Meet the team: Maksim Osipov

Disciplined, hardworking and result-oriented, Maksim Osipov hails from the Chuvashia region and studied in Moscow. He is currently the Senior Business Development Manager of ride hailing for inDrive, responsible for the MENA region where inDrive presently operates in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey and Lebanon. Here are some of his career moments, along with advice and inspiration.

How I joined inDrive: I was one of the first employees who joined inDrive outside of the Yakutsk region where inDrive was born. I had several rounds of interviews, one of which was 3 hours long, with Prokopy Fedorov who currently serves as VP of Breakthrough Growth. My first role was Business Development Manager, before I was promoted to Senior. I believe the reason why I got promoted was based on the achievement of plans for growth of MENA region business, as well as successful launches.

Biggest career highlight: In my opinion, it is the structuring and organizing of work for cross cultural cross department teams to achieve business results in the MENA region. It requires a delicate approach since we connect people from very different cultures and backgrounds.?

The biggest challenge was the launch of the ride-hailing business in Turkey (Istanbul). The reason is that it was our first market outside of the Arab world in the MENA region, and Istanbul is one of the biggest cities in the world. Penetrating such a mega city was an extremely big challenge but we succeeded. Moreover, we continue to face a lot of regulatory requirements that we are currently working on.

A good work environment requires quick and detailed feedback that might be positive and negative, as well as giving opportunities for teams from different countries to share experience with each other on our annual summits of MENA. During our work routine we are so focused on our work and countries, that we often forget to share and get an experience. Moreover, a motivated team is capable of achieving much higher results and motivation is strongly related to feeling of support from all team members.

The best career advice I’ve been given: "If you know you are right, do it, no matter what others think. It’s better to make a decision,? even if it’s not perfect, than not to make a decision at all".

How I manage work/life balance: I follow the motto "the best rest is a change of activities". If I am working on my laptop, I will do my best to do all tasks in working hours, and then close the laptop and hit a gym. If my work is done, I prefer not to be distracted by work outside of working hours.

Staying motivated: I am always looking for that connection between action and results. Visible results, either in numbers or direct customer feedback, is the best motivator.

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out". I do not believe in motivation as much as I believe in consistency. Motivation comes and goes, but habits stay always.

Success for me is the realization that you are doing your best, no matter what circumstances you are in.

What do you think is the foundation of career success? I think for me the foundation is skill in communication and negotiation.I chose a more generalist track in my career, which is not heavily based on certain specific skills like programming. On a? generalist track, the? most important skill for growth is in management and negotiations since these are the main tools that help to achieve any result.?

How I get past failure: I do not focus on past failures. New achievements are waiting!