Post by Haskayne School of Business

After more than three decades leading across pharmaceuticals, consumer health, retail and regulated healthcare, Irfan Sattar knew it was time to evolve as a leader. As CEO of Helios Laboratories, a role he stepped into less than two years ago, Sattar navigates complex decisions every day. Yet along the way, he began seeing familiar questions surface around leadership, culture and what truly motivates people. So, he set out on a path to examine those questions — leading him to the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at the Haskayne School of Business. Currently in his second year of the program, Sattar brings a strong academic foundation and international leadership perspective to his doctoral studies. Before immigrating to Canada in 2010, he built a sucessful career in Pakistan where he earned both his master's degree in management science and an MBA. Sattar says his DBA experience has shifted how he listens and leads, placing greater value on meaning, context and the human side of performance. “I am more curious, more patient with complexity and more comfortable holding questions open before moving to an answer,” he says. “The program has not changed my focus on action; it has made my actions more considered.” “I also see leadership differently now. I place greater value on empathy and the quality of attention a leader brings to people and situations. The program has renewed my confidence that professional experience and intellectual growth do not have an expiry date.” Besides being a business leader and evolving scholar, Sattar is also a globally recognized Urdu language poet with three published anthologies to his credit. His work has been featured in leading literary journals across South Asia and is frequently invited to international literary forums to present his work. Learn more about the DBA program: https://bit.ly/4d5A7YM