University of Oxford (Saïd)

with government authorities and buyers on land transactions, assess demand-supply and price trends, mentor new employees, and work with senior management to shape investment strategy. When I joined this ~50-person firm, the transition was difficult. My prior experience had been at structured multinational firms (Company B, a financial-research firm, and Company C, an investment-research firm), where workflows were systematic and colleagues open to digital practices. Here, most colleagues were a decade or more older and less receptive to change; I recall proposing daily progress reports, only to be met with skepticism. Drawing on the grounding from my father's three decades in real estate, I reframed the idea, introducing weekly reports that made the impact more substantial. Once leadership saw how they improved coordination with contractors and partners, the wider team adopted the practice. This taught me that change cannot be imposed but must be built on trust, patience, and demonstrated impact. My most significant achievement was designing a structured deal-pipeline tracker. When I arrived, ~20 active leads were managed inconsistently across calls, emails, and memory, causing duplication and delayed follow-ups. I built a single tracker consolidating client details, deal stages, and next steps, trained my eight-person team, and held weekly reviews. Within six months we closed or nearly closed seven high-value deals while another twelve advanced, and management recognised it as a fundamental shift in how the firm operates.