User:Asiff Shah Jehan

Reaching for the Stars with Feet on the Ground
The unusual title describes both the man and his mission – There is an unusual man with an unusual dream. He is unusual because he bears the mark of those who are truly accomplished – On one hand, he hardly draws attention to himself or blows his own trumpet. Challenge him with a problem and you see the mild Dr. David Banner turn into a corporate heavy weight like the legendary Hulk. Gifted with insight, tremendous drive, diverse and valuable experience and the capacity to make and keep friendships, he is an iceberg of the same caliber as the one which sank the Titanic a century ago… Positioned strategically, submerged for the greater part, apparently small and insignificant but possessing the strength and capacity to break the hull of any challenge sent his way in the chilly waters of the corporate Arctic.



If I were to use the terms licensed pilot, a professional trained and skilled in automobile engineering, an insurance professional, a decorated marketer, an operations expert and a relationship keeper, you would probable think I’m describing a whole team. I am actually describing the visionary who wishes to bring about a paradigm shift to the streets of Sri Lanka – a shift which would ease the congestion, radically reduce the emissions, minimize the risk of fatal accidents and in the process of doing all this, create manifold employment opportunities for youth from every district and every province. This is an apt description of unusual man Asiff Shah Jehan and his journey. Great leaders see problems early. Problems of the nation, ills of the economy, yearnings of society and the wailing sirens of a wrecked and jeopardized environment tag at the heart strings of leaders. They are discontent with the status quo and unwilling to say “there’s nothing we can do”. They dream of a day when the problem will diminish and even cease. Then, with the passion of a hungry lion or the intensity of tumultuous cyclone, they begin to work and move others to work until the distant dream becomes a tangible and present reality. That sounds like some philosophical foreword from a management book. That sounds like a tall order but then, “A journey of a thousand miles beginneth but with one step” The vision sounds somewhat like the tag line or motto of the Post-graduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayawardanapura University – “Think Globally, Act Locally”