Omer Sagheer is a results-driven business leader with extensive expertise in accounting, financial management, and operational leadership. Over his career, he has consistently demonstrated a remarkable ability to drive profitability, reduce costs, and implement innovative strategies that elevate customer service standards across diverse industries.
Currently, the Owner and Operator of AZS Global, a consulting and financial leadership firm, Omer specializes in guiding executive teams, developing strategic business plans, and implementing financial practices that enhance cash flow and profitability. His expertise extends to mergers and acquisitions, vendor negotiations, and industry benchmarking. Proficient in GAAP and IFRS standards, advanced Excel, ERP systems (SAP, D365, Oracle, NetSuite, WD), and CRM platforms like Salesforce, Omer combines analytical insight with hands-on leadership to deliver measurable results.
Omer’s career highlights include serving as VP of Finance & Treasurer at Scoular Company, where he led multimillion-dollar budgeting, spearheaded mergers and acquisitions, and optimized financial tools, resulting in significant cost savings. Prior to that, he played a critical role in launching White Energy, overseeing $400 million in renewable energy projects, and enhancing operational efficiency as VP of Business Development and Marketing. His early experience as a Commercial Loan Officer at First National Bank of Omaha laid a solid foundation for his expertise in risk assessment and portfolio management.
Omer’s exceptional ability to identify growth opportunities has been evident throughout his career. At Scoular Company, he launched innovative financial tools, driving cost savings and ensuring alignment with corporate goals. During his tenure at White Energy, he oversaw the construction of $400 million in renewable energy facilities while establishing processes that maximized efficiency. His strategic vision and ability to adapt to dynamic business environments have allowed him to optimize resource allocation and streamline operations.
Omer holds an Executive MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, alongside a degree in Business Administration from Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada. Known for his strategic thinking, attention to detail, and leadership in navigating complex business environments, Omer has successfully led 15 mergers and acquisitions, implemented cutting-edge financial systems, and established industry benchmarks. With a passion for driving sustainable growth and innovation, he continues to make a lasting impact across the business and financial sectors.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
A typical day starts off with a morning workout, a time for prayer and reflection, that allows me to focus my mind and body on what is to come throughout the day, may it be a challenge or an issue, I feel like that helps me stay grounded and focused. I also like to keep part of my day rather structured as I feel that allows me to be the most productive to complete the tasks at hand. I also like to keep part of my day open to follow up on unplanned tasks or projects that come up. I do also like to keep some time open to learn each day, may that be a piece of trivia or news, or general facts. Whatever it is, just to walk away feeling like I learned something.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Once I have an idea in mind I like to bring up that idea even if it is in the early stages to a peer or colleague to run it by them, to gather input from them, to see if they have anything that might make the idea better, or even to shot early holes in the idea. I try to refine the idea and set up a plan to look at ways to implement the idea into whatever task that it might be for. To look at how that might impact me and others around me and how to communicate that idea to others if it affects how they will do their jobs. I like to set up a process to track the idea to see if there was any improvement or the effectiveness of the idea. Finally, determine if it was a success or a failure, either way, learn from the good and bad of each idea.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Blockchain is not the newest trend but one that I think still has a lot of room to grow and expand, I used it in the early stages to clear Letters of Credit and to help track documentation such as Bills of Lading in the process, with final movement of cash to settle a transaction. I think from the early days to now the technology has advanced and processes have improved, but with AI I believe that there is even further growth for the idea, the potential I believe is still not fully tapped. It is a trend I keep my eye on to see its growth from the simple transactions that I used it for to the complex transactions it is used for today.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I think the one habit that allows me to be productive is discipline in my life to have a routine to have set aside time to accomplish daily routine tasks, and to set aside time for more complex projects. It allows me to have structure in what seems like unstructured days we all have each day, with different problems and tasks thrown at me in what seems like every direction. Being disciplined allows you to grasp each crazy task thrown at you and to let you understand and come up with a solution to each problem while trying to stay calm in the heat of the day!
What advice would you give your younger self?
To be more patient takes more time in learning and understanding and not to compare myself with others and what path they are on, but rather to focus on my own path. To slow down and to take things more in and not to be in a rush and to slow down and enjoy the wins and learn more from the losses. At times, to listen more and learn more from others around you. When you are young, sometimes your ego gets in the way of learning.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
I think the answer to that question is a very complex one, but I believe it is the “Truth about yourself” as it is based on your own opinion and that some agree with and some do not, but if you are telling something about you then only you will know if it is true or not. Your deepest secret or concern, no one will agree with you unless you express that as the truth.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
To practice thinking, to use your memory, to try to memorize something, and to work your brain. It is a muscle as well and needs to be worked out and challenges and pushes like any other muscle that you have in your body. I find that trying to memorize a passage each day stretches how much you learn and how much you can take in. This simple task will help you with your day-to-day functions, let you remember more and store more in your short-term memory help you to remember facts better, and help you recall information in presentations so you can focus on getting your point across rather than worrying about the words.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I usually take a few minutes to breathe and to gather my composure, to stop, and to refocus my brain. Then I break the task down into smaller portions so that the larger task has now become 5 smaller tasks to make it seem more manageable and easier to get done, or to portion the tasks out and ask for help to complete the small tasks so that you can pull everything together for the large task.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Looking for the next challenge and to put yourself in that tough situation. These two ideas have pushed me to own my own business as well as in the corporate environment. Looking for the next challenge, push yourself hard and learn what you can about the company, the task, or the job, take on the hard projects, learn from your mistakes, and take those lessons to the next challenge it will help you rise and be seen. Learn to accept the mistakes and praise the successes as they come your way. Do not shy away from a tough situation, embrace it, accept it, and use it as a stepping stone for the next challenge. It will help you stand out and be noticed, as the person who says “Yes, I can do it”, you will stumble and fall at times, but the lessons you learn are priceless and will help you grow faster than sitting back and waiting.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
A failure in my career was one early in my career when it came to starting my own business, I thought I knew all the answers and did not look to others or seek advice from others who might have been smarter than me. I learned that it is okay to seek help and advice and in fact, it is better to get it so that you can make an informed decision. To learn from other failures and seek guidance from them. But when you fail, you have two options to stay down or to get up and to do it over again and to learn and to succeed and show everyone that you can do it.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Failures are not setbacks, rather a setback is a steppingstone to be able to move forward and to learn from what you did wrong to lift yourself up and to try again. To push forward and to take those failures and combine them into successes, to use them to motivate you and to push on to higher and better hills.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
As a finance guy, my go-to is Excel. It is a piece of software that you can do a lot with, and you can use it to help productivity and task management. I use it to keep track of projects, the cost for those projects, and general expenses, in business and in my personal life. It is a great way to keep track of your to do lists and to send out tasks that need to be done, as well as track year over successes and failures.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
The Best $100 I recently spent was taking my kids to the movies, yes it is that expensive, but having older kids in their twenties. It is hard to track them down with their busy lives, but to peg them down for an afternoon at the movies and the time you spend with them before and after is amazing. As they get older, you realize how fast time goes by and that you need to take the time when you can get it with them and spend some quality time and understand what is going on in their lives, and to help guide them and help them get back up after a fall or not the best choice.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
My favorite book is “Good to Great.” I think over the years I have gone back and reread that book and highlighted it and seen my notes in it for prior years and revised them and added to them. It is a book and a philosophy that you can incorporate at all levels of an organization and take things you learned from and apply to daily life as well. It is well-written and simple to understand, and the concepts have been tested over time and have come out on top.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
The most recent series I watched was “Lockerbie.” I am a history buff and learning about what went wrong and why, what lessons can be learned from history and how can we take those lessons and adapt them to current times both as a society and in ones personal life.
Key learnings:
- Talk to new people, do not judge them, learn who they are and glean information from them, how have succeeded, what failures they have had.
- Failures are an opportunity and a stepping stone for success.
- Create a culture and environment where ideas flow and success lead to more success, and mistakes are not treated as failures but as opportunities for growth.
- Build a team that is looking to take on the next challenge to be successful to be the best they can be.