Join us for this episode with Robel Tsegaye, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Construction Works Corporation. Robel is a seasoned construction executive with global experience and a passion for advancing Ethiopia’s public infrastructure. In this conversation: Robel’s early life and values, his civil engineering education at Arba Minch University, his 12-year journey in the Middle East working on major projects, and his transition back to public service in Ethiopia. We also discuss his time at the Ethiopian Engineering Corporation, leadership philosophy, organizational culture, and the evolving role of the construction sector in national development, along with insights from leading ECWC. Books mentioned in the episode: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey “Multipliers” by Liz Wiseman "Raising the Bar on Construction Project Teamwork: Catapult Your Results from Good to World Class" by Jim Eisenhart “Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams” by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter “The Sheikh CEO” by Dr. Yasar Jarrar “Mindset” by Carol Dweck “Legacy” by James Kerr “Trust & Inspire” by Stephen M. R. Covey “No Rules Rules” by Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer “How Big Things Get Done” by Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth More from our partners: Dashen Bank Website: https://dashenbanksc.com Telegram: https://t.me/DashenBankEthiopia BPO Partnership Form: https://forms.gle/PsAVBP1vXCvhKXFP6 abetlabs.com GIZ: https://www.giz.de/de/downloads/giz2023-en-private-sector-development-in-ethiopia.pdf To advertise on Meri: https://meri.et/advertise 00:00 - Introduction 02:09 - opening 03:35 - Defining moment that made you. 16:57 - Career and projects 34:09 - Coming back to Ethiopia 01:06:28 - setting the culture of a company 01:09:36 - Talent Development 01:13:29 - Employee training and commitment 01:20:11 - Trust, having no secretary and company policy 01:27:45 - Feedback 01:36:24 - Partnership 01:39:28 - Changing the culture of a company from scratch 01:44:38 - Challenges on project delivery and management in Ethiopia 01:55:15 - Challenges compared to the international standards 01:57:28 - Procurement 01:59:06 - Finance 02:03:10 - Run Down Questions 02:07:18 - Solving challenges 02:13:14 - What keeps you up at night? 02:16:36 - Wisdom Social Links https://t.me/MERI_PODCAST https://twitter.com/MERI_Podcast https://www.instagram.com/meripodcast/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKNuQ80qNSpt2x-7dsazJg https://youtube.com/@Meriwoch?si=yIpJ3byprnVNwKi1 https://youtube.com/@mericlipset?si=wwa0KeQ_Nv2aPy9l https://www.tiktok.com/@meripodcast https://www.linkedin.com/company/meriethiopian/ Copyright Notice for Meri Podcast: All rights reserved. The content featured in this podcast is protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or modification of any portion of this podcast is strictly prohibited. For permission to use our content, please contact us at info@meri.et Thank you for respecting our copyright.