Waleed J. Iskandar
(By Adnan Afridi)
~ A Boss…who became a close friend ~
|
I first met Waleed in 1994 at Monitor Group’s Summer Graduate recruiting round in Cambridge. I was in my second year at Harvard Law School and contemplating a return to Monitor (where I had worked during my undergraduate days at Harvard College). Waleed’s easy going manner, sense of humor and ‘intense intellect’ made my decision fairly simple and I decided to join the company that had attracted professionals like Waleed. After I graduated in June 1995, I joined Monitor’s head office and was fortunate to be assigned to a project that had Waleed as its Case Team Leader. Beginner’s Luck helped me stumble upon an insight that led to the success of this assignment and this was the beginning of a long professional relationship with Waleed. We spent the next few months working on a project that would take Monitor to Abu Dhabi…this project never materialized but we came close enough to being at Logan Airport when I heard by name being called by Waleed on the public announcement system asking me not to board as the project had hit a snag. At this point, I had sold my car and apartment (as this was a 2 year project) and so had Waleed. We both checked into a hotel and went drinking… Waleed and I were then offered the opportunity to open Monitor’s office in Turkey. Since we were homeless in Boston, we accepted and next thing I knew, we were in sunny Istanbul. I spent 14 months in Istanbul: this is the place where Waleed met Mirel, where I became a preferred patron of SHE BAR (a local nightspot) and where I learnt the profession of consulting from one of the smartest professionals I have met. Waleed was detailed, patient and dedicated to his team and to the company. I was continually amazed at this ability to go from a ’50,000 feet discussion’ to the minute detail of how much a refrigerator costs in Turkey within the same conversation. In our early days in Istanbul, we did not have any local staff or support; consequently we would head out to any place we knew by name and could pronounce to the cab driver. One night, we were returning to the apartment and the cab driver got lost. Between Waleed and I, we knew 7 languages (not Turkish at the time), had 5 degrees from Ivy League Insitutions, were considered Monitor’s fast-track consultants and we could not find our way home…Waleed would say ‘turn right’ in Arabic, I would counter by telling the cab driver to ‘turn left’ in Urdu…(there is some truth to all the consultant jokes…). Finally the cab driver politely asked us to ‘walk’ and we did, finding our way home. In 1997, I left Turkey to return to Pakistan; by this time, Waleed had become a close friend rather than my ‘first boss.’ We kept in close touch and I met him in London several times. I last spoke to him on Sept. 7 and was happy to hear his marriage plans and his trip to US. Being in Pakistan, I have seen the War Against Terror up close…but Waleed was perhaps the War’s first casualty… He is indeed a Martyr and may God treat him as such. (Adnan Afridi) |
| Home |
