Advising aspiring professionals to plan their career well-a talk between Wasim Akram and Veqar ul Islam

Karachi(Cliff News)Everyone faces ups and downs in their career, how one deals with the downs determines how long will they stay up. These were the remarks given by Veqar ul Islam, Director and CEO of Jaffer Business Systems, while moderating an exciting session with former star cricketer Wasim Akram. The speaker session ‘Management Lessons from Cricket’ was part of the 2^nd edition of The Future Summit, held in Karachi earlier this week.The session was a one-on-one conversation between Wasim Akram and Veqar ul Islam which shed light on the similarities between corporate world and the world of sports. Wasim Akram is not just the former Cricket captain of Pakistan team, but world’s top commentators, critics and coach as well. The dialogue took place between the two gentlemen as they discussed the highs and lows of career and sustaining the success in the long run. In in his opening remarks Wasim Akram that the kind of mantra and leadership required in cricket can be applied in the world of business as well. The key take-out from the session was how as an individual can start from nothing and still achieve a flourishing and fulfilling career.Wasim Akram while expressing his views onstruggles of life and career shared with the audience that, “I was 29 when I got diagnosed with Diabetes. I was at the top of my career at that time and had to struggle more mentally than physically in order to accept it. But it was my passion for the game which made me go on and not give up. I was so passionate about it that I knew I had to make it work and that’s why I was able to play for eight and a half years after that.” Addressing the younger generation, Wasim Akram said, “There is absolutely no shortcut to hard work. Having the right attitude, confidence and belief in yourself is what paves the way for success.”Veqar ul Islam seconded Wasim while summing up the conversation by advising aspiring professionals to plan their career well. “It’s a long career spanning around thirty-five years. You can’t run it like a Twenty20 match, you have to prepare it like a test match. We must love what we do and we must learn to evolve with time. Learning, unlearning and learning again is the essence of life. That’s what people need to do in order to continue ahead and keep up the pace with the changing world.”The 2^nd edition of The Future Summit was a two-day event in Karachi, opening its doors to more than 200 guests. The event was attended by corporate leaders and their teams, where dialogue took place on emerging issues by Federal Ministers, and sessions were carried out on diverse topics such as moving with the digital world, future of D&I, leadership, innovating for future and keeping up with change, along with a lot more insightful discussions.