Sara Momtaz, FM Industry Expert/Consultant/Advisor

Sara is a recognized industry expert in the Facilities & Workplace Management, Property Management, Real Estate, and Assessment Management fields with over 20 years of experience. Sara is an inspirational results-driven professional with extensive global knowledge impacting corporate performance. “Experiences have thought me that regardless of the real estate realm for every company the real asset are its people. And this is what profoundly drew me towards FM,” she said.

Proud Moments

While there are many proud moments, Sara said that 3 of them stand apart. One is winning the TFM contract for the King Abdullah World Center (Ithra Project) at Khidmah. “At that time, this was the biggest FM contract in the GCC. Bidding for this contract on behalf of Khidmah, which looked like a small company compared to the others in this bid, and winning it was a proud moment indeed. It has been six years since that win, and everyone who was part of that project win speaks about it to date,” she said. The second was reviving a project for a developer and converting it into a commercially viable one at QBG Facilities Management. “And the third moment is a personal one. In the course of my career, I have always found it very self-rewarding when people you have mentored progress in their careers,” she noted.

Barriers in Female Leadership

Sara said that barriers are a cliché, as you are aware of the working environment, in terms of how you respond to certain situations. “For example, your male counterparts can behave and react the same way but where he is assertive you come across as aggressive, and where is persistent and strong you’re bossy. However, in FM I feel women are at an advantage because they have an instinct to solve problems, and are calm in their approach with smoother skills. Today, I am happy to see so many women coming into this field and achieving great grounds,” she added.

Advice

“Remember ladies there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to FM. So have faith in yourselves as this is an industry that does embrace women.”