Mishal Kanoo Author: Hanna Abdulhadi…………2

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Contents

Leader: Mishal Kanoo Author: Hanna Abdulhadi…………2

Leader: Al Waleed Bin Tallal Author: Faisal Abubakr…………….9

Leader: Carlos Ghosn Author: Mounib Agha…………….14

Leader: Anwar Mohammed Gargash Author: Ahmed Redwan…………..20

Leader: H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Mohammed Al Naqbi……..26

Leader: H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Majed Bin Essa……………33

Leader: HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Author: Khuloud yahya…………...39

Leader: Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Justice Author: Ruba Abudayeh………….44

Leader: Elie Saab Author: Sarah Al-Kahtany………...49

Leader: Sheikha Moza bint Naser al Misnad Author: Mariam Al-Ali……………54

Leader: Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui Author: Ayesha Hasan…………….60

Leader: Haji Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah Author: Sadaf Wali………………...66

Leader: Khalid Al-Zanki Author: Gurpreet Kaur…………….73

Leader: Queen Rania Author: Rasha Shaheen……………80

Leader: Suzanne Mubarak Author: Salma Badr……………….87

Leader: HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Sina Hashimi……………..94

Leader: Ahmed Al Shugeiri Author: Aliaa M. Fakhreddine……99

Leader: Khaldoon Al Mubarak Author: Anwar Al Shawa...... 105

Leader: Riad Al Sadek Author: Mohammed Haggag…….110

Leader:Naguib Sawiris Author: Aya Ali Anani………….115

Leader:Fadi Ghandour Author: Tamara Salmo…………..120

Leader:Juma Al Majid Author: Sumaya Sharaf………….126

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Mishal Kanoo Author: Hanna Abdulhadi

Justification: Family-owned businesses contribute largely to the growth and development of the region’s economy, as over 90% of the non-oil GDP from the region comes from family businesses (Kanoo, 2007). Mishal Kanoo is currently the Deputy Chairman of The Kanoo

Group, one of the largest independent, family-owned, group of companies across the entire

Gulf region. As a result of his diversified array of business affairs and global capital knowledge, Mishal Kanoo is renowned for his unique and often controversial perspectives on business pertaining to the Gulf region. He has been and continues to voice his insights by frequently attending and speaking at conferences in the Gulf, such as the FundForum Middle

East conference, as well as through the many articles he has written for various local and regional newspapers, in which he adeptly emphasizes the many ethical and religious values that characterize Middle Eastern leadership within a family business context, all the while blending them with modernity and progress. As a result, there is no better leader that demonstrates such candidness in their leadership style. Furthermore, the fact that family- businesses in the Gulf contribute largely to the region’s development, lends credence to the analysis of a leadership trait such as candidness from the point of view of a leader within a family business context.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case study:

Mishal Kanoo, a UAE national, holds an MBA in finance from St. Thomas University in

Houston, Texas, one of the best universities in Houston (Johnson, 2010), and another from the American University of Sharjah, ranked third amongst universities in the UAE

(“University web Ranking, Top University Rankings, reviews, Education Online”, 2010).

Mishal had joined The Kanoo Group in 1991, before going abroad to complete his MBA, and then rejoined the company in 1994. He then took up an auditing position with Arthur

Anderson (in Dubai) for a brief period, before permanently rejoining The Kanoo Group in

1997 and taking up his current position. Mishal also teaches a Management course

(Fundamentals of Family Business) part time at the American University of Sharjah. Kanoo believes that education allows individuals to take responsibility and control of their lives.

(“Mishal Hamed Kanoo”, n.d.).

According to Daft, traits are those distinguishing personal characteristics that a leader possesses, such as intelligence and honesty (2008, p.34). Candidness can be described as “the unique ability to get in someone’s face and tell them what they have to improve upon, while still respecting them and conveying that you care about them.” (Koltin, 2010, p.19).

Furthermore, Koltin describes candidness as being one of the 10 C’s that constitute a great leader (2010, p.19). The presence of the trait candidness in a leader’s leadership style is both crucial and desirable. This is because candidness between a leader and their followers encourages trust between the two parties, which consequently leads to building loyalty and commitment within the follower toward their leader (Lencioni, 2010).

As an individual, Kanoo’s candidness has led him to become one of the most outspoken individual’s on the UAE’s development (Rahimi, 2008). Within the context of leadership, his criticism of current, prevalent leadership styles within family businesses is further testament to his candidness. In the many articles he has written about leadership

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East within a family business, he has openly criticized what current family business leaders are doing wrong and has boldly provided his own suggestions as to how to remedy the situation.

As an example, in his article “Leadership within a family business” which was published on one of the Middle East’s most prominent and leading technology sites, Mishal Kanoo made the following bold statement regarding a common misconception that family business leaders have, “Also, I would like to remind family business leaders that they can’t take the money with them.” Kanoo made this statement in order to highlight the importance of the trait benevolence to family business leaders, as a benevolent leader will allow family members to receive their fair share of the financial benefits generated by the company (Kanoo, 2006).

Additionally, as leader of The Kanoo Group, he projects his confidence in his company’s success through his candidness, “We decided to open a state-of-the-art corporate travel services centre in Dubai equipped with the latest technology which meets all international standards. The new office will offer our customers complete travel management solutions, convenience and 24/7 travel services with the highest levels of customer service.” (“Kanoo

Travel launches Dubai services centre”, 2008). In this statement, Kanoo candidly declares his confidence in the success and high quality of the new Corporate Services centre, which is ultimately a reflection of the confidence he places in his followers and their ability to bring about such success.

Furthermore, Kanoo, with his profound belief in honesty as a guiding philosophy, espouses candidness within family business leadership, stating that candidness is key to effective, successful leadership and that without it the leader is likely to fail, “Openness is key, as secrecy is the enemy of a leader. Any leader who is not willing to empower others and be candid with his or her subordinates is bound to fail”. Additionally, he states that without candidness, the trust that family members share within a business is likely to be destroyed.

According to Kanoo, “This bond of trust is important for a leader to have because it allows

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East the rest to move with confidence”. Furthermore, Kanoo believes that not only does candidness evoke trust between the leader and their followers, it also provides the followers with knowledge as to what to expect from their leader within a family business context, “Not to inform other family members about spending and budgetary issues can only have a negative effect on them, because they won’t know what is expected of them. The family needs to know that nothing is secret from one another.” (Kanoo, 2006).

In conclusion, Mishal Kanoo is regarded as both, a candid individual renowned for his controversial insights into the world of business, and a family business leader who espouses candidness in his leadership style. Furthermore, he believes that candidness is key to effective leadership within a family business as it creates a bond of trust between the leader and the follower. A bond without which would lead to the ultimate failure of the leader (Kanoo,

2006).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case study questions:

1) State the importance of the trait candidness to leaders in general, and within a family

business context.

2) List any other leadership traits that you believe are important to effective leadership.

Suggested answers:

1) Self-confidence can be defined as one’s assurance in their own judgments, decision-

making, ideas, and capabilities (Daft, 2008, p.37).

2) According to Daft, a leader who displays a positive self-image and certainty regarding

their own abilities is capable of fostering confidence amongst their followers, as well

as earning their respect and admiration. Furthermore, the confidence a leader

demonstrates generates motivation and commitment within the followers towards the

mission at hand (2008, p.37).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References:

Gargash, Anwar - PERSONAL HISTORY, INFLUENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS, THE WORLD’S PERSPECTIVE, LEGACY, BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS, PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY. (n.d.). Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5682/Gargash-Anwar.html George Washington University – Best College – Education – US News. (2011). Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best- colleges/washington-dc/george-washington-university-1444 The world’s top 100 universities, 2010. (2010). Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/sep/08/worlds-top-100-universities- 2010 UAE’s nuclear programme to boost power grid. (2010, September 22). Gulfnews.

Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/uae-s-

nuclear-programme-to-boost-power-grid-1.685458

Gargash highlights efforts to fight human trafficking. (2010, July 21). Gulfnews.

Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/gargash-

highlights-efforts-to-fight-human-trafficking-1.657021

Scott, C.. (2010). Perceptions of Leadership under Conditions of Environmental

Uncertainty. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 16(1), 30-35.

Retrieved January 7, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2040537041).

Mowday, R. T. (1979). Leader Characteristics, Self-Confidence, and Methods of

Upward Influence in Organizational Decision Situations. Academy of Management

Journal, 22(4), 709-725. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Daft, R.L. (2008). Leadership (5th ed.). South-Western Cengage Learning.

Picture reference:

Insight Dubai – Dr. Anwar Gargash. (2009). Retrieved January 8, 2010, from

http://dwc.hct.ac.ae/insight-dubai/anwar.html

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Mohammed Al Naqbi

Justification: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country that showed significant changes over the last two decades in terms of development and infrastructure such as the skyscrapers built, Dubai Metro, and the tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa. (Al Marashi, 2006)

H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan implementations has transformed the UAE by emerging investments and business that contributed in boosting and enhancing the economy of the country in such ways to make the UAE very well known in the world. (Sheikh

Mohammed Bin Zayed Website, 2005) The success of Mohamed bin Zayed comes from his foresight that he put into operation in the capital city of the UAE Abu Dhabi. The leader,

Mohamed bin Zayed is known for the massive investments and creative projects in the UAE that are recognized globally which I will elaborate on in the case study.

http://thailand.prd.go.th/60th/visiting.php?visit=24

Case Study:

His vision and foresight characteristics had made him a very well known leader in the

Middle East. He is a leader that contributed and enriched the local economy with business investments in the capital city of the UAE. He is the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi the capital

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East of the UAE and Depute of the supreme commander of UAE armed forces. He is also the chairman of Mubadala Development Company that invests with large global corporation such as Ferrari and General Electric. (Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Website, 2005) Do you know who is he? He is the leader with a great foresight H.H Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al

Nahyan, leader that has contributed to the development of the economy of the UAE by investing in substantial assets locally enriching the UAE growth towards a better sustainable future.

The success of Mohamed bin Zayed was accomplished by his foresight trait. The foresight vision of Mohamed bin Zayed in the UAE has shown a brighter future towards the country and increasing the follower’s beliefs in his vision. The foresight trait played an essential role for Mohamed bin Zayed. (UAE Interact, 2008) Therefore to clear the trait, let’s start by defining the foresight vision. According to the Macmillan dictionary foresight is “the good judgment to think and plan before an event, so that you are prepared for whatever may happen.” (Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2010) For a person to have such a trait must have a big imagination where he can draw the future in his head and turn in to reality. Along to the big imagination a person needs resources such as money and raw materials that would help him accomplish his dreams or in this case his imagination. The United Arab Emirates have a lot of resources that can support such an imagination, raw materials and cash are not an issue.

(Kawach, 2010) We can take a lot of examples such as in this case, we can see how Dubai evolved in the last 10 years and it was called New York of the Middle East. (Yahoo!

Contributor Network, 2008) We can also see how Abu Dhabi evolved and started a lot of new projects, the most known is Ferrari world and the Yas island Formula one circuit. As I mentioned above money is not the issue here, but how to use the available resources such as money is the issue. How to invest in the right place that would give a positive outcome to the city and the country is the issue. As a leader with a big imagination, and with the foresight

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East trait, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed is using the available resources in a right way that is boosting the economy in Abu Dhabi and the economy of the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed’s foresight trait did affect the economy in the United Arab Emirates positively in many different ways. The economy of the United

Arab Emirates is made from many different aspects mostly by services and tourism. As we can see in Sheikh Mohammed’s vision he has focused on the tourism sector of the economy very strongly and have succeeded till now where the affect on the city of Abu Dhabi and the country as a whole has been positive. The focus on this aspect have resulted in the creation of

Yas Island which is known as the fun island where it holds Ferrari world, the first amusement park in the middle east, and also Yas Island formula 1 circuit. (Yasisland.ae, 2010) It doesn’t stop there where the island holds the biggest events in the country such as live concerts. The island’s aim is to attract tourist from all around the world, where it also has hotels and soon the island will be a suitable place to live where apartments are being built as well as school, supermarkets and convenience stores. Another aim by the island is to put the name of the

UAE out there in the world to make a very well known and strong brand. In addition, Yas

Island is only the beginning of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed’s vision where there are to more islands to be soon introduced to the world. I said Yas Island is the fun island; the other two islands focus is different than what Yas Island is. The purpose of this is to attract different types of people, not only the young generation, but also families and the older generations. (Yasisland.ae, 2010)

Having a leader wish a great foresight vision, with a big imagination such as Sheikh

Mohammed Bin Zayed is a blessing to us as Emaraties. We have seen the way our fathers and grand fathers lived and compared it to the way we are living now. The things that are

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East available for us now are so much different from what it was available in the past. The schools, universities, hospital, malls, roads…etc, they are all aspects that changed our lives, there is so much more to do, so much more to work for. Those aspects have been created by not only having the right amount of resource, but with the visionary leaders.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Questions:

1. Is the trait of foresight the only trait, which made Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed a

successful leader?

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed did not accomplish his goals and reach his position of

being the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Depute of the supreme commander of UAE

armed forces by just the trait of foresight. Along side the trait of foresight, Mohammed

Bin Zayed was a person with a lot of experience, which made him capable of

accomplishing his goals. Experience is a very important aspect for a successful leader

where it helps the leader solve problems and deal with situations. Experience itself can

lead an organization to success. Mohammed Bin Zayed got his experience by surrounding

his father the late Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan former ruler of the UAE and Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed Bin Zayed spent most of his time with his father learning how his father led

the people of the UAE to a better life.

2. Can Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed be the perfect example of a leader with the trait of

foresight in the Middle East?

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed is a very good example of a leader with the trait of

foresight or may I say a visionary leader. He has done a lot for Abu Dhabi and the

UAE using his trait of foresight. But he is not the perfect example, where after

discussions we have reached an answer. The perfect example is one of the people who

were behind the union of the seven Emirates. It is a person who stood in the middle of

the desert and drew the future in his head, a future that no one saw except for him. It

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

is the late Sheikh Rashed Bin Saeed Al Maktoom former ruler of Dubai and former

vice president of the UAE. He is also the father of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed the

ruler of Dubai. There is a famous story told by our grandparents about the greatness of

Rashed Bin Saeeds foresight. Sheikh Rashed was standing in an empty land of desert

smoking his pipe, when he finished smoking he said I will turn this empty land into

the busiest and most known piece of land in the world, this was back in the mid

eighties. This empty land of desert in now known as Sheikh Zayed Road, the busiest

high way in the UAE. It is the highway that holds the longest skyscrapers in Dubai

such as Emirates Towers and Burj Khalifa. He is one of our early leaders that passed

what they have to our new leaders such as Mohamed Bin Zayed to continue what they

started.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References:

Al Marashi, H. (2006, March). ENCOURAGING SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. FACING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE, 2(1). Retrieved from http://www.globalurban.org/ GUDMag06Vol2Iss1/Al%20Marashi.htm

Kawach, N. (2010, November 29). UAE net foreign assets widen. Emirates 24/7. Retrieved from http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/uae-net-foreign-assets-widen-2010-11- 29-1.322600

Macmillan Publishers Limited. (2010). foresight - definition of foresight by Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved January 5, 2011, from http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/foresight

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Website. (2005). Economic. Retrieved January 13, 2011, from http://www.mohammedbinzayed.com/site/en/news.php?cat_id=3

UAE Interact (Ed.). (2008, January 15). UAE Interact. Retrieved from http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/ Bush_visits_Saadiyat_exhibition_praises_Abu_Dhabis_cultural_foresight/28207.htm

Yahoo! Contributor Network. (2008, June 17). Dubai: The Middle Eastern New York City. associatedcontent. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/818889/dubai_the_middle_eastern_new_york_ city.html?cat=16

Yasisland.ae. (2010). Explore Yas Island. Retrieved January 8, 2011, from http://www.yasisland.ae/en/ visiting/explore-yas-island-attractions/

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Majed Bin Essa

Justification: H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is one of the Arab business men that have shocked the world by his entrepreneur leadership style in owning one of the richest football clubs in the world. Mansour bin Zayed made the fifth-highest transfer fee in soccer history. (Olson, 2009) His entrepreneur decision making made him become a popular leader in the football industry worldwide. In terms of money, Mansour bin Zayed had no issue in dealing with money. However, he managed to think as an entrepreneur and to turn many of his plans into successful projects such as turning Manchester City Football Club into one of the richest clubs worldwide. Mansour bin Zayed has made a footprint in the world of business by his entrepreneur thinking and success. Nowadays, entrepreneurs worldwide consider

Mansour bin Zayed in his thoughts and opinions as a successful entrepreneur leader. Mansour bin Zayed has accomplished a lot in such a short time making him a recognized leader in the business world.

( http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01111/mansour_1111792a.jpg ) 33

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Mansour bin Zayed had owned a respectable reputation after succeeding in many projects and plans both in the Arab world and worldwide. How is it that a politician made such a huge success in the business world as an entrepreneur? The answer of this question lies amongst

Mansour bin Zayed thinking as a leader. He is a leader that had used his skills and intelligence to form vision of his own into successful implementation worldwide. He made decisions both locally in the United Arab Emirates and worldwide that made him a successful leader. These implementations had formed fans as followers to the leader Mansour bin

Zayed.

Mansour bin Zayed entrepreneur thinking is unique and distinguished among many leaders.

He thought of buying the Manchester City Football Club for 555 billion that was a losing football club in terms of money and ranking. (Anonymous, 2008) However, Mansour bin

Zayed had a different prospective when owning such a club and turning it to one of the 5 top teams in the English league. He did succeed in such a short term in implementing his vision of making it one of the richest football clubs. This states the true entrepreneur skills that

Mansour bin Zayed owns and was succeeded by his visions toward business investment worldwide.

The decisions done by Mansour Bin Zayed was accomplished by his unique thinking in the business world and believing in his leadership as an entrepreneur to achieve his own visions.

Entrepreneur is a “person who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced.” (businessdictionary.com, 2011) Therefore, Mansour bin Zayed meets the character of a being an entrepreneur by succeeding in taking the opportunity of achieving profit through certain business he thought it would be successful to run. The perfect example would be purchasing the Manchester Football club and to believe he could

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East change this football club and turn it into a profitable opportunity. Moreover, this would eventually add an inspiration to the followers of the leader and include respectable reputation as an entrepreneur leader. Mansour bin Zayed is considered a great leader to many people as he inspired many of his followers and subordinates in his business field. As being a leader and an owner of the richest football club in the United Kingdom. Mansour bin Zayed dedicate a lot of his time to his organizations he invested in. This is a way of inspiring his followers in certain organization in order to keep his vision toward entrepreneurship in the business world active.

Mansour bin Zayed had showed a lot implementation such as empowerment and dedication that gave trust to his investment organization. This has raised a barrier to his follower by showing them that he trusts his followers and his followers should trust him.

Mansour bin Zayed presents successful visions of many traits he own such as being an entrepreneur or even a politician both locally and internationally. He had showed inspirational promises to many of his followers that put great credibility towards him as a leader. An example would be the promise he made to make Manchester City Football club to be among one of the top

5 in the English league. He had fulfilled the promise to his followers by achieving the goals he had set. (Reynolds, 2010)

Although with the economic situation at a recession stage, Mansour bin Zayed managed to buy the football club at a really high price putting him at a big risk that this investment might fail.

However, Mansour bin Zayed believed in his trait and taking all the chances in believing in himself as a leader and succeeding his vision as an entrepreneur to reach high goals with his investments. With the economic crisis, Mansour made the correct moves and plans to make the football club succeed into a brighter future earning and gaining many profit in such a short notice.

(Blitz, 2010)

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

In conclusion, I would like to mention that Mansour bin Zayed has presented the traits of a great leader through his vision of entrepreneurship that helped him establish one of the most successful business stories in the world. In addition, he had gained respect, loyalty and reputation from his followers due to his successful accomplishments. Mansour bin Zayed overall has accomplished a lot through his trait and would take an advantage of trait in operating in further investments in the business world.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Questions:

1. Is H.H Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan a true entrepreneur?

People will consider Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan a true entrepreneur. Mansour bin

Zayed had considered an opportunity of investing in a risky investment. He successfully

managed the investment and turned it into a profitable investment. Therefore, Mansour is

considered an entrepreneur as investing in business that generates profit.

2. Do you consider H.H Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a leader in the business

world?

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed is considered a leader as changing a football club that was in

serious loss crisis and turn it into one of the top 5 football clubs in the English league. This

adds up a lot of followers to Mansour bin Zayed as a leader due to this transformation he

made by showing a vision to the football team and giving them hope that a leader could lead

this team to a better situation.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

REFERENCES

Anonymous, (2008). Richest football owners in the UK. (2008). Director (00123242), 62(3), 9. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Blitz, R. (2010, October 2). Manchester City makes pound(s)121m loss. Financial Times,17. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from ProQuest European Business. (Document ID: 2152295411).

Daft, R. L. (2008). The leadership experience (4th ed.). Ohio: South-Western.

Entrepreneur (2010). Businessdictionary.com. Retrieved January 2, 2011, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/entrepreneur.html

Entrepreneur (2010). Dictionary.com. Retrieved January 2, 2011, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/entrepreneur

Olson, P. (2009). Billionaire's Playground. Forbes, 183(8), 34-36. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Reynolds, J. (2010). Manchester City hit as global brand plans stall. (cover story). Marketing (00253650), 1. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Author: Khuloud yahya

Justification: A successful leader is the one who tries to change the world into a better place.

And I consider Princess Haya as a leader because she helped many people not only in the

Arab world but her Humanitarian reached needy people in other countries all over the world.

Moreover, Princess Haya is one of the most famous women as she had played significant roles in international organizations such as UN.

http://www.un.org/sg/mop/haya.shtml

Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein is a famous successful Arab women and a good role model to follow. She inspired Arab women to outstand in their fields.

So who is Princess Haya? She is the Daughter of the late King Hussein Bin Talal, king of

Jordan. And in 2004, she got married to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime

Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai. Nevertheless, Princess Haya is the first Arabic woman to serve as a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations World Food

Program (WFP) for two years, which is during 2005 and 2007. Not to mention her role in UN as a messenger of Peace in 2007 she advocate to increase awareness about issues related to hunger and starvation problem (Office of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 2010). In

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East fact, international organization found her the right person for providing help so she was chosen to become a founding member of the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum.

Moreover, Princess Haya is is known for her commitment to humanitarian cases that occurred in many different countries around the world. An example of that is Kenya’s case; in which she provided education and food. At the beginning of 2010, Princess Haya visited

Kenya trying to address their needs and cover their shortages. She met the President of

Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, to discuss with him the various consequences of food shortages. So starvation is not the only consequence of food shortage but also this can lead to commit crimes; as needy people are trying to get their food (UN News Centre,2010). As she stated kenya’s need by saying: “One in every 10 Kenyans needs outside help, and malnutrition rates among young children are rising at an alarming rate” (Nairobi, 2010). Another example of

Princess Haya’s Humanitarian activity is her action toward Haiti disaster. In January of 2010, an earthquake hit Haiti which caused many damages such as: roads were destroyed and houses felt apart. So Princess Haya trvelled there to provide help and she took with her almost 100 tons of relief supplies (Piucci, 2010). And some of these supplies are: canned food, water sanitation equipment, tents and emergency medical tools (Emirates News,2010).

In fact, she is the chairperson of International Humanitarian City (International humanitarian city, 2011). And this organization provide aides on both levels locally (United

Arab Emirates) and internationally. The aides are not only by providing foods and medical care but also by providing jobs and educating people as that will benefit the nation not only in the short-term but also in the long-term. It will help in developing the country’s economy and infrastructure. Nevertheless, Princess Haya participated in setting up the Dubai International

Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition (DIHAD). And in the

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East opening she implied that supplying the right food is as much important as supplying food in the first place; as that will help in solving the starvation problem. And IRIN had an exclusive interview with Princess Haya asking her about her goals and she answered: “My goal is not only to show how shameful this is in a world of plenty where we have enough food for each and every person on the planet, but also to encourage individuals, communities, organizations and governments to come together and work for achieving sustainable solutions to end hunger” (IRIN News, 2010).

To illustrate, Princess Haya is a role model not only for women but also for men to provide help to needy people. If leaders tend to solve issues such as literature around the world and starvation, that would make the earth a better place. And that because many problems will diminish such as: crimes that occur because of hunger and less fortune people will know their rights and they will help in developing their country when they will be educated. Also, if leaders from different countries co-operate in helping less fortune countries that will reduce the wars and conflicts between countries; because that will provide good relationship between countries.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Questions:

1. What makes Princess Haya a leader?

Princess Haya is considered a leader because she tries to change the world into a better place.

She also tries to spread the piece and her humanitarian activity proves that. Nevertheless, in many interview and videos, we can see that she is encouraging others to follow her steps in providing help to less fortune countries. And by that she is spreading piece. Also that will make us – as followers – trust her. And followers will feel comfortable when they will work with her and appreciate her kindness.

2. Do you think that Princess Haya’s activity will benefit us?

Humanitarian activity will not only help the country that receive the help but also the country that provide it; as it will be known and respected by other countries. And more importantly,

Princess Haya’s humanitarian activity will help in adjusting the Arabs image in front of the westerns; as they see Arabs as terrorist. But when they see that Arabs are helping needy nations and spreading piece, they might change their opinion about us. So if more Arab leaders follow her path, that will make us gain the trust of other countries and the image as terrorist will diminish.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References:

International humanitarian city. Retrieved on 6th Jan, 2011 from

http://www.ihc.ae/Princesshaya.asp

IRIN news. (November 17, 2010). UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Interview with Her Royal

Highness Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein. Retrieved on 1st Jan, 2011 from

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=26244

Nairobi, 2010, HRH Princess Haya Seeks Food Aid for Kenya. Retrieved on 6th January,

2011 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hrh-princess-haya-seeks-food- aid-for-kenya-81068167.html

Office of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein. (2010, January). PR Newswire Europe

Including UK Disclose. HRH Princess Haya Seeks Food Aid for Kenya. Retrieved on

5th Jan, 2011 from ProQuest Asian Business and Reference.

Piucci, J. (18th Feb, 2010). United Nations Messengers of Peace and Goodwill

Ambassadors mobilize to Assist Haiti. Retrieved on 5th Jan, 2011 from http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/iha1279.doc.htm

UN News Centre. (11th Jan, 2010). Jordan’s Princess Haya helps UN boost nutrition of

hungry Kenyan children. Retrieved on 1st Jan, 2011 from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33453&Cr=hunger&Cr1= (April 04 - 2010). Princess Haya inaugurates DIHAD 2010. Retrieved on 1st Jan, 2011 from http://www.ameinfo.com/228690.html

Her royal highness princess Haya bint Al Hussein of Jordan. (2007). Retrieved on 7th

January, 2011 from http://www.un.org/sg/mop/haya.shtml

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Justice Author: Ruba Abudayeh

Justification: As the prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leader who struggled before reaching his position. He is known for his justice and equality among his followers; he believes that everyone has the freedom of choice. Therefore, the following case will analyze justice in relevance to Erdogan. It will answer the question “how does Erdogan apply justice to his leading position?” Erdogan was chosen for this case analysis to show his justice and how ethical behavior is necessary for any leader to be successful and respected by his/her followers.

(Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 2003)

Case Study:

When a leader follows justice, he/she treats his followers equally and fairly; therefore, justice means equality and fairness. Justice also applies to the ethical social justice theory which means treating all people fairly and equally (Hartman, 2008). This theory also emphasizes on the followers’ importance by not treating them as means of achieving the ends. By being just and ethical, a leader will not consider his/her self interest without

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East considering the followers’ needs before. Justice is an interesting trait because it may be difficult to control one’s own interests when leading other people with different interests. To show how justice may be applied by a leader, Justice will be analyzed in relevance to

Erdogan. Some examples about his justice will show how he cares about his followers and their choices.

Erdogan’s life was full of struggling and difficulties faced. He used to sell buns in

Istanbul’s streets before 1994 when he became Istanbul’s mayor (Turgut, 2010). About 9 years later, in 2003, he was elected the Prime Minister of Turkey. Furthermore, he was reelected in 2007 as the Prime Minister. He also participates in the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization as the head member of the only Muslim secular nation. North Atlantic Treaty

Organization is a “military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern

Europe after World War II” (NATO, 2011).

Moreover, Erdogan plays a major role in the Justice and Development Party which is a Turkish political party. This party was founded and led by Erdogan and Abdulla Gul,

Turkey’s President, in 2002 (Justice and Development Party, 2010). The party’s name in

Turkish is AK Party which means “white” that aims on justice and democracy along with the party’s conservative movement. This party faced many secular opponents who claimed that

Erdogan relies on Islam when resolving issues or leading. However, the pure meaning of the party is justice and freedom of choice, but not religious. This was one of the struggles that

Erdogan faced along with the AK party in 2008. However, the government courts did not rule for the closure of this party, but only ruled to reduce the state funding of it (Justice and

Development Party, 2010). This government action proves how Erdogan is known and loved for his justice among his followers because otherwise, the government could have just ruled for the party’s disclosure.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

In 2004, Erdogan required adultery to be criminalized; in 2008, He “amended the

Constitution to let girls attend university while wearing Islamic head-scarves, which had been forbidden since 1980” (Matthews, 2010). These two actions were faced by secular opponents who argued that Erdogan’s decisions were based on Islam. However, Erdogan strongly argued that it is each person’s right to choose what to do freely. Secular Turks felt the urge to argue against these situations because they felt that the secularism is threatened by bringing back Islam to leading. However, these two examples show how justice is important and how it is the main drive of Erdogan’s decisions.

Erdogan is known for his justice and his name is always related to justice and the

Justice and Development Party. Due to his justice, many of his followers keep supporting him throughout his journey. They supported him twice in 2003 and 2008 by electing and re- electing him as the Prime Minister of Turkey. Despite the various secular opponents’ efforts to destroy Erdogan’s reputation, Erdogan’s voters were not affected negatively by these efforts. Therefore, they kept voting for and supporting Erdogan which may continue until he becomes Turkey’s next president (Erdogan wins again, 2010).

Erdogan plays a major role in the Middle East because of his justice. He is one of the only few leaders who defend human rights loudly without the fear of opponents. Therefore, justice is one of the most important factors that leaders should have. They should be ethical and not self-concentrated to satisfy most of the followers’ needs. If the followers respect and love their leader, then they will always support him/her without doubting their decision.

Finally, Erdogan and justice were chosen to show various aspects of the Middle East leaders. Erdogan is the perfect example of an ethical leader who should be a role model for other leaders to follow.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Study Questions

1) Why is it important for a leader to be ethical? How can you relate justice to Erdogan?

2) Give Examples about Erdogan’s difficulties through his journey.

Case Study Answers

1) For a leader to be respected and loved by his/her followers, he/she should be ethical

when making decisions. Therefore, ethics and justice are important factors for leaders

to consider. Justice is related to Erdogan because Erdogan considers his followers’

needs and their choices. He believes that they have the freedom to choose their own

way of living without any law preventing them from their essential rights.

2) Erdogan faced many difficulties during his early life and his leading position. He used

to sell buns in the streets to earn strength and money before he became the Mayor of

Istanbul. Later on, he was always opposed by secular opponents who keep arguing

that Erdogan’s decisions are based on religious aspects. However, he remained strong

and argued for his own beliefs that each person should choose his own path, and that

his decisions are out of justice and democracy drives.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Reference

Erdogan wins again; Turkey’s referendum. (2010, September 18). The Economist. Retrieved

October 22, 2010, from LexisNexis Academic database.

Hartman, L. P. & Desjardins, J. (2008). Business ethics. New York: McGrawHill.

Justice and Development Party. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 22,

2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1018363/Justice-and-Development-Party

Matthew, O. (2010, September 20). Eastern Star; Turkey's prime minister has become a hero

in the Middle East for standing up to the west. But Islam isn't what's driving him.

Newsweek, 156(12), 44. Retrieved November 15,2010, from LexisNexis database.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (2011). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved

January 2, 2011, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418982/North-

Atlantic-Treaty-Organization.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (2003). Retrieved January 6th, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan

Turgut, P. (2010, October 5). Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Time, 175(18), 54. Retrieved October

22, 2010, from Academic Search Premier Database.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Elie Saab Author: Sarah Al-Kahtany

Justification: Elie Saab is a Lebanese fashion designer whose name has been associated with the luxurious fashion industry. He creates beautiful dresses that made it to the Oscars and that were also worn by royalty such as Her Royal Highness queen Rania of Jordan. One important aspect that needs to be drawn out is that Elie Saab never received any formal education in fashion design. However, he managed to become one of the very few Middle Eastern designers that become known internationally. This is the reason for choosing Elie Saab to be related to passion.

(Elie Saab, 2009)

Case Study:

Elie Saab’s interest in fashion design began at the age of 9 when he started cutting out his mother’s table clothes and curtains (Tusing, 2010). At the age of 18, he opened his first atelier and took the Lebanese fashion world by storm from that moment (Tusing, 2010). Saab achieved star status in 2001 when Halle Berry wore his evening gown to the Oscars and won the best actress award (Tusing, 2010). According to Newsweek, “The move simultaneously catapulted Berry, who won the Best Actress award, to best-dressed lists and Saab to the level

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East of Paris couturier” (Thomas, 2007). Ever since Saab opened his first business in Beirut,

Lebanon began to expand internationally and even managed to get to his dresses on the

Parisian catwalks (Thomas, 2007).

Saab is considered to be one of the leaders in haute couture in the Middle East.

According to The Wall Street Journal “Lebanese designer Elie Saab's name is familiar to many in the West, including celebrities. His work is also a beacon of elegance for many in the Mideast” (Fam, 2007). Elie Saab’s leader trait that helped him become a successful leader of fashion design in the Middle East and that helped him expand internationally is passion.

Leaders that are passionate about their jobs have higher chances of achieving what they aspire to (Sukin, 2009, p.4). However, what is a leadership trait? What is important about being passionate for a leader? The leader’s traits are the characteristics that distinguish the leader from others; these characteristics include traits such as passion (Daft, 2008, p.3).

According to Sukin (2009, p.4), when one is passionate about his or her job, that driving force becomes a factor in his/her success as a leader. Thus, Saabs passion for his job is one of the factors of his success in Haute Couture in the Middle East.

Saab is the only Arab member of the prestigious “Camera Nazionale della Moda”, which is a “non-profit organization which disciplines, co-ordinates and promotes the development of Italian Fashion” (Italian Fashion Chamber, 2010). The fact that the Camera

Nazionale della Moda invited him as the only Italian nonmember added value and equity to

Elie Saab’s brand. In addition, he was nominated to be a correspondent of the Chamber

Syndicale de a Federation Francaise which is the union of dress designers founded in Paris

1868 (Federation Francaise de la Couture, 2010). These achievements and others show that

Elie Saab is adding value to his haute couture day by day. He also hopes to continue expanding his business internationally and to try to make customers become more aware of his brand over time (Elie Saab, 2010).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Elie Saab has been building his name and identity in the haute couture for many years.

Starting in the Middle East and moving to the global market, he continuously tries and builds strong relationships with his clients. By building strong relationships with clients, this proves the dedication of Saab to haute couture. “Saab has such a close relationship to his clients; many of his clothes are designed with specific women in mind” (Friedman, 2006). This may be due to Saab’s passion for haute couture which also lead to his success in the Middle East and the international market.

An important question that comes to mind is: will Elie Saab manage to maintain his success during the economic crisis? Elie Saab believes that the Haute Couture industry will not be affected by the crisis and that “there will always be sustained demand for couture dresses to cater to women who like to wear unique creations” (Saab sees stars, 2010). Saab truly believes in the Haute Couture business and seems to be very passionate about it; this may be the factor in his future success. Whether he will be able to maintain his success or not is a fact that time can only prove. However, Saab seems to have the qualities of a leader; his ability to lead others to success shows that he will manage to lead his followers during a crisis. Saab was previously able to manage through a crisis since he was able to sustain his business throughout the wars that Lebanon experienced (Champ, 2009, p.3). Elie Saab’s business has been around for the past 27 years. This means that Saab’s business must have been through many fluctuations and must have faced many economic downturns. Despite any downturns, Elie Saab has remained as one of the famous fashion designers in the Middle East and has become one of the famous international fashion designers (Champ, 2009, p.3).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Study Questions:

1) What helped Elie Saab become a successful leader?

2) Do you think Elie Saab’s business will withstand the economic crisis? If yes, why?

Case Study Answers:

1) Elie Saab became a successful leader because he had the motivation to lead others at

what he loves to do. Saabs love for the industry made him a successful leader in

fashion design in the Middle Easy.

2) Elie Saabs business has withstood many economic fluctuations especially that Elie

Saabs business in Lebanon went through many hardships during the wars. Being able

to sustain all the economic changes for the past 27 years make him a likely candidate

to withstand the current economic crisis. However, there is no direct answer to this

question because only time will tell if he will be able to withstand the current

turbulent times.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Reference

Champ, G. (2009, August 30). Made in Beirut. The National. Retrieved December 31, 2010,

from http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/fashion/made-in-beirut

“Elie Saab”. (n.d). Retrieved 31 December, 2010, from http://www.eliesaab.com/site.html

Fam, M. (2007, December 28). Mideast jewelers look westward. Wall Street Journal (Eastern

Edition). Retrieved December 31, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.

“Federation Francaise de la Couture”. (n.d). Retrieved December 31,2010, from

http://www.modeaparis.com/va/toutsavoir/index.html

Friedman, V. (2006, July 15). Fashioning a reason to exist Couture week was dressed up in

more than fancy clothes, says Vanessa Friedman. Financial Times, p. 8. Retrieved

November 12, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.

“Italian Chamber of Fashion”. (n.d.) Retrieved December 31, 2010, from

http://www.cameramoda.it

Saab, E. (2009). Retrieved Janurary 6, 2011, from

http://www.papierdoll.net/ipimages/elie0608.jpg

Sukin, D. (2009). Leadership in challenging times: It starts with passion. Frontiers of Health

Services Management, 26(2), 3-8. Retrieved November 12, 2010, from

ABI/INFORM Global.

Thomas. D. (2007, September). Playing Dress Up :In the age of red carpets and 24/7

paparazzi, celebrities need pros to help them look fab. Newsweek, 150(12). Retrieved

December 31, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.

Tusing, D. (2010, July 5). Saab sees stars. Gulf News. Retrieved December 31, 2010, from

http://www.gulfnews.com

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Sheikha Moza bint Naser al Misnad Author: Mariam Al-Ali

Justification: Sheikha Moza bint Naser al Misnad is in a position where she deserves to be labeled as an entrepreneurial leader. Her prosperous goals for Qataris are becoming a reality every year. Her determination to create better educational systems for Qataris and foreigners alike is gaining her a title of one of the most influential Arab Muslim female leaders of our time. She has also been a force behind the development of Qatar and its transformation to become a highly developed country.

(Sheikha Moza, 2010) Case study:

Qatar is a small country located in the Middle East that has borders with Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf (World Fact book, 2010). However, from this small country, arise substantial abilities and accomplishments. Qatar was mainly known for its ports and fishermen activities. However, after the discovery of oil in 1939, the country’s economy flourished. Also, the fairly distributed oil wealth allowed Qatar to have one of the highest

Gross Domestic Product per capita compared to Europe as well as enjoying a high standard of living amongst Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, after gaining its independence in 1971 from the British, the school curriculum was altered to equalize the educational opportunities for both genders. Now, the majority of school attendees are women who strive to gain prestigious professional lives after graduation (Stereotypes, 2010).

In 1995, Sheikha Moza Bint Naser Al Misnad became the first lady of Qatar after the overthrown of the previous Amir by her Husband, the current Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Yet, Sheikha Moza’s involvement in the governance of the country was not apparent because it is considered a taboo in the Arabic gulf area for a woman to be politically and publically active. However, Sheikha Moza Al Misnad became a public figure in 2005 who since then she has been vocally and vigorously empowering Qataris by modifying the education system (Jassmine, 2005). She fully understands that the foundation for any country’s development is the investment in young people’s minds. Therefore, she could easily be identified as an entrepreneur in education because an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages a new idea or action and is accountable for its risks and results

(Entrepreneur, 2011). Therefore, the actions of Sheikha Moza and her determination allow the advancement in education to occur by introducing new facilities and advanced teaching techniques.

Furthermore, to ensure that Qatar produces educated youngsters who are equally qualified like their peers elsewhere, Sheikha Moza founded Qatar Foundation. This organization is a non-profitable organization that looks after the welfare of Qataris and their community with a mission to offer educational opportunities to Qataris as well as foreigners seeking education in Qatar. Sheikha Moza is actively working to develop the educational opportunities through this foundation by establishing one of its main projects, the Education

City. Internationally known universities were invited to operate the campuses such as Weill

Cornell Medical College, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Carnegie

Mellon University and Georgetown University. Each university is bringing its specialty teaching programs in order to versatile the majors provided to the educational seekers (Stasz,

Eide, & Martorell, 2007). Additionally, the Education City also consists of various Qatari institutes such as the Special Needs Learning Center and Qatar Academy. These institutes, alongside the Education city, show the aspiration of Sheikha Moza to make educational aid the prosperity of the country (Education City, 2010).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Moreover, the establishment of WISE initiative is another success representing the entrepreneurial leadership that Sheikha Moza posses. The World Innovation Summit for

Education was firstly introduced in 2009 with a purpose of linking the educational scholars and leaders worldwide and creating a hub for originality in the educational sector. Also, it connects some of the education-related conferences around the world to showcase rewards ad appreciations (The WISE initiative, 2009). The following is a statement by Sheikha Mozah

AlMisnad (2009):

WISE is based on the practical awareness that the challenges in education are no longer bound by countries’ political boundaries and, therefore, its mandate is international... WISE asserts that the desire to innovate is, in fact, an innate human need to shape and improve our environment.

Another entrepreneurial success of Sheikha Moza is the introduction of Al Jazeera

Children's Channel in 2005. The channel’s headquarters in Qatar foundation in Education

City and it targets children aged between seven and fifteen years old. It is a free channel that can be viewed on Arabsat, Nilesat or Eurobird by a wider range of young followers. It combines education and entertainment in order to provide kids with enthusiastic learning experiences. Many of the produced shows encourage the expression of thoughts and creativity and consist of a wide selection of subjects and interests (Al-Jazeera, 2010).

In addition to Aljazeera Children’s Channel, another channel was launched named

Baraem TV. Baraem means little buds in Arabic. It targets pre-school children aged three to six and it offers special programs tailored for young viewers. Also, the programs are aimed towards enriching the kids with contents that develop their cognitive and social abilities whilst introducing numbers, letters, shapes and colors at an early age (Baraem, 2010).

Sheikha Moza’s constant desire to instill the knowledge in the Arab youth through various new ventures is the cause behind many outcomes targeted to advance the Arabs through education.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

In conclusion, Sheikha Moza Al-Misnad is a living example of the modern Arab

Muslim woman who cares for the individual’s progress as well as the general good. In addition, she is opening up many opportunities for Qataris to become competitive in the world today by introducing new project aimed towards their educational advancement.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Study Questions:

1) Why does Sheikah Moza care so much about enhancing the education sector in Qatar?

Analyze your answer.

2) Give some examples of Shiekha Moza’s accomplishments in the aid of education.

Why are these examples significant?

Case Study Answers:

1) Sheikha Moza understands that a small country like Qatar will not develop and

prosper unless the general public is properly educated. She is being innovative when it

comes to enhancing the educational sector in Qatar in order for it to become a

worldwide educational destination. Education plays a major role in the development

of any country, and therefore with development comes better economy and higher

standards of living. Also Sheikha Moza wants the Qataris to become as qualified as

their peers form other developed countries in order to become competitive in the

market place.

2) First of all, Shiekha Moza’s major accomplishment is Qatar Foundation. This non

profitable foundation caters for the well being of the Qataris and helps in managing

their educational process. Also from this foundation several achievements were

launched that care for the well being of Qataris such as the WISE initiative, Aljazeera

Children Channel and the Baraem TV. Those accomplishments allow the public to

benefit by interacting with the foundation and gain assistance in defining their

educational future. By planning for the future, everyone will walk in the right path

towards Qatar’s development.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Reference

Al-Jazeera. (2010). Qatar foundation. Retrieved January 3, 2010 from http://www.qf.org.qa/output/page92.asp

Baraem. (2010). Qatar foundation. Retrieved January 3, 2010 from http://www.qf.org.qa/output/page840.asp

Education City. (2010). HH Sheikha Mozah. Retrieved January3, 2010 from http://www.mozahbintnasser.qa/Her%20Highness/Her%20Highness%20Roles/Educat ion/Education/EducationCity/Pages/default.aspx Entrepreneur. (2011). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur Jassmine. (2005). Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Misnad. Retrieved November 13, 2010 fromhttp://www.forumforfree.com/forums/index.php?mforum=jewelsofarabia&showt opic=30&st=0 Shiekha Moza. (2010). Retrieved January 4, 2011 from http://www.qf.org.qa/output/page38.asp Stasz,C., Eide, E., Martorell,F.(2007).Postsecondary education in Qatar : employer demand, student choice, and options for policy. Santa Monica, CA, USA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved January 6, 2011 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aus/Doc?id=10235191&ppg=34 “Stereotypes”. (2010). Qatar society and culture. Petaluma, CA, USA: World Trade Press. Retrieved January 2, 2011 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aus/Doc?id=10389239&ppg=19 The WISE initiative. (2009). Wise innovation summit for education. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://www.wise-qatar.org/en/WISE-Initiative/about-the-wise-iniative

World Factbook. (2010). Central intelligence agency. Retrieved November 16, 2010 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui Author: Ayesha Hasan

Justification: In 1999, Siemens appointed the first non-German CEO for its company, a

Pakistani man named Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui, to carry Siemens’ name forward in the national and international market. Sohail W. Siddiqui, an undergraduate from the NED

University of Karachi, and a graduate from Kings UK, started working in Siemens at a salary of Rs. 1400 (approximately $18) a month when he first joined the company. After years of struggle, he is now the Managing Director of the company in the UAE and Chief Executive

Officer in Pakistan. (Sabir, 2005)

(Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui, 2010)

Case Study:

Siemens started as a small workshop in Berlin about 160 years ago. Today, it is a pioneer in energy efficiency, industrial productivity, affordable and personalized healthcare and a provider of intelligent infrastructural solutions with over 475,000 employees globally

(Siemens, retrieved December 26 2010). The company’s vision has been “to remain market leader and technology pace setter in the engineering and electronics industry by utilizing the

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East high-tech engineering expertise of the Siemens Group worldwide. To maintain our strong and prominent local presence” (Our Vision, Siemens. Retrieved December 26, 2010).

In fact, in order to maintain as well as work towards such an extraordinary vision, the firm has had to choose its leaders very carefully. Most of those individuals employed for higher levels of management strongly possess qualities of a strategic leader. A strategic leader is described as someone who has the ability to envision the future, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and initiate changes that will enable the company to achieve and/or maintain a competitive advantage (Daft, 2008, p.350).

Siemens has long been known to hire its leaders specifically from Europe in order to maintain the authenticity of their company’s European origins. Another reason is due to their belief that the right type of experienced, qualified, far sighted, strategic leader can only be from their own background. However, for the first time in the history of the company, a non-

German and a non-European Chief Executive Officer was selected to head the headquarters of the company in 1999 in Pakistan. This individual, they believed, had the right mix of expertise and vision to succeed and to enable Siemens to stay true to its vision and mission to help it grow as a company in its entirety.

Once selected as CEO and MD, Mr. Siddiqui expanded his personal vision to a more collective one in order to accommodate the goals and aims of the entire company and its workforce. He envisioned Siemens as being the most successful company in Pakistan as well as abroad. He did this by framing a vision, then by devising and discussing ways in which to make it achievable. Also, he communicated these in a collaborative manner to his employees to ensure their support (Personal communication, 2010). A vision, as described by Daft

(2008, p.351), “is an attractive, ideal future that is credible yet not readily attainable”.

Keeping this in mind, Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui slowly worked along with a steady workforce towards this ‘ideal future’ he had envisioned.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

When Mr. Siddiqui undertook the position as a leader in 1999, Siemens was a prominent name in the market of Pakistan, but not counted as one of the top 25 companies.

For this reason, Sohail W. Siddiqui revised the vision on a personal and a corporate level. He set goals, communicated them within his workforce, and ensured that everyone related to them on every level. Amongst his most ambitious was the goal to see himself and his workforce enable Siemens to achieve a position in the top 25 companies within one year. The goal was achieved successfully in 2000 when Siemens was rated 18th (Milestones, Siemens,

Retrieved 26 December, 2010). This success was due to the far-sighted vision of an ambitious leader who, while trying to make Siemens achieve this position, also enabled it to stand out for how it had gotten there. Siemens, in 2000, was the only and largest exporter internationally when it signed a deal with DEWA Dubai for an export order worth US $30 million for a 132 kV fully automated substation. In the same year, Siemens completed an export order for Sri Lanka. In the following year, the company took its largest export order from Kuwait of US $ 13.5. It was clear to all that not only Mr. Siddiqui helped the company and its workforce achieve its vision to gain national recognition as one of the top 25 companies, but they had also clearly marked the company’s presence internationally (Sabir,

2005).

In order to use his position in the company to the benefit of others and to help expand his personal and corporate vision to a more nation-wide vision, Mr. Siddqui, in 2002, announced the University Scholarship program. This program is for talented individuals who wanted to work and excel in the field of engineering, and could be potential leaders at

Siemens. Mr. Sohail envisioned a greater future not only for these individuals, but also for

Siemens as a whole (Personal communication, 2010). Continuing his efforts to formulate programs to build a better future for Pakistan and direct its industries towards success, he helped in chalking out the Engineering Vision 2010 for Pakistan in an effort to increase the

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East share of industrial and manufactured goods by 25-30%. In a way, then, Sohail Wajahat

Siddiqui rose as a strategic leader who had proven that he had the ability to anticipate and envision the future, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work along with others. This was in order to initiate, with immense courage, changes that could enable the organization/country to achieve success over all others (Daft, p 350, 2008). It was due to this that he was appointed MD of Siemens UAE and started playing a more significant role in

Siemens’ operations abroad. His vision to internationalize had clearly materialized and was enhanced even further when the Managing Director was given the largest export order by

DEWA. This order was for five substations that would be the primary energy source for prestigious buildings in Dubai like the Burj Khalifa, Festival City, Emirates Mall, Sports

City, Jebel Ali Airport and Dubai Investment Park (Personal communication, 2010) (Dubai sports city, 2006).

It is remarkable how one individual who has the right vision can achieve such tremendous success over a short period of time. In his 11 years of being CEO of Siemens

Pakistan and MD of Siemens UAE, Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui enabled the company to achieve a 233% growth rate and to be listed as second best Company in the stock exchange in 2009.

For all his commendable efforts towards the society, nation and company, he was awarded the third most prestigious award ‘Sitarae Imtiaz’ (Star of Excellence) along with several other awards over his period of leadership at Siemens (Speaker’s profile, 2009).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Study Questions:

1) How can the character trait of ‘visionary’ be associated with Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui?

Give examples to support your reasoning.

2) While devising the goals and vision of a company like Siemens, what other steps are

necessary to ensure that the envisioned future materializes?

Case Study Answers:

1) A visionary is an individual who is far sighted, and has the ability to foresee a future

that can provide himself as well as the company the opportunity to work towards

strategic goals and succeed at gaining and/or maintaining a competitive advantage.

Over all the years of being CEO and MD of Siemens, Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui has

enabled the company to rise and take a prominent position locally, as well as globally.

For example, he enabled Siemens, in just 6 months, to rise and become one of the top

25 companies in Pakistan. Moreover, under his management, Siemens became the

first company to export finished goods to big international markets like Sri Lanka,

Kuwait etc, and some of the most prestigious buildings like the Burj Khalifa, Festival

City, Sports City in the UAE are equipped with goods from Siemens.

2) Firstly, the company’s own vision, mission, and strategy must be closely aligned with

the vision and goals of the leader. Secondly, the leader must make sure that the vision

is shared, and the full support of the workforce is present. A vision can rarely

materialize without a collective effort of all the stakeholders involved in the process,

and the vision must be communicated and shared by all those involved in the process

of achieving the goals.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Reference

Daft, R. L. (2008). Leadership. United States: South-Western.

Dubai sports city awards contract for 132kv substations to Siemens. (2006, December 10).

Retrieved from http://www.ameinfo.com/104860.html

International Conference on Enterprise Resource Planning. (2009, August 13). at Karachi

Expo Centre. Speaker’s Profile. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from

http://www.itcnasia.com/conferences/erp09/SpeakersProfile.pdf

Kirkpatrick, S. A. & Locke, E. A. (1991). Leadership: do traits matter? The Executive, 5(2),

48. Retrieved February 9, 2009, from Academic Research Library database.

Milestones, Siemens. Retrieved from http://www.siemens.com.pk/Milestones.html

Sabir, I. (2005, November). Siemens engineering and telecommunications laying new

milestones. The News, Retrieved from

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/investors/nov2005/rating.htm

Siddiqui, S.W. (n.d.). Private sector development. Retrieved from

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/Pakistan-

Development-Forum/PSP-Siemens.pdf

Sohail wajahat siddiqui. (2009, February 8). Daily Times, Retrieved from

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\08\story_8-2-2009_pg15_1

Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui. (2010, July 28). Retrieved January 6th, 2011, from

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PQ1rqdGwKzQ/TFBv_Od-

73I/AAAAAAAACiI/f3LLXl_z8fQ/s1600/Sohail+Wajahat+H.+Siddiqui.jpg

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Haji Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah Author: Sadaf Wali

Justification: “Haji Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah is a self-made businessman who progressed from being a seafarer and trader, in his early days, to an accomplished tutor, author, economist, banker, entrepreneur, businessman and visionary community leader. His zest for life and fervent adherence to the core values of Education, Cooperation and Economy, power an endless desire to ‘make things better’ by empowering people to excel at everything they do” (S. S Lootah, n.d., p. 7). Today under this great leader’s humble leadership, Lootah enterprises have been able to contribute to the development of UAE as well as other countries.

Case Study: Starting off as a sailor, Haji Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah became one of UAE’s respectful individuals when he brought new opportunities to the country, such as the first construction company, medical college, pharmaceutical college, Islamic bank as well as

Islamic hotel (S. S Lootah, n.d., p. 10). Through the years, Lootah engaged in many organizations as a board member, in addition to his title of founder and chairman of S. S

Lootah group. His achievements were possible through his abilities of learning from past experiences and implementing them today. Today is known as an entrepreneur, economist, financier, teacher and writer and more importantly a community leader (Zawya.com, 2009a).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Haji Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah is well known for his leadership skills, among these skills one of the highly looked upon trait is his humility. According to Oxford Dictionary humility is “the quality of having a modest or low view of one's importance” (2010). This means that a leader with humility does not see himself as an outstanding individual, rather as someone who knows his weakness and focuses on them rather the boast about his strengths.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Humility makes great men twice honorable” (“Finest quotes,” n.d.), this quote stands true even today. A leader with humility finds satisfaction in accomplishing things for his followers. Any leader whether a politician or a teacher can show humility through their actions and lead with a heart full of gratitude.

Leaders who lead with humility consider themselves to be followers such leaders are transparent, aware of their short comings and are willing to step outside the conventional beliefs for the benefit of their followers (Morris et al, 2005). Humility is considered to be an important characteristic in any leader, and without it leaders are expected to fail. Some of the leading authors, credible bloggers and CEOs hold the absence of humility in today’s leaders as one of the crucial causes that led to the recent financial crisis (Couretas, 2010; Hyatt, 2009;

Killick, 2009; Rothberg, 2010). A study shows that majority of the high performing company

CEOs do not just hold a celebrity like status instead they do possess “genuine humility” which led to their success in the first place (Collins, 2000).

Many leadership theories are associated with humility, stating the trait both implicitly and explicitly. However, the most popular theory is the servant leadership theory. Robert

Greenleaf came up with this theory to see situation from the perspective of followers rather than leaders (1997). Leaders who follow the servant leadership praise theirs followers for their accomplishments rather than taking all the credit for themselves. Authentic leadership also holds similar notions by identifying and accepting their limitations rather than expecting

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East leaders to know everything (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). According to a management report,

Bob Greenleaf, an AT&T executive practiced servant leadership even as early as 1960

(Blanchard, 1991).

Another leadership theory related to humility is level-5 leadership theory. According to the theory, leaders who possess will power to achieve goals and are humble in their actions are Level-5 leaders. Such leaders take responsibility for any failures of their followers even if they were not remotely responsible for it. They do so because they believe that a follower’s action is inspired by the leader. Such leaders try to maintain the competitive advantage by working hard towards achieving their goal. Former CEO of Gillette, Colman Mockler Jr. was a level-5 leader (2005).

Generally, humility is likely to be found in leaders who are employee-centered that is their style revolves around the “human needs of subordinates” (Daft, 2008, p. 48). These humble leaders are more people oriented and thus belong to either country club management or team management style where participation is encouraged. Increasing number of theories are incorporating humility as their core value and this shows the changing trend and acceptance of humble business heads into leadership.

So how does Lootah as a leader related to humility? Simply because of his high dedication towards people. He believed that “Business exists fundamentally to serve people”

(S. S Lootah Group of Companies, n.d.) and this was one of the main reasons that led to this multi-line group of companies. Being the people oriented leader that he is, Lootah has supported events organized by the Municipality in order help employees overcome obstacles and “…enhance [their] social sprit and affinity…” (Ameinfo, 2007). He has also encouraged concepts like “Bring your Children to work day” which is not very common in organizations of this region (Ameinfo, 2009).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Lootah’s great contribution towards the development of UAE can be witnessed in almost every industry. Even though the foundation of his business lies on serving people,

Lootah persists on being actively involved in other aspects of community service. This can be seen through his support for causes like Anti-Speed Campaigns, Give Blood, Gift Life

Campaign to support Thalassemia and Sustainability campaign (Zawya.com, n.d.). SS Lootah group also won Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2008 for Corporate

Social Responsibility (Zawya.com, 2009b).

His leadership style verifies with Jim Collins’ Level-5 leadership approach; his accomplishments fulfill the professional will criteria while his humility can be seen through his efforts as a community leader. Moreover, his seven principles of management- Aim, resources, time schedule, execution, planning/follow-up, Assessment/evaluation and improvement- also show his dedication towards his work (“FCS – Lootah Group,” n.d.). The idea of including improvement as one of the final step of his management depicts his acceptance of his shortcoming and willingness to take steps to perform better.

This great community leader has been able to reincarnate the concept of humility to the business world through his humble acts of “serving people”. He single handedly has managed to incorporate the success of his business with the development of the society.

Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah’s great authentic servant leadership style has successfully set a strong example for business leaders of all times.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Questions

1. How can business leaders apply humility to their actions?

Humility is more follower oriented trait than a task oriented. Therefore leaders should care to motivate their followers to accomplish their goals, and recognize their efforts.

Rewards should be given to those who worked hard, and in case of mistakes leaders should guide their followers to the right direction instead of blaming them. Leaders do not need to be philanthropists to show their humbleness, they can do so through simple gestures like patting employee on their achievement, talking to low level employees or even smiling at them.

Furthermore, leaders should always take pride in their followers and credit them for great achievements rather than taking all the credit for themselves. Any business leader can be a leader with humility as long as his focus lies on his employees and society rather than himself and his company only.

2. Is humility relevant to business leader and why?

Like in all other field, humility is equally important to business leaders. In every business there is a contract between the employer and his employees. On the employee’s end, each employee must put all of his/her effort to help the company achieve its goals, while maintaining a positive attitude. On the employer’s side, an employer must provide opportunities for future recognition, create the right work environment, and make sure that the managers they assign are responsible, competent, and humble. So what is the relationship between both groups? When business leaders lead with humility, followers tend to be motivated to achieve the same goal as their leader. Humility in a leader makes him more approachable and this trait makes his followers want to do something for the leader itself. A business leader with humility can also be considered more ethical since his focus goes beyond the primary stakeholders.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References

Ameinfo (2007, March 8). Lootah addresses third family meet of DM employees. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from http://www.ameinfo.com/112997.html

Ameinfo. (2009, February 24). Lootah Group organizes an innovative event titled 'Bring your Children to work. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from ttp://www.ameinfo.com/186102.html

Avolio, B. J. & Gardner, W. L. (2005) Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly 16(3) 315-338. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from ScienceDirect

Blanchard, K. (1991). Servant Leadership. Retrieved November 12, 2010, from http://www.appleseeds.org/PDF%20Files/05_06/Blanchard_Ser-Lead.pdf

Collins, D. (2000). Management fads and buzzwords: Critical-practical perspectives. London: Routledge

Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 136-146. Retrieved October 17, 2010, from Business Source Premier Database

Couretas, J. (2010, September 1). Humility in times of recession [Web log message]. Message posted to http://blog.acton.org/archives/18527-humility-in-a-time-of- recession.html

Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience (4th ed.). Mason: South-Western.

FCS – Lootah Group (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.fcsdubai.com/lootahgroup.htm

Finest quotes (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2010, from http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-category-Humility-page-0.htm

Greenleaf, R.K. (1997). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate greatness. New Jersey: Paulist Press

Humility. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionary.com. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from Oxford

Dictionary.com website: http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0391580

Hyatt, M. (2009, October 9). The necessity of humility in leadership [Web log message]. Message posted to http://michaelhyatt.com/the-necessity-of-humility-in- leadership.html

Killick, R. (2009, May 27). Economists behaving badly: why individual behaviour is not to blame for the recession [Web log message]. Message posted to http://postrecession.wordpress.com/category/event/

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Morris, J. A., Brotheridge, C. M., & Urbanski, J. C. (2005). Bringing humility to leadership: Antecedents and consequences of leader humility. Human Relations, 58(10), 1323- 1350. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global

S. S Lootah (n.d.). S. S Lootah Group- 50 year Profile. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from http://www.sslootah.com/Inside%20Sheets.pdf

S. S Lootah Group of Companies. (n.d.). S. S Lootah Group of Companies – Chairman. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.sslootah.com/chairman.php

S. S Lootah Group of Companies [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2010, from http://www.sslootah.com/chairman.php

Zawya.com (n.d.). S.S Lootah group – Latest News. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://zawya.com/cm/company_news.cfm?companyid=493823&storynum=1

Zawya.com (2009a). The GMR Interview with Saleh Abdullah Lootah. Gulf Marketing Review. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20091103120558/The%20GMR%20In terview%20with%20Saleh%20Abdullah%20Lootah/

Zawya.com (2009b). Sheikh Mohammed honours S.S. Lootah Contracting with first ever MRM Award for CSR. Emiratisation.org. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from http://www.emiratisation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81: sheikh-mohammed-honours-ss-lootah-contracting-with-first-ever-mrm-award-for- csr&catid=41:april-2009&Itemid=67&lang=en

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Khalid Al-Zanki Author: Gurpreet Kaur

Justification: Khalid Al-Zanki is one of the most recognized and appreciated youth icons of

Kuwait in Middle East. Despite his initial hurdles he managed to achieve the title of entrepreneur, CEO, motivational speaker, consultant, mentor, trainer, coach and business strategist, all at the young age of 32. He combined his leadership trait of passion to combine his interest in technology and marketing, to create a very successful online business, Al-

Zanki Enterprises. His leadership skills are highly looked upon and he ensures to communicate them to others through YouTube videos, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter,

Digg and his blog.

Case Study:

Al-Zanki’s academic success and dedication in the early stages carved the path towards his achievements today. His enthusiasm towards computer engineering led to his immediate appointment after graduation as a software engineer. Before starting his business,

Leaders Enterprise, in 2005 he also worked for two years as a software engineer for Saliha

Real Estate Company where he developed his interpersonal skills.

The purpose of Leaders Enterprise as stated by Al-Zanki was to “educate business people and the Kuwaiti society in general on how to become outstanding leaders” through 73

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East seminars and lectures by leadership experts (Sadeghi, 2010, ¶ 13). The success of this enterprise began to show traits of his great leadership ability. His dedication, commitment and passion towards constantly providing innovative services led to his title of “A True

Leader and Entrepreneur” (Sadeghi, 2010, ¶ 2). However, due to the deteriorating economic conditions of its clients, Leaders Enterprise closed down after four and half years of spreading invaluable knowledge. Al-Zanki shifted his focus towards his other online business which he had created alongside his former enterprise. This business idea tapped the untouched market of online advertising in Kuwait and today it has a wide range of successful product launches to its name. Through Al-Zanki’s expertise has helped experts like, Tom

McCarthy, Raleigh Pinskey, Roger Dawson and Brian Tracy, set up multimillion dollar businesses (Al-Zanki, 2010a).

Khalid Al-Zanki’s underlying force behind his ventures was his enthusiasm in computer engineering and his passion towards marketing. As a guest speaker for a leadership seminar he remarked that his passion and hard work were the two factors that led to his achievements (Kuwait- Maastricht Business School, 2009). Through his blog Al Zanki encourages people to “…lead with passion” (Al-Zanki, 2009a, ¶ 6) by translating things that interest them into businesses (Al-Zanki, 2010b). Goosev defines passion as the ability to face

“frustration, the roadblocks, the disappointments, and the endless stress” with positivity in order to “turn vision into reality” (2004, p. 37). According to Daft passionate leaders have an urge to accomplish their vision. They are open to experience, which is one of the dimensions in the Big Five personality theory. Big Five personality theory describes the personality of a leader to be based upon extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience (2008, p.101). Some scholars believe that other leadership traits are important but “passion is…major driving force in leadership” (Kuratko, 2007; Marques,

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

2007; Potter, 2001; Sukin, 2009). It is of utmost importance that a leader loves what s/he does and this will ultimately lead to success.

Boverie and Kroth have come up with five prerequisites to passion; they consider a passionate leader to have an interest in something that excites him/her and has brought meaning to their life. They not only have knack for taking risks but are also continuous learners who believe in themselves (2001, p.62-67). The following paragraph attempts to find if Khalid Al- Zanki qualifies as a passionate leader.

Zanki’s educational background qualifies him to the first condition of possessing interest. He had a zest for technology, and his continuous innovative marketing strategies and tools show his interest towards promotion and advertising. The second criterion suggested by

Boverie and Kroth was that the potential leader’s passion had made their life more meaningful. This also can be held true for Al-Zanki as he has contributed largely to the society by developing leadership programs, sharing strategies through his social networks and motivating the youth in general to achieve greater goals. He is also under the process of establishing a new website which will help entrepreneurs set up their own internet business

(Al Zanki, n.d.). Hr brought meaning to his life by helping others achieve their dreams. The third condition was the leader’s ability to take risks; the same can be seen through his decision of closing down Leaders Enterprise and working on a new concept of online advertising in a market that valued conventional approach. Also, he took a risk by forming a high-end coaching program called Inner Circle in recovering economic conditions. The fourth condition that Al-Zanki fulfills is that of learning, he writes in his blog, exceptional leaders persistently learn on “two different levels: knowledge and skill” (2009b, ¶ 1) and thus are open to varying experiences. He appreciates and promotes the significance of continuous learning both verbally and in practice. Last but definitely not the least, the condition that he

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East fulfills is that a passionate leader needs to believe in himself. His belief and confidence in himself is evident through his actions and his achievements in a span of merely eight years.

Al-Zanki also blogs that what one believes becomes his /her reality (2009c) and his belief in his capability of achieving his vision has now become a reality.

Khalid Al-Zanki passion towards his business and its success makes him a strong individual, but what makes him a great leader? His achievements. Apart from his title of

“True leader and Entrepreneur,” Zanki is also a member of the Young Arab Leaders

Organization –Kuwait chapter. According to Young Arab Leaders organization, it is an establishment that identifies outstanding leaders who have a “proven track record of achievements” and now want to give back to the society (n.d.). Due to his outstanding marketing strategies, he has also been called one of “Kuwait’s Top Marketing Mentors”

(Sadeghi, 2010). Furthermore, in a survey conducted by Fast Company Magazine, Al-Zanki has been ranked the “58th Most Influential Person Online for 2010” worldwide and “No.1

Most Influential Person Online for 2010” in the Middle East among over 32000 candidates.

This young passionate leader has not only influenced Kuwaitis but has managed to spread the idea of leadership, personal growth and entrepreneurship abilities globally through his social networks. The Arab society needs such leaders who are passionate about their idea and are willing to step out of their comfort zone to become dynamic leaders.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Questions

1. What do you think is Khalid Al-Zanki’s greatest achievement as a leader and why?

Al-Zanki has seen success in different fields and has also been constantly appreciated.

But we think that his greatest achievement is his ability to influence people. A leader should be someone who inspires people regardless of their culture and this is what Al-Zanki has been able to do through his blogs and YouTube channel. Despite his young age he has motivated great authors and motivational speakers to contribute to the society. Moreover, his efforts are more prominent in Kuwait. He has been able to change the past perception of business marketing and introduce internet marketing in the Middle East. His followers worldwide admire, praise and practice his business strategies and techniques of marketing.

2. According to Al-Zanki why is it important for a leader to constantly seek

knowledge?

Hendicks, former Secretary of Human Service of United States said, “If you stop learning today, you stop leading tomorrow" (n.d). This quote is also published by Khalid Al-

Zanki on his blog as he is a firm believer of it. He says in his blog that as long as an individual seeks to learn new things and discover true meanings of problems, he will continue being a leader (Al-Zanki, 2009b). Al-Zanki says that knowledge and skills are necessary for a leader because it helps him/her to be more open to experience. This openness results in discovering and leading to innovative ideas and concepts. Lastly, knowledge is a tool which needs to be improved constantly for it to successfully contribute to the leadership experience.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References

Al-Zanki, K. (2009a, June 17). Leaders Motivate People. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/leadership/leaders-motivate-people/

Al-Zanki, K. (2009b, June 6). Education Never Ends. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/leadership/education-never-ends/

Al-Zanki, K. (2009c, May 14). Your Beliefs Become Your reality. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/personalgrowth/your-beliefs-become- your-reality/

Al-Zanki, K. (2010a). About Khalid Al-Zanki. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/aboutkhalid/

Al-Zanki, K. (2010b, March 21). Follow your passion. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/internet-business/follow-your-passion/

Al-Zanki, K. (n.d.). Inner Circle: How to start your internet business [Video file]. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.innercircle.com.kw/

Ameinfo [Photograph]. (2009). Al-Zanki: Internal and external leadership skills are vital components to leading in challenging times. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.ameinfo.com/199848.html

Boverie, P. & Kroth, M. (2001). Transforming work. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing

Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience (4th ed.). Mason: South-Western.

Goosev.T (2004, May). Help! I'm the Principal, Now What? Principal Leadership, 4(9), 37- 39. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 637129081).

John Potter. (2001). Creating a passion for change – the art of intelligent leadership. Industrial and Commercial Training, 33(2), 54 – 59. Retrieved December 29, 2010, from Emerald Database

Kuratko, D. F. (2007). Entrepreneurial Leadership in the 21st Century. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(4), 1-11. Retrieved December 29, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1286979651).

Kuwait- Maastricht Business School. (2009, June 25). Engineer Khalid Al-Zanki ENBV Guest Speaker. Retrieved on December 29, 2010, from http://www.kmbs.edu.kw/Default.aspx?tabid=108

Marques, J. F. (2007). Leadership: emotional intelligence, passion and … what else?. Journal of Management Development, 26(7), 644-651. Retrieved December 29, 2010, from Emerald Database

Sadeghi, R. (Interviewer) & Al- Zanki, K. (Interviewee). (2010, August 23). People Lack Skills Needed For Communication. The Arab Times. Retrieved on December 29,

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2010, from http://www.alzanki.com/blog/interviews/arabtimes-newspaper-interviews- khalid-al-zanki/

Sukin, D.(2009). Leadership in Challenging Times: It Starts With Passion. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 26(2), 3-8. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1935138061).

Young Arab Leaders. (n.d.). YAL- Definition of a young Arab leader. Retrieved on January 2, 2011, from http://www.yaleaders.org/en/

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Queen Rania Author: Rasha Shaheen

Justification: Queen Rania is the wife of His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan, a country in

Middle East, but she is better known for her contribution towards the society. She is called a visionary and has inspired many people which has been possible through her determination to bring about a change in the lives of others. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of

Jordanians and her efforts can be seen in the areas of education, women and girls’ rights, employment and health awareness. Despite various hurdles she managed to make a name for herself and was named UNICEF’s Eminent Advocate for children and honorary Global Chair of the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI). She has also been voted as the most inspirational leader by CNN (Phoon, 2008). Queen Rania’s determination has led to her accomplishment to improve the standard of living of people in Jordan and in different parts of the world.

Case Study:

In Jordan, it is hard for a woman to achieve anything due to the male dominance.

However, with her determination, Queen Rania managed to outshine some of the great male leaders. This leadership trait of determination is defined as “the desire to get the job done” which includes characteristics such as initiative, drive, and persistence. People who are

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East determined to accomplish greater goals in life are proactive, willing to face stress, and are also capable of facing obstacles (Northouse, 2007). Even after facing the hardships and stress, a leader will always feel good about making a change at the end of the day.

Queen Rania’ vision is that everyone has the right to get educated as it leads to the path of opportunities. She believes that education provides hope and it opens the gate to different alternatives which can be pursued if an individual is literate. Children are the future of any nation and if they are well-informed and learned, then there are chances that they will get a good job, earn well which in turn will flee them from poverty and deprived medical facilities. Several initiatives were taken by her Majesty to increase schooling and the provision of education (“Vision”, The official website of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-

Abdullah of Jordan). For example, ‘Madrasati’, a public-private partnership was established with the aim of renovating 500 public schools. Also the ‘Queen Rania Teachers' Academy’ was established to train teachers so that they could guide the students in the right way and with the right resources (United Nations Foundation, 2010). It was due to her firm beliefs and single-mindedness which led her to go the extra mile.

Queen Rania’s determination and commitment improved the standard of living in

Jordan and her service towards community empowerment has been appreciated. She has established centers for families, children and women. Some of these include Family

Protection Department, Questscope's mentoring programme, the National Council for Family

Affairs and the Jordan Society for Protecting Victims of Family Violence (Gavlak, 2009, p.333). Moreover, Her Majesty pays special attention to women’s rights and established the

Jordan River Foundation in 1995 which is a non-profit charity institution to help women find employment (Clibbon, 2010). These efforts have provided women with a chance to prove themselves in the workplace through their acquired skills and knowledge and thus become

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East independent. The unemployment rate for women in 1993 was twice as more as their male counterparts despite their education. However, through her Majesty’s efforts, the situation changed and in 2002, the working population of women increased by 7.5% compared to 1993

(Milles, 2002, p.413).

Furthermore, Queen Rania has made great efforts towards the development and protection of young girls in underdeveloped countries. According to the journal article

‘Jordan's Queen Rania Stands Up for Girls’, she has launched a campaign which encourages

American girls to help out other young women in less developed countries (2010). Through this campaign, she attempts to raise awareness about the wide range of issues that young women in less developed countries face. Thus, this motivates and boosts the confidence of these teenagers by giving them a chance to talk and learn more about the better standard of living of American teenagers. The same article highlights the importance of girls in society and shows that if given a chance, they are capable of being great leaders. The campaign aims to break down the obstacles faced by young women in the underdeveloped countries and provides them an access to education, health services, and safety from abuse and violence.

Moreover, one of the major issues in Jordan is honor killings i.e. the killing of females by the male family members on the grounds of suspicion or actual shame brought upon the family by her actions. These actions could range from a love affair to simply talking to a man on the street. Through her courage Queen Rania initiated the intolerance against such crimes

(Darwish, 1999). This highlights her commitment towards human rights in general and women in particular.

Furthermore, Her Majesty continues to fight issues of stereotyping which foreigners hold of the Arab community. She launched her own YouTube channel in order to deliver this message to the world that not all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists and committers of violent

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East acts. This effort attempts to open the eyes of the world and bring benefit not only to

Jordanians but also the rest of the Arab community. YouTube appreciated her efforts towards humanity through an award. The article ‘Jordan Queen gets YouTube award for fighting stereotypes’ illustrates her dedication towards removing these misconceptions and how it sometimes hinders the success of the Arabs expatriates in foreign countries. She has also encouraged people to communicate her through YouTube channel and send questions or comments on Arab stereotypes so that she can address them one by one (“Jordan queen gets

YouTube award”, 2008). In line with these efforts she has recently published her book ‘The

Sandwich Swap’ which talks about an Arab and American girl overcoming cultural stereotypes.

In conclusion, Her Majesty Queen Rania’s down-to-earth personality has enabled her to set aside her royal image and make an effort to know the real problems of the public. This shows her dedication to change things for the better. Opening educational institutions, children welfare programs and making serious efforts to eliminate the Arab World stereotypes has contributed to the progress of the Jordanian society. Her determination to overcome obstacles and develop Jordan’s society against all odds has made her a world- renowned leader.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Questions

1. How do you think Queen Rania’s determination helped improve the standards of

living of Jordan?

“If people don’t strive to achieve something, they rarely do [anything]” (Daft, 2008, p.42) and to do something individuals need to possess the determination. Her Majesty made sure her followers were aware of the possibilities in Jordan before she motivated them to take advantage of these opportunities. She opened many educational institutes to give a chance to those who could not afford it. For example, she established a public-private partnership called ‘Madrasati’ which aimed at renovating 500 public schools (United Nations

Foundation, 2010). Moreover, she improved the existing schools by providing better teaching equipments and trained staff. She became an inspiration to many and established several foundations to support women and children. Furthermore, her effort to eliminate stereotyping about the Arab community made people around the world aware about the misconceptions.

Queen Rania did not give up and defeated the barriers that came along. Therefore, it was her determination which resulted in various titles and awards in recognition of her contributions.

Today people know Jordan as a country rather than just a name of an American basketball player.

2. Why do you think there was a need for Queen Rania to address the problem of Arab

stereotypes?

Queen Rania wanted to convey her message to the world about the false beliefs of the

Arab community. In order to raise awareness among the young generation, she published a book derived from her personal childhood experience called ‘The Sandwich Swap’ which spoke about an Arab and American girl overcoming cultural stereotypes. Through this book she wanted to raise an awareness of the cultural issues. She also said that before judging a

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East person’s behavior, one must be aware about that person’s culture to better understand the context of his/her actions. Moreover, she established her own YouTube channel, where people from different parts of the world could communicate with her and ask questions about the Arab culture. There was a need for her to do so in order to gain the worldwide acceptance of people towards the Arab culture. At minimum it reduced the cultural obstacles faced by

Arabs in their workplace but at large it led to the development of Arabs in their respective fields.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References

Clibbon, J. (2010, October 3). Queen Rania Al-Abdullah: A diplomatic monarch in a troubled region. Retrieved October 20, 2010 from http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/30/f-queen-rania-al-abdullah-bio-and- interview.html

Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience (4th ed.). Mason: South-Western.

Darwish. A (1999, March). Spotlight on a queen. Middle East, (288), 7. Retrieved January 1, 2011, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 39806027).

Full Issue [Photograph]. (n.d.) Retrieved January 1, 2011, from http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/queen-rania-biography-1970.html

Gavlak, D. (2009). Child maltreatment comes out of the shadows. World Health Organization. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 87(5), 333-4. Retrieved December 22, 2010, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 1708204401).

Jordan Queen gets YouTube award for fighting stereotypes. (2008, November 14). The Sun Herald. Retrieved October 20, 2010 from http://news.smh.com.au/technology/jordan- queen-gets-youtube-award-for-fighting-stereotypes-20081114-66cp.html

Jordan's Queen Rania Stands Up for Girls. (2010, September 24). Retrieved October 23, 2010, from Academic Research Library

Milles.R (2002). Employment and unemployment in Jordan: The importance of gender system. World Development, 30(3), 413-427. Retrieved December 30, 2010, from Academic Research Library.

Northouse, G. P. (2007). Leadership: Theory and practice. California: Sage Publications

Phoon.F (2008, December 18). Queen Rania most inspirational leader of 2008. CNN.com. Retrieved 22 December 2010, from, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/05/queenrania.votedleader/

United Nations Foundation. (2010). Her majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (Jordan). Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.unfoundation.org/about-unf/our- board/al-abdullah.html

“Vision”, The official website of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan. Retrieved November 16, 2010 from http://www.queenrania.jo/rania/vision

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Suzanne Mubarak Author: Salma Badr

Justification: Suzanne Mubarak is the wife of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She received her B.A in Political Sciences as well as her Master’s degree in Sociology of

Education from the American University in Cairo, the region’s premier English-language university. Mrs. Mubarak’s self confidence and belief has helped her achieve her dream of making a difference in the society. For these efforts she is seen as a great leader in Egypt. She has been recognized as a community heroine for her continuous efforts towards improving standards of living in Egypt and the world, specifically for issues related to women rights and children education. Mrs. Mubarak has received several awards in recognition of her efforts and accomplishments in elevating living standards in different parts of the world.

Case Study:

Mrs. Mubarak’s self confidence has helped her create an image for herself which is outside the shadows of her husband. Oxford dictionary defines self-confidence as “a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgment” (2010). An individual is not born with self- confidence; however, it’s a trait that is earned through life experiences and achievements.

Some individuals confuse self confidence with ego. A self confident person is humble and

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East down to earth, while egocentrism is all about one’s self. This trait helps one believe in themselves despite the odds.

Motivation and self-confidence are strongly interrelated. Individuals are usually highly motivated to achieve their goals when they are confident in their own abilities. Therefore, self-confidence is an important factor in the most famous motivation theories such as

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and McGregor’s theory X and Y. “In the Maslow's hierarchy of needs there are at least five sets of goals which we may call basic needs. These are physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization needs” (Tikkanen, 2009, ¶ 70). In the hierarchy, starting from the bottom, the need of each level must be satisfied before moving on to the next need. A big part of the self esteem need is self confidence. According to Maslow, in order for individuals to feel motivated, they need to feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement. Secondly, McGregor’s theory suggests that there are two types of managers, theory X and theory Y managers. “The manager who holds the pessimistic

Theory X mind-set, or cosmology as McGregor labeled it – namely, that employees are basically lazy, untrustworthy, lack ambition, and offer little in the way of useful ideas”

(Kopelman, Prottas, & Falk, 2010, ¶ 1). Theory X managers generally run their organizations by using authoritarian control, closely supervising workers, and usually discourage employees’ involvement. On the other hand, optimistic managers believe that employees are self confident, motivated to work hard and take responsibility for their work. As a result, these managers tend to delegate tasks to employees and involve them in the decision making process. However, one can’t easily decide which theory works best for leaders as each motivation theory has its negative aspects. In the case of Maslow’s hierarchy, the theory suggests that each individual has the same needs, and each need has to be satisfied in that precise order. However, in reality individuals are different and so are their needs. Some might prefer having their safety needs first before their physiological needs. The McGregor’s theory

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East assumes that there are only two kinds of managers, while in reality there can be several other kinds of managers who run their organizations depending on the internal culture.

Self-confidence is one of the most important traits for leaders because the decision that followers undertake in their daily life depends on their leader’s confidence. In general, followers look up to their leaders, and follow their footsteps. The actions of a confident leader boost the followers’ confidence by making them believe in themselves. Such leaders give followers hope in life and the sense of fulfillment of their beliefs. On the other hand, if a leader is pessimistic and doubts every decision he/she makes, this can have a huge negative impact on his/her followers. As a result, followers will be de-motivated to work hard to achieve their ambitions. With such leaders and followers in the world there will be no improvement in education, technology, medicine, and overall countries’ development.

The leadership trait of self-confidence leads to great leadership, like that of Suzanna

Mubarak. Ever since she got married to the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Mrs.

Mubarak became one of the most influential women in Middle East. Being the first Lady of

Egypt, Suzanne was and still is the hope of every Egyptian woman. They pictured her to be their leader who will fight for their rights, a leader who will provide them with a better education and a leader who will end the stereotyping against women and their role in society. Being self confident of who she is and what she’s capable of doing, Mubarak made sure she became part of every activity that was aimed towards helping both women and children. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, below are some of the activities that were performed by Mubarak:

 The Conference on the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, Lignano

Sabbiadoro, Italy, September 1987.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

 Symposium on Women and Social Development: Past, Present and Future, organized by

the American National Council of Negro Women, Cairo, July 1989.

 Fourth African Regional Conference on Women and Development, Nigeria, November

1989.

 The Summit on Economic Advancement of Rural Women, UN, Geneva, February 1992.

An individual that lacks self confidence would not be able to perform such activities, travel the world and meet new people and cultures. Thanks to her confidence and her determination, her female followers across the world realized they have greater potentials than just being housewives. For example, all across Egypt, there are female doctors, police officers, lawyers and judges. According to the report “Egyptian Women Workers and

Entrepreneurs” published by the World Bank, female labor force participation increased from 7.3% in mid 1970s to 23.8% in 2007 (The World Bank, 2010). These women have satisfied their need to be recognized by society and to be placed at a position similar to their leader.

Regarding children education, Mubarak’s campaign “Reading for all” plays a huge role in fighting illiteracy. The purpose of this campaign was to “narrow the knowledge gap between Egypt and other developed societies…by encouraging students at schools and universities to read more and spend time in public libraries” (Leila, R. 2010, ¶ 1).

Mrs. Mubaraks self confidence has helped her achieve great goals and in due course great appreciation. She has been granted several awards and titles. For instance, she won the

Sheikh Rashid Humanitarian Personality Award for 2006 and was named Personality of the

Year’ for her contribution towards improving the living conditions of women and children worldwide, particularly Egypt (Rashid, 2007).

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Suzanne Mubarak’s confidence in herself has not only helped her gain recognition and admiration but also her achieve her goal of making a difference. She has been able to create a name for herself in a male dominated society. Through her support Egyptian women continue to build their confidence to fight for their rights and the education of their children.

Suzanne Mubarak and her efforts have become an example for women in the Middle East.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Case Questions

1. How did Suzanne Mubarak’s contribution to the welfare of women and children

improve standards of living in Egypt?

Suzanne Mubarak has paid great attention to two very important segments that make up the society, women and children. Mubarak has put in massive efforts by “giving a voice to those who are among the most underrepresented in society” where she formed institutions directed towards the empowerment of women and guaranteeing children’s welfare

(international telecommunication Union, 2008). She provided them with access to quality education and health care to help them prosper and become useful citizens who would be able to serve their country in the future. Mubarak has helped them unleash their potentials and abilities in order to lead a productive life with high living standards.

2. How does a leader’s self-confidence influence his/her followers?

A leader’s attitude usually affects followers either positively or negatively. As already mentioned in the case study, followers look up to their leaders, and tend to follow their path. Being self confident, a leader has a “sense of self-esteem and self-assurance and the belief that one can make a difference” (Northouse, G. P, p.20). Thus, a confident leader has the ability to boost followers’ confidence in their own capabilities to accomplish their goals and fulfill their tasks.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References

Ezzat, D. (2009,July 11). Reading is key. Al-Ahram. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/852/eg9.htm H.E.Suzanne Mubarak. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21,2010, from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Get_Involved/Ambassadors/Mubarak_cv. pdf Kopelman, R, Prottas, D, & Falk, D. (2010). Construct validation of a theory x/y behavior scale. Leadership Organization Development Journal, 31(2), Retrieved November 18, 2010 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.aus.edu/journals.htm?issn=0143- 7739&volume=31&issue=2&articleid=1840287&show=html Leila, R. (2010, July 7). By the book. Al-Ahram. Retrieved December 30, 2010, from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1005/eg5.htm Northouse, G. P (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. California: Sage Publications Rashid, M. (2009,May 30). Suzanne Mubarak honoured. Khaleej Times. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=theuae&xfile=data/th euae/2007/may/theuae_may851.xml Self confidence (2010). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0750950#m_en_gb075090 The World Bank (2010). Maximizing opportunities in the economic sphere. Egyptian Women Workers and Entrepreneurs. Retrieved November 18, 2010 from http://www- wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2010/02/19/0003 33038_20100219001740/Rendered/PDF/530960PUB0Egyp101Official0Use0Only1. pdf Tikkanen, I. (2009). Maslow's hierarchy and pupils’ suggestions for developing school meals. Nutrition & Food Science, 39(5). Retrieved November 18, 2010 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.aus.edu/journals.htm?issn=0034- 6659&volume=39&issue=5&articleid=1812140&show=html World Telecommunication and Information Society Award 2008 Laureates (2008). Retrieved January 1, 2011 from http://www.itu.int/wtisd/2008/award/laureates/mubarak.html

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Author: Sina Hashimi

Justification: In this particular research, the focus from among all leadership styles traits will be on vision. As it is the main trait of the chosen discussed leader who is a renowned presidential leading figure. This leader aims, through his strong visionary leadership style, to perfection in all fields, developing a stronger economy and enhancing the political system for the greater good of the men and women of his country; the United Arab Emirates. He is His

Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates

(UAE) who sets a unique example of a visionary leader in the Middle East.

Case study:

Leadership is a reciprocal influential relationship between leaders and followers that aims to make a change in the organization or the environment to fulfill the desired goals.

Hence, a leader must encompass certain traits to be able to make those changes and achieve the targeted goals. These traits are defined as several distinctive personal characteristics such as intelligence, honesty, self-confidence, appearance and vision (Daft, 2008).

HH Sheikh Khalifa, who is the eldest son of the late Sheikh Zayed, was born in 1948 in Al Ain. The fact that HH Sheikh Khalifa was raised by the late Sheikh Zayed, who was recognized as the most charismatic leader in the Gulf and possessing strong leadership

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East abilities, helped enhance Sheikh Khalifa’s leadership skills. This all gave him early perspective and enlightened his thinking and also his imagination to develop the necessary future planning and change ideas. According to the Gulf News: ‘Fully dedicated to bringing prosperity and progress to his people, HH Sheikh Khalifa always dealt with those who worked with him with dignity and respect, giving them flexibility to take the initiative, skillfully maintaining their trust and motivating them to constant effort’ (Nusseibeh, 2007).

A leader’s vision is a “realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization…an idea that is so energizing that in effect jump-starts the future by calling forth the skills, talents, and resources to make it happen” (Nanus, 1995, p.8). HH Shaikh Khalifa’s vision for developing a stronger economy was brought to reality by enhancing economic models and plans, utilizing the countries’ resources effectively and efficiently and maintaining healthy international affairs. An example of that is the fact that he has paid special attention to the oil sector as he believed in the importance of establishing a management of the UAE’s oil resources as well as the known today as the world’s most successful investment fund; the

Abu Dhabi Investment Fund Authority which was established to maximize the UAE’s future generation’s welfare. In addition to that is the establishment of the Abu Dhabi’s Development

Fund to help the developing countries’ financial and social growth. All of these internal and external developmental creations grant the UAE a competitive advantage in the international market as well as giving the UAE’s people access to the best educational and health services.

Regarding gender differences, HH Sheikh Khalifa has made very clear supporting and empowering actions towards the women of the UAE to let them participate in developing the society as much as men do with respect to the Arab, Muslim values. Hence, he started with his closest, his wife HH sheikh Shamsa bint Suhail, states that the UAE, under HH Sheikh

Khalifa’s recommendations, has granted enough power to the women of the Emirates to be up-to-standards citizens and get involved in all fields of work that they desire. This all

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East eventually contributes to the greater good of the current and future generation of the country which is proves the visionary leadership talent that HH Sheikh Khalifa possesses.

Visionary leadership is the type where leaders build the future using their imagination, wisdom, insight, commitment and bravery (McLaughlin, 2001), which is precisely what HH Sheikh Kalifa has been doing for the past few years of his presidency of the UAE. For instance, his vision for a better political system he gave an official speech to the Federal National Council in February 2007 indicating his country’s Federal

Government’s commitment to building an improved political system based on security, consultation and impartiality which all contribute to positively enhancing all living aspects for the UAE nationals. It also discussed some future plans and visions to be implemented for the sake of development of the UAE’s progression towards the better (“Government:

President of the UAE”, n.d.).

Another important example is the first policy agenda of Abu Dhabi Government issued by Abu Dhabi Executive Council for 2007/2008. This agenda stated a vision for the entire country’s development in all fields mentioning the objectives that will guarantee the welfare of the UAE nationals and suggested plans and programs to be implemented to achieve and sustain the overall economic, social, judicial, health, security, and educational improvement of the UAE (“Government: President of the UAE”, n.d.).

HH Sheikh Khalifa has been proving that the application of goal setting goals and visioning the future and planning for its improvement in his presidential and leadership style have actually been successful and led him to achieving all his goals and dreams for the UAE.

And according to Daft (2008): ‘Setting a desirable vision gives leaders the energy and motivation to take the necessary actions that will enable them to minimize the gap between reality and vision’

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Questions

1) What helped developing HH Sheikh Khalifa’s visionary leadership trait?

The fact that he used to attend Majlis with his father the late Sheikh Zayed has given him the

privilege to sit, talk and listen to older and wiser men hence benefiting his personality and

mentality. This all has definitely contributed to his great personality that he has got today.

2) What has HH Sheikh Khalifa established with his visionary leadership?

He has developed the economic, financial, social, educational, and political systems in the

UAE through his wise future planning. This has lead to improving the lives of the people of

the UAE, both men and women.

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

References

Daft, L. R. (2008). Leadership (5th ed.).Florence, KY: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Government: President of the UAE. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2010, from UAE Interact website: http://www.uaeinteract.com/government/zayed.asp.

Khan, M. (Photographer). (2010). Sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahyan. Retrieved from http://www.opfblog.com/11374/sheikh-khalifa-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-leader-of-great- vision/.

McLaughlin, C. (2001). Visionary leadership. Retrieved January 4, 2001, from http://www.visionarylead.org/articles/vislead.htm.

Nanus, B. (1995). Visionary leadership. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Nusseibeh, Z. (2007, November 9). Achievements of a visionary leader. Gulf News.

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, President of the UAE. Government - President of the UAE, 2004. Retrieved from http://www.uaeinteract.com/government/zayed.asp

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Ahmed Al Shugeiri Author: Aliaa M. Fakhreddine

Justification: Ahmad Al Shugairi has become an icon in Arab media as he is known for his ability to inspire his followers and help them better understand their peaceful religion. His influential leadership style is evident in his religion-theme show which is called

Khawater(Thoughts). In this show, he raises certain topics and issues of Muslim’s concern through which he addresses what needs to be changed about their mentality.

Case study:

Many people believe that changing an entire society is a difficult task. Some say it’s impossible, but some people like Ahmad Al Shugairi believe that it is possible. One of the most crucial achievements in a leader’s history is his ability to influence followers and help them become leaders on their own. This kind of influential leadership is what Ahmed Al

Shugairi aspires through his religion-themed television show Khawater, or Thoughts.

Ahmad Al Shugairi was born in Jeddah in 1973. He moved to the United States to continue his studies in the University of California. Al Shugairi’s own life reflects the experiences young Muslims encounter (Wright, 2009). It is said that “in the 1990s, he bounced from “extreme pleasure” as a college student in California to “extreme belief”. The shock of the atrocities of 9/11, whose perpetrators were mostly Saudi, steered Al Shugairi to the new path of moderation (Wright, 2009). His journey in leadership started off with an

Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East actual personal influence that had reached him from within. This makes him more involved in whatever case he is supporting because he felt and believed in his case and the necessity of change towards it. He has become an icon in the Arab world media, specifically because of his successful and influential television show titled Khawater, in which practical problems of the contemporary Muslim life are discussed (Wright, 2009).

Carrying on, influence can be a word or an action that has the capacity or power to produce effects on other people’s behavior and opinions(Daft, 2008). One point that is worth mentioning is that organizational position is not the basis on which an influential leader derives and gains power from, it’s rather the trait that heavily relies on ‘a leader’s personal characteristics and relationships’ according to the Influence Theories of leadership (Daft,

2008). Moreover, influential leadership is a joint, non-coercive bond which focuses on creating a change that fulfills the shared and desired objectives of leaders and followers

(Daft, 2008).

There are three types of influential leadership: transformational, charismatic, and coalitional leadership. However, our focus is going to be on transformational and charismatic leadership. Transformational leaders are those who are able to change followers’ mentality by conveying a sense of mission, showing enthusiasm for change and encouraging learning new things ( Hater&Bass, 1988). This type of leadership is very important because it aims at brining the best out of people through transforming their personalities (Daft, 2008).

The second type of influential leadership is the charismatic leadership, which involves the emotional dimension of leadership. It inspires and motivates people to exert their best performance and face all obstacles in order to reach their objectives (Daft, 2008). Such

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Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East leaders usually come into view in times where systematic, job-oriented leading styles are not of any use while inspiring and visionary personalities are highly effective and influential.

Even though Ahmad al Shugairi is not a preacher or a theologist , he has been able to influence followers across the Arab and Muslim world simply because of his efforts at helping young people grow by discussing topics of their concerns (“Khawater : Thoughts to ponder”, 2010). The episodes of his TV show; Khawater (Thoughts) tend to examine the degree to which Muslims understand their own religion and others religion, and how much of their understanding of religious values is reflected in their daily lives. For example, he has talked about the conflicts between Shia’a and Sunni Muslims in many times. He believes that the separation and the dislike between the two groups should be ended because after all, they are all Muslims and they belong to the same religion, which is Islam. Hence, throughout his discussions of this topic, he tries to convince his Muslim viewers that being part of different religious groups should not be a reason for Muslims to dislike each other (Bashraheel, 2009;

Shalhoub, 2007). Furthermore, there have been so many occasions, and countless number of interviews in which Ahmad Al Shugairi has clarified that he opposes age and nationality discrimination, which qualifies him to lead a diversified audience of followers. In addition, respecting other religions, promoting peace and avoiding aggression are characteristics of a good Muslim. Thus, some of the ideologies that he is trying to spread are that Muslims and non-Muslims around the globe should unite against aggression and promote world peace.

In conclusion, the types of influential leadership that best apply to Al Shugairi are both charismatic and transformational leadership, because his ultimate objective is to inspire as much people as he can to go back to their peaceful religious beliefs and apply them in their

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Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East daily lives. His viewers are always touched by his spiritual, social and religious speeches, and that proves how much of an influential leader he is.

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Questions

1) Now that you have read the case, what do you understand about influential leadership?

Many people misunderstand the art and science of being an influential leader. Most people believe that it is a way by which a leader imposes his/her ideas on his/her followers. It’s not about forcing people to believe or do a certain thing. In fact, Influential leadership mainly focuses on a leader’s ability to inspire people with his/her ideas in order to create a change within a social system. So it is more about how leaders address their ideas to their followers, how they motivate followers to create a change and and how much they consider the emotional dimension of followers when they justify their ideas. 2.) How does the concept of influential leadership apply to Ahmad AlShugairi?

Influential leadership is a non-coercive relationship by which leaders change the mentality of their followers in order to create a positive change. Ahmad AlShugairi is an influential leader because he tries to bring the best out of his followers by discussing and advising them about cases of their concerns. His main purpose is to inspire as many people as he can to go back to their peaceful religious beliefs and implement them in their lives. For example, he emphasizs a few important values in Islam, such as peace and respect, and persuaded his viewers including Muslims and non Muslims to unite against aggression and fight for world peace.

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References

Bashraheel, L. (2009). 'Aim for stars! If you miss, you land on moon'. Arab News. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://archive.arabnews.com/ page=9§ion=0&article=128911&d=3&m=12&y=2009.

Daft, R. (2008). Leadership (5th ed.). Florence, KY: South-Western Cengage.

Shalhoub, L. (2007). Khawater: To Fill the Empty Half of the Glass. Arab News. Retrieved September 27, 2007, from http://archive.arabnews.com/ ?page=21§ion=0&article=101790&d=2&m=10&y=2007.

Khawater : Thoughts to ponder. (2010, August 13). Noteconnection.wordpress.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010, from http://noteconnection.wordpress.com/ 2010/08/13/khawater/.

Hater, J.J., & Bass, M.B. (1988). Superiors' Evaluations and Subordinates' Perceptions of Transformational and Transactional Leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 73(4). Retrieved December 23, 2010, from ScienceDirect database.

Wright, R. (2009, March 19). A quiet revolution grows in the Muslim world. Muxlim.com. Retrieved January 3, 2011from http://muxlim.com/blogs/Burak/a-quiet-revolution- grows-in-the-muslim-world-a-quiet-revolution-/.

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Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East

Leader: Khaldoon Al Mubarak Author: Anwar Al Shawa

Justification: In the modern age, leadership is centrally concerned with behaviors towards people. Recently, effective leadership requires the attitudes which characterize and relate to humanity in overall. The relation between the leader and followers is the core factor of creating a successful businesses worldwide (Popper, 2001). Today’s leaders strive to ease the flow of information within their organizations through different methods such as delegation of authority (Daft, 2008). One leader who craftily used that concept to achieve his goals is the

CEO and managing director of Mubadala, Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Case Study:

Khaldoon Al Mubarak is an Emirati businessman who was born in 1975. He was educated in the United States and holds of a bachelors degree in economic and finance from

Tufts University in Boston (Mubadala, 2010). Although he is a member of one of the royal families in the U.A.E, Al Mubarak started his career as a sales-executive in Abu Dhabi

National Oil Company. He wanted to explore by himself the style of communication and interaction between employees and their superiors. After Al Mubarak held many different hierarchal positions in many companies with different fields, he decided that it was his time to lead and his leadership was formed under the name of Mubadala Development.

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As Al Mubarak was rotated in several jobs, he felt that the main key to building

Mubadala was through delegating authority to his subordinates who were more knowledgeable than Al Mubarak. From his perspective, delegation of authority meant to division the authority and powers downwards to his subordinates (Alan, 2001). As

Mubadala handled major sub-firms in the field of construction and real estate there was the urgency of entrusting few qualified people with authority. Instead of taking care of many divisions alone, in which some may overlap, Al Mubarak sought by appointing subordinates is easier to control. He worked in a system that was based on assigning tasks and duties, granting authority, and creating responsibility and accountability in the heart of his subordinates (Mubarak, 2009).

There are many pieces of evidence that illustrate the concept of delegation of authority within Mubadala, one of which is the selection of the management team. In

Mubabala there are approximately thirteen divisions categorized by sector (Mubadala,

2010). Each head of a specific division is responsible and accountable for his/her decisions to achieve utmost success of the organization. Al Mubarak plays the role of a supporter and observer to ensure only that these heads get whatever they need in order to complete their tasks (Mubarak, 2009). By doing so, Al Mubarak provides opportunities for his subordinates to grow and develop themselves thus making them experienced and familiarized with the main objectives of Mubadala. Examples of those who were motivated after acquiring high positions in Mubadala are Derek Roszycki, the head of the company’s

Structured Finance department, Hani Barhoush, who is in charge of running Mubadala

Capital (the firm’s acquisitions department) and many more. Through specializing in one area and the use of their expertise, these individuals helped Mubadala to achieve its organizational goals through the success of their departments.

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In conclusion, a leader is neither born nor made as some may suggests. A true leader is the one who is capable of crafting his/her skills that are necessary to become a leader.

Developing such skills can be challenging for some when for others it can be obstacle that motivates them. Al Mubarak did not hesitate to entrust his organization to his subordinates as he knows that those same people are the ones who one day will be the leaders of Mubadala themselves.

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Questions

1) What do you think delegation of authority means to Al Mubarak?

It is a way to run a business by establishing trust and responsibility to subordinates through assigning them with task and granting them responsibility and authority.

2) Was it helpful for Khaldoon to start his career from scratch?

Yes, as he learned many different skills of what a leader needs to be through his starting positions. Also, it was essential for him as he learned that by entrusting your subordinates, many goals and objectives can be achieved in a short period of time.

3.) In what ways did delegation manifest itself in Mubadala?

Through granting each head the power to control and run his/her department according to Muabadala main objectives, it saved time for Khaldoon to attend to higher goals. The trust, authority and accountability giving to each head represent by Khaldoon the delegation that is necessary for Mubadala success.

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References

Daft, R.L. (2008). Leadership (5th ed.). Florence, KY: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Alan, W. (2001). Empowerment takes more than a minute. New York,

NY: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Mubadala. (2010, July 12). GMTN base prospectus. Retrieved 1 January 2011 from

http://mubadala.ae/investors/gmtn_programme/#.

Mubarak, K. (2009). 5 years of achievement. Dubai, UAE: Al Nahda Ltd.

Popper, M. (2001). Hypnotic leadership: leaders, followers, and the loss of self. Boston:

MA:Praeger Publishers.

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Leader: Riad Al Sadek Author: Mohammed Haggag

Justification: I honestly felt that the story of Riad Al Sadek must be shared with many people as possible. Sadek’s story is one of how a helpless refugee with a passionate heart was able to become one the Middle East’s wealthiest men. Sadek’s story personally reminds me of the famous poem by Robert Frost,

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Keep in mind the words of Frost’s narrator, as they coincidentally appear to tell the story of another weary traveler and his vision…

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Case Study: Today, the UAE is a bustling multicultural metropolis offering a bevy of opportunities for ambitious individuals from all over the world. Thirty years ago, however, the UAE was a much different place. The country’s leaders, mainly the late Sheikh Zayed, were still laying the building blocks of the UAE as we know it today. Indeed, an entire generation of individuals assumed the risk of immigrating to the UAE to start a new life there. Over time, as the country prospered, many of those individuals were rewarded with unparalleled fortune. One of those risk-takers was a smart Palestinian refugee named Riad Al Sadek.

Born in the coastal Palestinian town of Acre in 1943, Sadek was the son of a successful soap merchant. In May 1948, the family was forcibly relocated to Lebanon due to the Nakba, or the foundation of Israel. Sadek, then only five years of age, found himself and his family living in a crowded refugee camp in western Beirut (Sadek, 2009). The Sadek family had gone from living the life of the bourgeoisie to barely making ends-meet in Beirut. The young Riad, however, refused to succumb to the notion of living the life of a hapless refugee. Riad graduated valedictorian of his high school class in 1963, he was later offered a full scholarship to study engineering in the American University of Beirut. Sadek’s great intellect and boundless enthusiasm propelled him to graduating at the age of 20, receiving highest honors (Sadek, 2009). It looked as though life was looking up to the young Sadek, but, a greater reality was about to dawn on him. Convinced that Lebanon was not the place to build a solid career due to his status as a Palestinian refugee, he decided to emigrate (Sadek, 2009). An interesting side note is due here, mainly, that at time Palestinian refugees were not allowed to assume jobs involving medicine, engineering, financial services, commerce etc.

Sadek made the fateful decision to leave Beirut and all of its misery behind him for good. In 1970, he flew to the port city of Dubai. At that time, Dubai served as a port city where merchants from the Indian subcontinent and Iran would bring their goods. Months after arriving in Dubai, Sadek was not able to find a job that fit his great intellectual skills and grand ambition. All of this changed with one fateful meeting with an individual who would change Sadek’s life forever (Sadek, 2009). A young mustachioed man with a small build, Khalaf Al Habtoor shared Sadek’s grandiose ambition. The two men became close friends and, eventually, business partners. Al Habtoor would provide the social dimension of the partnership, using his close connections among the local rulers and merchant families, while Sadek would contribute to the operational aspect of the partnership (Sadek, 2009). 111

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With the formation of the United Arab Emirates formally announced on December 2nd, 1971 the young partners knew that the UAE was on the verge of offering unparalleled opportunities, especially with regard to building infrastructure (Smalley, 2002). With the discovery of oil, coupled with the vision of Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid of Dubai, the country began spending ambitiously on building the UAE. Al Habtoor and Al Sadek founded Al Habtoor Engineering in 1971 to capitalize on the multi-billion dirham development plan (Smalley, 2002). The company worked on many of Dubai’s glory projects, such as the Jebel Ali Port in 1976, the Dubai International Airport in 1977, and the Rashid Port in 1975 (Smalley, 2002). Over the years, as the UAE’s construction market grew exponentially, the company was flooded with larger volumes of work.

The crowning glory of Al Sadek’s journey of hard work, adversity, and overcoming hardship appears for all to see in downtown Beirut. The country that Sadek left in 1971 on the backdrop of poverty now bears testament to his vision. Sadek, in partnership with Al Habtoor, owns two of Beirut’s most luxurious hotels, the 35-storey Metropolitan Palace Hotel and the 45-storey Habtoor Grand Hotel, the tallest buildings in Lebanon (Karim, 2007). In 2007, Al Habtoor Engineering merged with the GCC-arm of the Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings to create the multi-billion dollar Al Habtoor Leighton Group, of which Sadek holds a 35% stake (Karim, 2007).

The United Arab Emirates has offered life changing opportunities to people from all over the world, in the past and in the present. From Lebanese bankers to Palestinian construction magnates to Indian merchants, ambitious and hardworking individuals all have a place in this land of success.

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Questions

4.) What did you enjoy most about Al Sadek’s rags to riches story?

I thoroughly enjoyed how Sadek assumed such a huge risk in travelling to a little known country and beginning an entirely new life there. Today, you would be hard pressed to find risk-takers such as Sadek. In fact, it is quite sad to know that most of today’s youths do not wish to take the road less travelled.

5.) If the year was 1972, and you were a fresh graduate from a respected university, would you immigrate to a fledgling nation to begin a new life? Why or why not?

Personally, I wouldn’t because today’s world is entirely different from how it what was 35 years ago. The scope of opportunities, along with the relentless rise of globalization, have made it much easier for an individual to find rewarding opportunities. But if the year was 1972, I would borrow the plane fare and fly to Abu Dhabi or Riyadh or Doha to begin a new life full of challenging situations but large rewards.

6.) The famous saying goes “you are the company you keep”; do you think that Al Sadek would have been able to succeed in the UAE without the help of Khalaf Al Habtoor?

I would say probable not. Due to the fact that Al Habtoor provided the social element of the business relationship, it is hard to say that Al Sadek would have been successful had he not befriended Al Habtoor. In business, they say that intellect on its own is not enough to create long-term success.

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References

Karim, A. (2007). Entrepreneurs in the Gulf. Forbes Arabia, 11-14.

Sadek, R. (2009). Hayati fi kalimat (My life in words). Beirut: Saqi Books.

Smalley, B. (2002, May). Habtoor Engineering. Shindagah, 19-21.

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Leader:Naguib Sawiris Author: Aya Ali Anani

Justification: Naguib Sawiris, the Chairman of the Orascom Telecommunication Company.

Sawiris has continuously contributed to the growth and diversification of the company, and transformed it to become one of the largest and most diversified telecommunications companies in Egypt. It is interesting to learn about a leader, that his intelligence was a tool for him to be successful and reach high positions in his career.

Picture taken from orascomtelcom.com

Case Study:

Intelligence can be defined as the capability and capacity to use different competencies in different parts of your body, mind, and emotion in order to solve problems in a cultural situation .Intelligent Leadership is defined as an agreement between leaders and followers on achieving a shared vision (purpose) and objectives effectively in a certain situation. This type of leadership is considered to be the best, because it brings a managed, balanced; dynamic organization that is adaptive to external and environmental changes and is as well innovative (Sydänmaanlakka, 2002, p. 87). Why organizations are focusing more on mental capacities of leaders and their intelligence? It is because dynamic environment and fierce competition companies are facing. To direct the 21th century

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Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East intelligent worker is probably something different than to lead the 20th century industry worker (Sydänmaanlakka, 2002).

This intelligent leader that leads an intelligent leadership style is capable perceiving, processing, interpreting and using information. By implementing cognitive thinking, leaders are getting away from the usual way of thinking or what is known to be correct but they have new, innovative, preferred habits of thought and ways of thinking (Daft, 2008).

According to the cognitive theory, Piaget believed that reality is a dynamic system of continuous change, whereas, Operative intelligence is the active aspect of intelligence. It involves all actions that are taken to anticipate the transformations of the objects or persons of interest (Piaget & Inhelder, 1973). Using the cognitive style and the intelligent leadership style, we can see the interrelation of all these concepts which drives us to the same conclusion that leaders need to be intelligent to be able to manage companies in the dynamic environment and be able to come up with new innovative decisions.

Intelligence has many benefits and advantages, not only to the leader him/her self but also the well- being of organizations. Being able to choose the most appropriate decision is the core function of any business and it determines its position and long-term sustainability. So being able to make intelligent decisions and running an intelligent organization is a very important and critical issue. It’s essential for a leader, in specific, to be intelligent because he is the one that takes responsibility and accountability in all decision making processes (Perez, 2010).

Naguib Sawiris is the main reason for what the Orascom Telecom (OT) is today, a leading company in the field of telecommunications. A huge part of the success of the company is accredited to Sawiris’s intelligence. His intelligence can be exemplified in his decisions of building the successful railway, information technology, and telecommunications sectors of

Orascom. Not only that, he also led the split of Orascom organizational structure into

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(Sawiris, (n.d) .

As it is stated by the author, Cullen (2003), that Naguib Swiris saw potentials and advantage of entering new emergent markets, adding Italy’s Wind telecommunications to its growing business. Sawiris saw the potentials in these markets, and took the risk of entering them although he knew the fierce competition he will face from other European companies.

Sawiris provided that the low expenses of operations in promising market give Orascom, his company, a competitive advantage over European competitors. This story shows and proves that Swiris is an intelligent, cognitive thinker who was able to take a risky decision of entering highly competitive market. Sawiris cognitive thinking allowed him to look beyond the obvious and process information that allowed him to understand that having a competitive advantage over other European companies will pave the way for him to beat the competition and expand his business.

Intelligent leader is the one who can bring out the best in his followers; the leader who can actually increase people's brainpower and not only his own (Heinze, 2010). There is a lack of resources to prove that Naguib Sawiris was an effective leader in directing his employees to the same path he was following, in that he didn’t help them increase their brain capacities, which is a drawback for intelligent effective leaders. In our opinion, we believe that Sawiris couldn’t be that successful without the help and effort of his followers. The lack of resources may indicate that attention and focus was on Sawiris himself not his followers.

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Case Questions:

1. Define Intelligence as a trait for leaders?

2. Why is it important for successful companies to have intelligent leaders?

Making decisions is the core function to any business. Being able to make the correct and identify the best of decisions is the most important thing. Making decisions is not only about gathering information, it is about being able to identify critical data, being able to critically analyze it and make the appropriate decisions. Intelligent leaders are capable to making those decisions and coming up with new innovate ideas, they are capable and they have the courage of making unusual decisions, think out of the box and find new ways of doing things. Given the dynamic environment that we live in and the competition that companies face, it is becoming more important and critical for a company’s success to have an intelligent leader.

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References

Cullen, Jb., Parboteeah, KP. (2008). Multinational management: a strategic approach.

(4th ed). Thomson Higher Education, USA. Retrievedfrom https://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/content/cullen2177x_032442177x_02.01_chapter01.pdf

Daft, R. (2008). Leadership. South Western: Cengage Learning.

Heinze, J.. (2010, October). Growing Brainpower. Scholastic

Administr@tor, 10(2), 59-60. Retrieved November 9, 2010, from ProQuest Education

Journals.

Sawiris, N. (n.d.). Top management . Retrieved from http://www.otelecom.com/about/manageView.aspx?TopManageId=15

Sydänmaanlakka, P. (2002). Intelligent leadership and leadership.

Department of Industrial Management , Retrieved from http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2003/isbn9512263602/isbn9512263602

Perez, R.. (2010, September). What is Wisdom? What is Real Intelligence? American

Jails, 24(4), 98-99. Retrieved October 23, 2010, from Academic Research Library.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1973). Memory and intelligence. London: Routledge and Kegan Pau

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Leader:Fadi Ghandour Author: Tamara Salmo

Justification: It was a long process that took lots of research and studies of many brilliant

Arabic leadership samples, till I found my leader Fadi Ghandour. Basically, I selected him because he was a regular person, born and raised in a very normal home and conditions, but was able to become one of the most influential people by his own ideas and hard work. The most interesting trait that caught my attention throughout his career is his innovation, where he created a new concept of transportation and deliveries through the whole twenty-two countries of the Arab region in the courier industry, that no one has thought of before. The courier industry is also known as the messenger industry, and Ghandour was one of the first people who made communication and deliveries easier and more convenient for people at any part of the world and the Middle East using some modern technologies and strategies that were not known at the time except in some huge companies in the West.

The picture is taken from Fadi Ghandour’s blog, (2010)

Case Study:

Fadi Ghandour, a Jordanian entrepreneur, is not only known as the CEO of Aramex international courier company, but also known for being a partner in Maktoob.com the largest

Arabic online association created. According to several sources, Maktoob is now acquired by

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Yahoo for around 100 million dollars in the 25th of August 2009. Moreover, he is also a member of the board of directors of Abraaj Capital the largest equity firm in the Middle East and South Asia (Tassabehji, 2008). Focusing on the Aramex case, Ghandour is considered to be the founder and CEO of the company, he established the organization from scratch and now after almost 25 years it is continuing to gain success as it is now the first Arab-origin company listed on the NASDAQ stock market, which is an international American stock exchange. Essentially, the success story of this company goes all to the innovation trait of its leader. According to Daft (2008), innovation is adapting to continuous change by establishing creativity, which is the generation of ideas that are both novel and useful for improving efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. To explain innovation more it is believed to be a very unique characteristic in a leader, it basically lifts up the whole business if practiced in the right way and definitely over the years innovative leaders were all, with no exceptions, successful and powerful leaders because they were the ones who lead the first steps in a new path of success. Ghandour’s business began in 1981 where there were leading companies such as FedEx international, and DHL which dominated the middle-eastern part of the world, at that time there was a lack of competition and weak courier companies and services in the

Arab-world. Ghandour then thought of the idea of making such competitive company, but that was just a theory due to many obstacles such as the billions that are required to establish a good name and infrastructure in the market to be able to compete. However, Ghandour came up with a brilliant idea of getting engaged with some giant companies like FedEx and

UPS to cover and ensure their deliveries in the Middle-East (Crainer, 2007, p.15). He started by establishing an office between the States and Amman (Jordan) and sometimes having to make the deliveries himself until after years of hard work and innovative ideas to grow up the company, Ghandour’s strategy worked and according to the journal of Pyramid Vision:

“Today, Aramex is one of the leading logistics and transportation companies in the Middle

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East and South Asia with annual revenues of $370 million, up to 12.000 offices in 220 countries and nearly 66,000 employees” (Crainer, 2007, taken form Aramex Annual Report).

Ghandour is an innovative leader that combines knowledge and mobility characteristics, which are, according to Daft (2008), significant requirements for a successful and intelligent leader. Furthermore, Ghandour proved his innovation by going beyond the career goals and objectives he had planned. Using other possibilities to enhance the overall reputation of the organization, Ghandour implemented certain ideas that included critical thinking. For instance, Aramex now is also known for its charitable and social work across the region creating its own non-profit organization that is mainly encouraging local sports and teams.

When Ghandour was asked about it he said, “Originally people thought we were crazy. Why would you want to support sports? What are you getting in return? And we’ve always said we’re getting the support of the community. These are fathers, mothers, children; we touch them as our clients, so when we’re giving back to the community they feel there is much more to this organization than just simply selling a product” (Ghandour, 2007, form the journal of Pyramid vision). Well, that turned out to be right; being socially conscious, was just another innovative idea from Ghandour to indirectly establish both people’s satisfaction and higher profits. According to the Economist journal, Aramex has always been committed to a sustainable business model. And that strategy has been paying off in the economic crisis

(2008).

In conclusion, there’s no particular strategy a leader can use to achieve success, it all depends on a mixture of values within the person’s character and a set of suitable actions that are followed by these values and beliefs. Ghandour wasn’t stopped by the harsh international competition or the poor conditions in the Arab region at that time. He was drawn by his innovative sense and dream of an Arabic organization that could compete with international names. Ghandour did it and therefore he was eventually listed among the most 50 influential

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Arabs in a survey that was conducted recently in May, 2010 because he did make a change, that’s why he should be influential to many future leaders, particularly Arab leaders, to come.

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Case Questions:

1) Why is Ghandour considered to be one of the most innovative leaders in the Arab world? Explain the different aspects of his innovation.

Ghandour basically created a new concept of transportation and deliveries through the whole

Arab region in the courier industry, that no one has thought of before and he was one of the first people who made the communication and deliveries easier and more convenient for people at any part of the world and the Middle East using some modern technologies and strategies that were not known at the time except in some huge companies in the West.

Moreover, Ghandour proved his innovation by going beyond the career goals and objectives he had planned. For instance, Aramex now is also known for its charitable and social work, being socially conscious, was just another innovative idea from Ghandour to indirectly establish both people’s satisfaction and higher profits.

2) After reading this case, how can you define innovation?

Innovation is adapting to continuous change by establishing creativity, which is the generation of ideas that are both novel and useful for improving efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. It also combines both knowledge and mobility and it is a very unique characteristic in a leader and it can lift up the whole organization in a positive way if it was conducted in its leadership.

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References

1. Adair, J. (2007). Leadership for innovation: How to organize team creativity and harvest ideas.

London: Kogan Page Ltd.

2. Anonymous, .World’s 50 most influential Arabs. (2010, May). Middle East,(411), 47-53.

Retrieved October 23, 2010, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 2039341051).

3. Chain reactions. (6/17/2006). Economist. Vol. 379 (Iss. 8482), Special Section pp.14-18, 1

Color Photograph. Database: Business Source Premier

4. Crainer, S. Pyramid Vision: Business Strategy Review, (Summer 2007), Vol. 18 Issue 2, (pp.15-

18). 2 Black and White Photographs; DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8616.2007.00462.x.

Database: Business Source Premier

5. Daft, R. (2008). Leadership (5th ed.). South-Western, Cengage Learning.

6. Fadi Ghandour’s blog. (2010). Retrieved October 23, 2010, from

7. Tassabehji, R. (2008, January 1). CEO view: Fadi Ghandour of

Aramex. INSEAD Articles. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document

ID: 2036339051). http://knowledge.insead.edu/CEOviewAramex080801.cfm

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Leader:Juma Al Majid Author: Sumaya Sharaf

Justification: Juma Al-Majid is a businessman and Chairman of Central Bank in the United

Arab Emirates (UAE). He is from UAE one of Arab countries that located in Persian Gulf.

What makes him as an important humanitarian leader in the UAE is his contribution to poor people in the UAE and around the world by building a charity association that sends money to needy people. Also, he had helped to enhance the education by building different schools and preserving the heritage in the UAE as he built Juma Al-Majid Heritage and Culture

Center in Dubai.

Case study:

As Zoominfo.com mentioned in the beginning of his business work, Al-Majid worked with many businessmen from UAE as Al Owais, Al Ghurair, Al Futtaim and Al Mulla. They worked as part of gold trade between UK, Switzerland and India (2010). Nowadays, Al-

Majid has businesses in different industries as Automobiles, hotels, properties and more which located all over the country. For example, he licensed Pepsi Company in Dubai and franchised different companies such as Hyundai, General Electric and Hitachi.

Humanitarians are leaders because they are helping others in crises and support them to have better conditions to work and live in. Humanitarians are people who donate for

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Humanitarian diplomacy, there are ideal types of humanitarian. The three categories of humanitarians which Smith defined are “oxymoron”, “common sense” and “necessary evil”.

In Smith opinion “oxymoron” is the type of humanitarian who provides people with their basic needs like food and shelter which is related to Al-Majid. Other types are “common sense” and “necessary evil” which Smith considered them as related to politician in order to make peace in the world. (2007, p.36-41).

Humanitarians as servant leaders are looking for their followers’ benefits and let them have better life chances. Furthermore, they help their followers to improve their capabilities to be in a better position of life. According to Daft, the author Greenleaf’s had developed servant leadership model which has four aspects. These aspects are focusing in followers’ developments and care about their health, spirits and minds. Also, Greenleaf believed that leaders have to understand problems that followers had to overcome. In addition, there was an aspect of being honest with followers and tell them both good and bad news, so they can understand the situation. Moreover, servant leaders help their followers to have better life opportunities (Daft, p.158, 2008). Servant leadership model explains how humanitarians are.

Juma Al-Majid is one of Arab humanitarian leaders who had contributed to his country United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries all over the world by distributing charities. According to Juma Al-Majid Center for Culture & Heritage website that in fifties

Al-Majid and some of his colleagues sat up two charity secondary schools in Dubai, one of them is for boys called Jamal Abdul Nasser and the other one is for girls called Amna. In eighties it was mentioned that Al-Majid had established “National Charity Schools” in order to help poor expatriates’ children to get educated for free because it was hard for them at that

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Case Studies - Leaders in the Middle-East period to join public schools. The enrollment nowadays exceeded 9000 in these schools, as it was reported by Juma Al-Majid Center for Culture & Heritage website. In addition, it is also stated in the website that Al-Majid built an Islamic and Arabic Studies College which is accredited in UAE and some Arab countries. Moreover, it was illustrated in Juma Al-Majid

Center for Culture & Heritage website that Al-Majid had opened schools for people in some

Islamic countries (n.d.). These education organizations demonstrate how Al-Majid cares about people’s development by getting essential knowledge and serving countries to reduce the number of illiterates. Moreover, he can be considered humanitarian leader due to his understanding of expatriates’ problem when they could not enroll their children to public schools. Therefore, he established for them charity schools for free. Moreover, it was mentioned by Hanley that Al-Majid and three Americans got awarded by Arab-American

Institute (AAI) in the USA in 2010. Hanley stated that this reward is given for Al-Majid because his efforts to spread education in the UAE by building schools, reference library and research organization (2010). AAI award to Al-Majid indicates that he is a famous humanitarian that is recognized globally. Moreover, humanitarians care about people’s health by providing food and medicines. As a humanitarian, in Ramadan 1431 Hijri year, Al-Majid had distributed food items for thirteen thousand poor families through Dar Al-Ber

Association in Dubai (Gulf News, 2010). Several contributions that Al-Majid had done for people can make us understand how humanitarian are more interested in serving others.

What makes humanitarians as leaders for me is their willingness to change people or followers situations and give them better chances to success. These leaders act ethically and care more about their followers than themselves. Humanitarians think of other people and try to motivate them to survive and have hopes in life. Therefore, I thought it will be interesting to explore more about humanitarians as leaders.

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Case Questions:

1) What does it mean to be a voluntarily humanitarian leader and how it is related

to Juma Al-Majid?

Voluntarily humanitarian leaders are people who provide basic needs for people, such as shelter and food. Juma Al-Majid had distributed food to poor people from his charity association, Dar Al Ber.

2) According to “servant model”, why is Juma Al-Majid considered as a

humanitarian leader in the world?

Servant leader as Greenleaf described is the leader who tries to improve their followers

mind, spiritual and health. These aspects had been improved in Juma Al-Majid’s

followers as he built schools and universities to educate UAE’s citizens. Also, developing

people spiritually by building mosques which a place that connects Muslims to their God

and he helped in maintaining people’s health by providing food.

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References:

Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2010, from:

http://www.almajidcenter.org/english/Pages/aboutus.aspx

Charity distributes food to 13,000 families. (2010, April 26). Gulf News. Retrieved October

14, 2010, from: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/charity-distributes-food

to-13-000-families-1.672744

Daft, L. R. (2008). The Leadership Experience (5th ed.).United States of America: South

Western Cengage Learning.

Hanley, D.. (2010). U.N. Ambassador Rice Addresses AAI's 25th Anniversary Party. The

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 29(5), 50. Retrieved October 19, 2010,

from Academic Research Library.

Mahon, Megan, (photographer), [Image], UAE, Sharjah, GulfNews. Retrieved January 2,

2011 from: http://gulfnews.com/business/features/juma-al-majid-a-life-in-service

1.717158

Smith, H. (2007). Humanitarian diplomacy: Theory and practice. Minear, L & Smith, H.

Humanitarian diplomacy: Practitioners and their craft (pp.36-41). New York: United

Nations University Press.

Zoominfo. (2010). Juma Al-Majid. Retrieved December 24, 2010 from:

http://partners.zoominfo.com/Search/ReferencesView.aspx?PersonID=590678513

3. Chain reactions. (6/17/2006). Economist. Vol. 379 (Iss. 8482), Special Section pp.14-18, 1

Color Photograph. Database: Business Source Premier

4. Crainer, S. Pyramid Vision: Business Strategy Review, (Summer 2007), Vol. 18 Issue 2, (pp.15-

18). 2 Black and White Photographs; DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8616.2007.00462.x.

Database: Business Source Premier

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