Ep16 - Keeping It Simple with Dalmar Sheikh, APAC Leader For Data Center Expansion Strategy, AWS Artwork

Finance Guys In Tech

The opinions on this show are our own. The voices in our heads... still figuring that out. Charlie & Sid bring you some humanity, fun, and other useful stuff from the trenches of working in finance at Amazon. An interview show with our friends and colleagues at Amazon about how they ended up here, how they thrive, and most importantly…what are they doing this weekend. This show is all geared towards helping you perform better in your career, forming stronger teams, reducing stress & anxiety, and having plenty of laughs along the way. We’ll go micro on the day-to-day tactics and tips. We’ll go macro on creativity and mindset. We’ll give you all kinds of new ideas to play with about how to get into tech finance or what an optimal career might look like for you. We'll also bring you guests who you might not otherwise have access to. And since our number one objective is to bring you value we'll listen to you about the things you really want to hear. Sid joined Amazon in 2016 and AWS one year later. He's a value investor at heart so his presence on the show should be all you need to know about choosing to listen. Charlie (that’s me) has worked in finance at Amazon since 2014 and joined Amazon Web Services in 2015. He is also 1/2 of GoodBaby.band | Bass and songwriter for fornow.band | Recovering drummer | Author of the Art & Work weekly newsletter at charleskunken.com | Writer. Rider. New Yorker. Artist.

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Finance Guys In Tech

Ep16 - Keeping It Simple with Dalmar Sheikh, APAC Leader For Data Center Expansion Strategy, AWS

February 27, 2020 • Charlie Kunken & Sid Dhodi, Finance At Amazon

“THE SECRET IS SIMPLE…DO THE STUFF EXACTLY HOW YOUR MAMA USED TO TELL YOU, DRESS CLEAN, BE HONEST, BE ON TIME, DO YOUR WORK, BE RESPECTFUL….IF YOU DO THAT EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE”

Today Sid and I got to sit down with our friend Dalmar Sheikh, the leader of the APAC Data Center Expansion Strategy team and an eight-year Amazonian to boot.

Dalmar tells us his awesome story about growing up in (at least) seven different countries (I lost track). Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, Italy, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan…I think there was some China in there….France? So cool. We talk about how it ties into his current superpowers that he deploys at Amazon, how he leads his team, and a little bit about the importance of negotiating with respect, which can vary by culture.

Ultimately, Dalmar leaves us with the wisest of words: listen to your mother. Dalmar, thank you. We’re calling home right now. This was a ton of fun, please enjoy!

2:25 | Growing up around the globe

5:30 | Dalmar as a youth – the skill of assimilating with all types of different groups from a young age

8:10 | Goals for after school – business, something international, which leads to 18 years in Japan

10:40 | Getting involved in the Data Center space very early, circa ~1999

12:00 | AWS origin story, joining in 2012, early days

13:40 | Biggest difference – the magnitude and speed of decision making

19:10 | Leadership philosophy – helping & teaching his team to make critical decisions with limited information and communicating well

22:40 | What is your leadership philosophy? Help the team get the job done while enjoying their work.

25:55 | On the culture of negotiating – it’s not about being aggressive and demanding, it’s about showing respect

28:30 | Dalmar’s superpower – being able to read people’s emotions

30:50 | Outside of work? – spending time with his boys, going to basketball games

32:30 | What content do you consume outside of work? Loving movies, Bollywood!

35:15 | A leader’s responsibility – excite the team, give responsibility, trust, training, growth

38:10 | Life philosophy – do the stuff your mama told you

Dalmar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalmarsheikh/

CONTACT THE SHOW:

Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcast

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/

Email | charlie@charleskunken.com (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)

Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/
Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunken

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe

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Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’. You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

The music video to the theme music for the show: ‘Rose Colored’ by Good Baby