise people enough to do what they are supposed to do better, and then they deliver more than what I could do by myself,” he said.

The Edge’s BRC Meet the CEO sessions aim at providing a platform for university students to engage with CEOs of some of Malaysia’s top companies. In attendance yesterday was HELP University’s vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Paul Chan Tuck Hoong, along with students not just from HELP University, but also from Monash University and the University of Exeter.

Following three successful meets, students can look forward to the next session come July 3 with Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar of Malayan Banking Bhd at Taylor’s Lakeside Campus.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, June 13, 2012.