Time in Syria

So, after more than five years I am soon stepping down as CEO of Massar and handing the reins on to others to hold from here onwards. I have very mixed feelings about doing so, but it had to happen sometime, probably should have been done two years earlier, and I haven't been giving my family the time and attention they deserve for far too long. And actually, it's a big weight lifted; the job here has for many reasons become too bureaucratic, too political, too inward-looking - none of these things being my forte. The team is more than able to take on my responsibilities now, and Massar will thrive. I am finishing here at the end of March, spending a couple of weeks with Helen as tourists creating great memories of Syria to take away, and then heading back to the UK for some serious decompression time. My personal investment here is enormous, and I won't go without a lot of emotion. But I will be back in the future, often.

Even handing in my notice wasn't simple. I wrote a letter to Mrs A, only to discover some time later that her office had not passed it on to her for over a week because she was ill.  So by the time we actually met to discuss it all, her opportunity to brief the incoming CEO of the Syria Trust (of which Massar is a part) had been cut short, and we ended up with all three of us sitting in the same slightly awkward meeting, rather than having an informal one-to-one chat. It wasn't the first time I had met Omar, who I think will do just fine as CEO of the Trust. Having the greater responsibility of Massar thrust upon him can't have made his eyes light up; there is plenty of deep surgery he will need to do to get the Trust in any sort of productive shape, including getting rid of some very senior managers. But he's a big boy, with plenty of support to make his responsibilities a little bit easier.

Labels: Massar