KZR Story

Kamran Rizvi founded KZR Associates, a management consulting and training firm in Islamabad, Pakistan, in June 1991.

His vision was to ultimately transform KZR from a family enterprise into independent organizations with their own strategic focus and that are entirely owned and managed by teams of dedicated, competent and sincere professionals.

To this end, a strategy for growth was developed at KZR, called PPO (Perpetually Pregnant Organization). As a result, KZR has spawned various organizations and has also built informal associations with many others upon entering the 21st century. The organizations that have come in its place are well established and are growing in an exemplary fashion with the overall mission of developing the human factor in their respective spheres of influence.?Click on link Network on top of this page for details on these organizations.

Having served its purpose, KZR is now part of history and serves as a reference point for posterity by continuing its presence in cyberspace.

Why this website?

Our network is expanding. In recent years, KZR’s founding partners and its successors (former KZR associates) have also managed to build relationships and collaborate with other individuals and organizations who share in our passion for developing the human factor with equal intensity.

To keep pace with our expanding world of possibilities, kzr.co was created to serve as a reference website.

In short, KZR.co is a meeting place in cyberspace for organizations and individuals committed to contributing in some way to a mega-vision.

How It All Began

I am often asked to describe how it all began – I mean the story of KZR and everything that followed. So here is a brief glimpse of the very beginning, for family, friends, colleagues, clients, prospects and indeed, for posterity.

My passion to help individuals from all walks of life to develop and prosper was triggered soon after I started my career in banking, back in 1976. However, I never quite saw training and development as an option for me to consider. It was when I attended a Dale Carnegie course in London in 1981 that my eyes opened to the possibility. I simply continued to harbor a dream of doing something to serve a multitude of people who inhabit our planet and can benefit from greater awareness and empowerment.

When visiting Pakistan from the UK on holidays, once every two years, I would ask some of my friends about the prospects of training and teaching as a vocation. Unfortunately, the responses I received were largely discouraging. I distinctly recall a friend telling me in 1988: “In Pakistan, everyone thinks they’re a teacher. No one seems to be interested in learning.” Despite this prevailing sentiment, I continued to believe that training and teaching held value, even if pursued on a voluntary basis.

“My cousin, Salman Ansari, was an exception. He knew me well from my days in London and understood my abilities as both a manager and a trainer. We met on June 11, 1991, at my aunt’s house in Chaklala, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This was only my second day in Pakistan after living in the UK for twenty years. Salman suggested that I pursue training as a career. I shared with him what I had been hearing about the prospects of this profession in Pakistan. Seeing my reluctance, he jokingly remarked, ‘If you don’t get into this work, then you too are a wimp!’ I sensed that he might have given similar advice to others before, albeit without success. The word ‘wimp’ spurred me into action, and I impulsively replied, ‘Where and when?’ Without hesitation, he said, ‘Tomorrow – at 8 AM!’

At the time, Salman was the General Manager of Marketing at Paktel, a subsidiary of the UK’s Cable & Wireless Company. Paktel, one of the first cellular companies granted a license to operate in Pakistan, had commenced business in 1990.”

On June 12, 1991, my third day in Pakistan, precisely at 8 AM, Salman picked me up from Chaklala and took me to Paktel’s office in Islamabad to meet with Chris Edwards, who was the CEO of the company at that time. As I entered Chris’s office, I remember spontaneously saying, ‘Home from home!’”

I have never looked back since!

Kamran Z. Rizvi