Ahmed Sabbour, Chairman & MD of Al Ahly Sabbour

Ahmed Sabbour, Chairman & MD of Al Ahly Sabbour: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Chairman and Managing Director of Al Ahly Sabbour Ahmed Sabbour (LinkedIn). Edited excerpts from our conversation:

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I’m Ahmed Sabbour and I am an Egyptian citizen who is deeply in love with his country and its people. I’m simply a tradesman and a laborer in the real estate sector. I am a 60 -year-old married man with six children — four girls and two boys.

As the chairman of several Al Ahly Sabbour companies and the managing director of others, my focus is on cultivating the right environment for our team to thrive. Whether it is identifying new business opportunities, building relationships for future projects or setting organizational goals, my daily activities revolve around helping create a cohesive vision for all of Sabbour’s companies. I recognize my role as a specialized engineer, and I believe it’s essential to empower our marketers, salespeople, and other professionals at Sabbour to excel in their own areas of expertise.

Sabbour’s origins are rooted in family. We started as a boutique real estate company with initial capital of EGP 62.5k, which was founded by four partners — my father as chairman, myself as the CEO along with my mother and brother. Our firm quickly grew bigger, becoming Al Ahly Sabbour, through a partnership with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) — whom we have a 30-year standing relationship with. With NBE, we increased our paid capital to EGP 5 mn. Today, Al Ahly Sabbour’s capital stands at EGP 300 mn and we plan to increase it to EGP 550 mn by the end of the year.

Egypt’s real estate business is a tough one — it’s difficult to keep up with the constant industry changes and economic forecasts for the long term. If I were in the fashion industry for example, my plans would be relatively short-term as the product I’m selling takes three months or so to sell, but working with land and properties requires a more expansive vision, demanding that we factor in economic expectations and potential shifts five years down the line.

Green construction has taken the lead as the leading trend in the industry, with more companies looking to implement sustainable construction practices. Entertainment and catering to the youth are two other growing trends in Egypt’s real estate market. At Sabbour, we recognise we can no longer simply build homes and gardens, but we now need to provide varying entertainment services to create a completely integrated lifestyle. As the youth now represent some 70% of Egypt’s population, catering for them without ignoring other generations has become a growing focus for the industry.

The first two hours of my day are for reading. I wake up somewhere between 7 and 7:30am, and that’s when I check the day’s EnterpriseAM Egypt issue, go through my emails, and my WhatsApp — which I now consider an email as well. If there is a report or something in the press I am looking to read, that’s when I would do that. My reading time is sometimes cut to an hour and half, to make time for a 30-minute workout. After work, my time is dedicated to my family, and I try to always keep up with my friends, especially my schoolmates. If I get the chance, I might have an hour or two of me-time during the week — that’s when I’d listen to some music.

My workday consists of meetings with all the company’s stakeholders. I have internal meetings with colleagues, and external meetings with clients, designers, architects, and government officials which usually go on until 7pm. Crisis management is also a part of my day, with emergency meetings often coming up.

I navigate my daily to-do’s by setting clear priorities. Every morning, I map out my daily priorities on a piece of paper. This simple practice allows me to order my tasks by importance, helping me set my own goals while effectively delegating responsibilities to my colleagues.

Making time for worship is the one constant in my day that will never change. Praying everyday and reading five pages of the Quran will always be on my daily agenda. I also enjoy doing small acts of kindness, whether for a friend or a stranger. At 60, I am increasingly focused on integrating these practices in my life. I strongly believe in the importance of contributing to job creation and charitable efforts — which are high on my personal agenda moving forward. I am also looking to allocate more time for my mother, wife, and kids.

Frankly, I am bad at work-life balance. Despite emphasizing the importance of work-life balance to my colleagues, I find myself not practicing what I preach. Moving forward, I want to make time for the four most important pillars in my life beyond work: family, friends, my relationship with God, and myself.

Social activities are my go-to method of switching off — I enjoy dinner outings with friends, or spending time at sports clubs. My wife and I also really enjoy watching movies and TV shows together, so as a night owl I’ll be up until 1-2am watching classic Egyptian movies.

Other than old movies, I enjoy reading war books, like The Art of War by Sun Tzu. They not only get me out of the work mood, but also help me be more strategic and manage my business plans.

The best piece of advice I ever received came from my father, who was my lifelong mentor. He encouraged me to read books on war to understand business strategy, but most importantly, he taught me to keep learning everyday of my life. He also shared another piece of advice that stuck with me — one he had learned from his peer — “it’s important for your colleagues to worry about you rather than fear you.”