Seif Abdelmaguid, country director and associate partner at Strategic Gears: 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 Strategic Gears’ Country Director and Associate Partner Seif Abdelmaguid (LinkedIn). Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I’m Seif Abdelmaguid, and I’ve been working as a consultant for more than 15 years, with experience in large-scale transformation and execution of all types of businesses. I also worked on national-level initiatives and institutional reforms as a banker at the Central Bank of Egypt.

Coming from an engineering background really shaped the way I think. Engineering taught me a lot about systems, precision, and structure, while consulting taught me about strategy and impact. I bridge both worlds to design with rigor and execute with discipline and consistency.

I currently lead the company’s commercial hub in Egypt, which oversees the rest of Africa. We’re a consulting firm that works with the private sector, public sector clients, ministries, and semi-governmental entities. We’re inputting national-level strategies and executing them, as well as working with the private sector on business strategies and helping it realize value from those strategies.

Clients don’t only want strategies, designs, and fancy slides — they want ownership of execution and what you promised them as a consultant. In countries like Egypt, for instance, this is a clear demand from all types of clients.

The company started around 11 years ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since it’s the biggest consulting market in the world. The company’s Saudi origins helped us stand out in the market, as it’s rare to see a Saudi firm launch in this space.

My morning routine hasn’t changed for 22 years. I know this sounds boring, but it’s not. I wake up at 5am and have a small snack, not an actual breakfast, and then I hit the gym or go jogging. After that, I’m at work by 8am, which gives me some sort of a competitive edge. By that time, I’ve already started my day very early and cleared out all communications, allowing me to be ready for the day before everyone else. My work day is split between three things: client meetings, internal meetings for committees, and operational meetings.

Between all these tasks, I try to stay connected to people in the company as much as I can, and this is something that we value in the company’s work culture in general. We actually have an open-door policy, so that anyone can walk in at any time to discuss any work-related topic.

The two constants in my day are duaa and sports. I’m a big believer in the power of duaa. I make sure to make it a habit to make my duaas on my way to work after finishing at the gym. I believe this habit transformed my life, and it’s a constant that will never change no matter what. I also work very long hours, but if I don’t have my daily 45-minute to 1-hour session at the gym, I feel like something is wrong with me — it’s what helps me keep my balance.

I believe that a work-life balance can be distributed over time. You can be unbalanced for five years, investing in your work, growth, and scaling your capabilities, then spend the next two years traveling or learning something new unrelated to work. I once heard businessman Ahmed Tarek say that every five years, he takes a year-long break from work. He isolates himself from everything and only focuses on quality rest and balancing himself. He then comes back with a new project idea or mission for the next five years. And I’m a big believer in this school of thought.

On a professional level, we want to expand in Africa. I see countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Morocco, and Algeria growing every day. I think there is great potential there to leverage our expertise to support these economies to grow faster and faster.

The best piece of advice I ever received was given to me by an athlete called Kris Gethin, who used to say that if you fail to plan, you will plan to fail. He was talking about the importance of planning, at least the night before.

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