SANDRA DE ZOYSA CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, DIALOG AXIATA PLC.

She is the Chief Customer Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka's largest telecommunications service provider, and the country's largest mobile network operator. She is the first female Chairperson and a Founding Member of SLASSCOM – The National Chamber for Knowledge and Innovation (IT / BPM Industry). Her career in the ICT industry spans over thirty years, and she is the longest tenured female employee in the mobile telecommunications sector in Sri Lanka. She was the first female employee to join Celltell in 1989; the country’s first mobile network operator. She is the Chairperson of the Digital Customer Experience Expert Working Group for Axiata Berhad Malaysia, and she is a Director of Dialog Business Services. She is a Founding Member, Board Member and the Operations Director at the Women’s Chamber for Digital Sri Lanka, and she is a Founding Member and the Former Vice President of Sri Lanka Institute of Service Management. She is the longest serving female employee in the Senior Management Team at Dialog Axiata PLC.

She is an alumna of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, and the Cranfield School of Management, UK. She holds an Executive Masters in Business Administration from the University of West London, UK. She has followed extensive programs at Harvard Business School, USA (Digital and Disruptive Technologies and Business Analytics), IMD Business School, Switzerland (Digital Business Strategy) and at INSEAD, France (Riding the Dynamic Telecoms Industry, and the Transition to General Management). She is the only certified CE Professional from CXPA, and she is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the prestigious Six Sigma Management Institute Asia. She is a Certified Scrum Master from Scrum Alliance, and she is a visiting Lecturer at the University of Colombo, School of Computing. She is the only Certified CCXP Practitioner in Sri Lanka, and she is the authorized Resource Practitioner in Sri Lanka eligible to conduct the CXPA Certification programme in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Customer Experience Professionals Association, USA. As a global thought leader in Customer Experience Management she has spoken at over two-hundred and fifty Global Conferences. She is the recipient of the 2011 Industry Champion Award for Sri Lanka presented by Contact Centre World Awards.

In 2013, she was ranked seventh amongst the Top Ten Most Powerful Business Women in Sri Lanka, and in 2015, she was awarded the Customer Experience Impact Award by the Customer Experience Professionals Association, USA. She was the only recipient from the APAC region and one of seven globally to receive this prestigious award in 2015. She was the recipient of the Gold Award for Leadership Excellence at the 2016 Professional and Career Women Awards, Women in Management, Sri Lanka. In 2017, she was awarded the Super Woman Achiever Award at the fourth World Women Leadership Awards presented by Femina and World HRD Congress, India, and she was also the winner of the Women in Management, Service Category Award presented by the Chartered Institute of Management, UK. She was also recognized as Sri Lanka’s Top Woman Leader at the Best Employer Brand Awards presented by World HRD Congress, India.

In 2018, she was awarded the Chairman’s Award for Consistent Exceptional Performance by Axiata Group Berhard, Malaysia, and in 2019 she was the Winner of the Customer Leader of the Year award presented by MyCustomer, UK. She was selected the winner out of eighty global nominees. In 2020, the Constellation Research Inc. (USA) presented her with the Constellation Ambient Experience Leader Award, and in 2021 she was the recipient of the ‘Abhiman Liya’ award presented by the Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka and Women in Management, Sri Lanka.

She Can and she is an empowered, kind, compassionate Power Woman with an infectious smile and a magnetic personality. She is an absolute workaholic and enjoys working round the clock; she will even reply emails at 2:00am. She is an advocate for gender empowerment and gender-equality in the workplace, and at present she is focused on improving IT literacy in the island, especially amongst children and youth. She is ambitious, driven and fiercely loyal; Sandra De Zoysa.

What are the most important attributes of successful leaders today?

• Empathy and humility
• Creative and innovative thinking and mindset
• Ability to maneuver and lead in a volatile environment
• Ability to inspire and motivate the team to be high performing through positivism

Where do you see the company in the next five years under your leadership and guidance?

Dialog will continue to remain the market leader, and continue to be recognized by our customers as the most loved telco-brand in the country. Dialog will also continue to be the most valued brand, and will also continue to be the undisputed leader in digital customer experience.

How did you move forward when everyone kept telling you that your suggestions or ideas won't work? I’m sure at one point during your career your ideas would have been shot down?

All the time, even three decades later some attempt to still do it! I don’t listen to people who say no and tell me that I can’t do something, because I know nothing is impossible and everything is possible to a willing heart, and I know this from three decades of my own personal experience.  I do not entertain nor tolerate any negativity in my life – especially negative people!

How did you reach your level of success, given the sector's gender gap, especially among leadership?

I am not gender-biased and gender does not matter to me. Being a woman is not a showstopper for me, in fact, I see that as an advantage because women can multitask better than men; women bring in attributes of compassion and creativity, and are a lot more conscientious. Women are always attempting to give their 110% because good is just not good enough for a woman, and they need to be giving their very best with no compromise; that’s why women often give up their careers and their promotions etc. to be home-makers and full-time moms. I would say therefore, it is not about you being a man or a woman, but about having the right attitude and mindset, and setting your standards high to doing your best, every time and all the time, this way you will always outshine others (man or woman).

Do you ever think – “Am I crazy?"

Everybody who knows me well enough will admit that I am the craziest of the lot.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

I hold the first and only C-level position in my field of work in the country and the Asia-Pacific region and among a handful globally.

How do you differentiate yourself?

My nickname is ‘Super Sands’ as friends often use Super and Sands in the same sentence. Therefore, everything I do will be focused around people first and technology next. I also try to emulate leaders who follow a servant-leadership approach, such as Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and all religious leaders whose leadership success was based on inspiring others to follow leadership without titles and based on humility, sincerity and kindness. It is a journey in which I know I may never achieve excellence, regardless, it’s worth trying throughout a lifetime and somehow through the journey, others recognize one’s unique personality and the way of doing things.

Who do you look up to for inspiration or mentorship?

Inspiration: Mother Theresa, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Merkel and Jacinda Arden. My husband, Cheremy and my daughter, Cheyenne also inspire me to keep growing.

Mentorship: People who have mentored and encouraged me that has led to any career success I have achieve thus far, such as Dr. Hans Wijesuriya, my boss for over two decades, and my former CIO colleague, Dr. Chaminda Ranasinghe. Not forgetting my dear colleague and current boss, Supun Weerasinghe, who I can count on for support at any time. I am also inspired by an amazing group of close female friends whose success and life-stories, challenges and more than ever, their encouragement, are my greatest cheerleaders. They often give me the feeling that I can accomplish anything, because they believe in me.

Your biggest regret?

My biggest regret is that I didn’t have a couple of children.

One mistake you have made in life?

Not completing my professional education early in life.

How do you keep your team motivated despite conflicts and obstacles?

I am a very positive person and there is no room in my life for negativity, therefore in my line of work, managing relationships with customers and employees, it is a pre-requisite to ensure that “your cup is always full and never runs dry.” Therefore, motivating others is about being creative to find some little thing every day that is positive, inspiring, encouraging and makes others happy.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing before beginning your career, what would it be?

I would tell myself to have been less self-conscious and shy, to be bolder, and to be less risk-averse.

What was the biggest rookie mistake you made when just starting out?

Being too friendly and trusting.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

In my glorious, happy place, doing the things I love with the people I love.

How do you stay motivated 24/7, 365 days a year?

I am a deeply spiritual person and I look to God above in the assurance that everything will always be alright as long as I am plugged into the eternal source of energy and wisdom.

How did you balance being a mother and professional? (both personally and professionally) at each stage of your career?

It is impossible to balance both to perfection; it is a constant juggle of the two most important vocations in life. Therefore, it has always been in perfect imbalance.

What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?

You always underestimate yourself.

How do you want to be remembered one day?

I want to be remembered as someone who has “added value” in the lives of those around me.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

Be feminine and fearless all the time; be feisty and fierce as the situation demands.