Shady William, CEO of IDG: 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 Industrial Development Group (IDG) CEO Shady Willam (LinkedIn). Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Shady William, I am currently the CEO and managing director of IDG. I’ve been within the group for the past 10 years in different roles after I moved here from Canada. I first went to university for a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, hoping to continue in the medical field, but along the way I realized I’m more business driven. So, I switched paths and did management degrees, and ended up working in pharma, then corporate investments and business development, and now industrial real estate development.

My responsibility — which I believe should be also the responsibility of other CEOs too — is to look at three main stakeholders: my shareholders, my clients, and my employees. Everything is done to help the three stakeholders. For our clients, we need to continuously develop a better and bigger product that serves their needs and addresses their demands. My employees need to feel like they work in the best environment they can possibly work in, they’re well treated and respected, and that they have room to grow. As for shareholders, they care about the profitability and sustainability of the company. Balancing these three is the main role of the CEO in a company.

IDG started in 2007 to fill a gap in the market — industrial land demanded by industrialists and manufacturers. There was a scarcity of land, and the government was not able to meet the demand at a large scale. So they invited the private sector to enter into this field and to contribute by taking a piece of land in the desert, developing it, and getting the infrastructure and utilities in place to attract investors.

At the moment, we are working on our latest project, e2 New October — a 1.6 mn square meter industrial park — our newest addition that brings next-generation infrastructure and services to manufacturers. It reflects how we continue to anticipate and deliver on investor needs

I think the challenge in any industry is to be innovative and to try to understand the value addition that you bring to the business you’re in. In one way, industrial land is simply just a piece of land on which people build factories on. But you also have to look at how you can make things better for them — to help them do what they do best, have a sustainable business, and ensure they’re growing in their field.

I start my day like most people, I wake up early in the morning, catch up with market news, and try to plan my day ahead. Throughout the day, I have meetings that I need to prepare for, so I usually take the morning time to reflect on what I have coming up that day.

One constant in my day is that I try to learn something new every day. I try to read about something, I try to understand something better, regardless of what field or what sector. Reading and building my understanding in different topics is something that I’ve always been interested in.

I think I’m doing a good job maintaining a work-life balance. When I walk out of the office and go home, I don’t take my work responsibilities with me. I try not to take business calls in the evening and focus on myself during that time.

Since a young age, I’ve always taken interest in how companies innovate and create that differentiation between a good product and a great product. It’s always that 5% at the end that makes all the difference. Paying attention to these small details makes a big difference, that’s what really makes a product unique and distinct.

I believe a product addresses a problem. So for any problem that exists, a product is created to address it. In our business, we’re continuously trying to collect data. We’re trying to find out more about the challenges that exist, whether it’s on an operation level, or dealing with different entities that are stakeholders in the product.

We’re looking at how we can improve things — how we can go from good to great. That journey requires a lot of research and a lot of thinking. In every development that we’re doing, we’re going back to the drawing board and we’re starting from where we ended, we’re trying to see what we can do better and how we can keep an eye on the future.

A lot of manufacturers are looking at sustainability, as well as energy and uninterrupted power. They’re looking at the ease of doing business. It’s not just about labor costs. It’s a lot more on how to improve the efficiency of the factory.

We have around 270 investors within our parks, and 50% of them are foreign investors. We understand the market facing foreign investors, what they need, as well as all the different concerns they have as an international company.

I’ve been given a lot of advice, and I’ve been fortunate enough to meet different mentors. I try to always stay focused and to see how I do something better. Don’t stop at just accepting things the way they are, look at how you can improve them.

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