(Courtesy of Dinna Mustika)Dinna Muskita started out on the career ladder at foreign companies that adhere to an open communication policy. She found it to her liking, and retains the same say-what-you-think approach in her executive position today.

“Any staff member can talk to me about their ideas because I’m an open person and accessible,” said the general manager of Plaza Indonesia. “I like to communicate with my staffers through a variety of technology and gadgets.

“At the same time, however, I’m quite strict and always go by the rules because I also have bosses and responsibilities.”

While she is a stickler for rules, Dinna, 48, avoids using harsh words or shouting at her employees in tense situations. Her preference is to encourage them and build team spirit.

“Work is all about teamwork. I always tell my team that my performance is their performance, while their performance is my performance, so let’s support each other. I don’t want to be a dominant person and participate in office politics. I prefer to say things openly,” said Dinna, adding that she never used the bcc option in e-mails.

If employees are not performing to expectations, she believes in opting for training.

“To get the best out of an employee, we have several stages, such as giving the said employee short-term targets, while assigning the boss to give direct reports and hold coaching sessions or training to add to the employee’s skills. We have several trainings in areas such as computers and IT, customer service and English.”

In the fast-developing property industry that involves many people, safety and security are top priorities, including in being ready for unexpected occurrences.

“What happened [the floods] in the UOB building recently could happen to anyone. We need to train the employees on safety and security as well as alerting and training everyone on emergency situations and evacuation procedures … we need to give quality customer service.”

Whether it is developing human resources or setting safety standards during and after the construction of a building, Dinna reiterates that training plays an important role. It’s a conviction that comes from her own experience: the graduate in communication science also gained knowledge about the industry from the training she underwent.

“When I started working in the property industry, there were no university offering courses on the subject, but I needed training. My office at the time was very supportive as they often held trainings for employees.”

Dinna said she also learned a great deal from her first boss, especially in being disciplined and committed.

“He taught me to be disciplined with time; that whatever we did on the weekend, we had to be ready for work on Monday morning. He also taught me that preparation was the key to success,” she said.

“For example, if we wanted to meet a client, we would first of all gather information about them. It was the pre-Internet era, so we needed more time to gather such information. Everything that we took to a meeting had to be perfect; we had the ammunition, so we were ready.”

She also learns from her staffers on how to interact, as well as keeping abreast of current trends and popular software.

“I need to pay attention to the levels of communication because each person needs a different approach.”

Seizing opportunities

Dinna admits she once considered her gender to be a drawback in the male-dominated property industry.

“I saw how my male colleagues dominated in meetings; they looked so powerful. I realized that I couldn’t change the fact that I was a woman, but I saw that I could seize extra opportunities because I am a woman,” she said with a smile.

“For example, I’d say: ‘Since I’m the only lady here, I’ll start first’, or ‘I’m a woman, let me sit at the head of the table’. I’d say those things jokingly. I never try to be a man.”

She also found her voice to be a problem in public speaking. Raised in the West Java capital of Bandung, she has the area’s characteristic high-pitched accent and speedy delivery.

“I didn’t take any of the speech training that a public speaking trainer once recommended to me. I do try to slow down my pace of talking so people can understand, but I retain my high pitch as my signature,” she said.

Dinna believes that understanding one’s own weaknesses is the crucial step toward self-improvement, and will help the human resources division prepare relevant training in the future.

“If people are not aware of their own weaknesses, they may not be able to accept it if and when other people point them out. If they live in denial, they will have difficulties in improving.”

The mother of two’s typical workday entails leaving her Bintaro home at 7 a.m. with her husband, attorney Bara Muskita. She arrives at the office around 8:30 a.m., and is usually back home by 7 p.m.

 On days off, she is likely to be found in the kitchen whipping up favorite dishes.

“I like to cook Western cuisine on regular weekends and Indonesian food such as opor (chicken cooked in coconut milk), rendang (beef slow cooked in coconut milk and spices) and gulai (a kind of curry) during Lebaran,” she said of the Idul Fitri holiday.

Other weekend activities include charity events, decorating her home, gardening or painting.

“I spend every day at the office, which is also a shopping center and a hotel. On weekends, I just want to stay at home, unless my kids want to eat out,” she said.

Place and date of birth: Bandung, Oct. 31, 1964

Work experience

Presently general manager of PT Plaza Indonesia Realty Tbk (since 2007); previously worked in various capacities, including Colliers Jardine Indonesia, with positions advancing from marketing executive to director of commercial sales and leasing (1990-97); country representative/general manager, AMF Bowling Products (1997-98); managing director Indonesia, Colliers Jardine Indonesia (1999-2001); managing director, Ray White Indonesia (2002); and managing director, PT Templar International Consultants (2002-2007).

Education

1983 -1988 Padjajaran University, School of Communication Science, majoring in Public Relations.

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