Putting on the Pressure

MELA 5, DAY THREE: 8 MARCH 2014

The morning's speaker, Michael Kouly (President, Cambridge Institute for Global Leadership) is dazzled by the blaze of talent emanating from the MELA 5 participants.

Arwa El Baitam is a friendly, outgoing sort of person. She engages our speaker in some jolly (although, it must be admitted, rather one-sided) banter.

Monah reports that her blood pressure is currently hovering around 180/100 and rising. That got Mansoor's attention.

Samira Al Hawamleh contributes forcefully to the discussion.

When a system is stuck, it is the task of the leader to get it unstuck. It's dirty work, but somebody has to make the attempt. Samer rolls up his sleeves.

Mohamed Saeed pitches in. This is an uphill struggle. At least Michael has been inveigled into removing his dark glasses. That may be considered to be progress of sorts.

The morning session, because it was conducted under conditions of pressure and stress, has yielded a treasure-trove of data about our attitudes towards authority and default positions as leaders.

Qatari pow-wow: Ali Al Ali, Ghareb and Mansoor.

The ballroom set-up is rearranged after lunch for Star Power. The game simulates the behavior of individuals and groups within a system that distributes power unequally.

Jim Crupi repeats the rules of the game. Repeats the rules of the game. Repeats the rules of the game.

We will trade chips to establish our positions within a hierarchical arrangement of three groups: squares, circles and triangles. Sounds fun, right, Samira? Game on!

Mohannad approaches to initiate a trade. Why the palpable hesitation, Abdelrahman? You know you can trust Mohannad!

Arwa and Mohammed re-check the value of the chips on the big scoreboard.

What has Majid Al Rawahi got in his hand? Salah would give much to know. (Actually, that kind of is Majid's idea....)

You can hear the wheels turning as Najla Al Riyami calculates her options. Siham can wait. Siham has all the time in the world.

"Give me, give me, give me! It is blue and shiny! Give me!"

Round Two of trading – and it's getting pretty hot and heavy out there on the trading floor.

The analytical brains of Mohamed and Suha crunch the numbers.

Let's simply put it this way: if this were not a simulation but the real world, and Noor and Heba were traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street would be a much happier and less pressured place.

The squares are the top dogs. They make the rules. Nidal announces a new change to the playbook that will have the effect of, ummm, favoring the squares forthwith and henceforth in perpetuity.

The triangles are at the bottom of the heap. Omar Nelson Mandela Kafood leads the resistance.

But in the final analysis, MELA is a peaceful world where riot police and water cannons have no place. A harmonious world of friends and peers, who prefer to settle their differences over a shared dinner and aromatic shisha under the Doha skies.

Cultural Illuminations

MELA 5, DAY TWO: 7 MARCH 2014

Yesterday the spotlight was on interpersonal behavior. This morning's sessions aim to illuminate intercultural behavior, and why leaders must broaden their perspectives in an increasingly globalized work world. 

Inter-Cultural Intelligence is the watchword of Marco Blankenburgh (International Director, KnowledgeWorkx) – the ability to interpret and react appropriately to the culturally defined behavior of others. Like the seen and hidden portions of an iceberg, the drivers behind people's actions can range from attitudes that may be easily observable, to values and beliefs that may be hiding deep beneath the surface.

What is interesting about Rafal and Farid out for a stroll? The fact that each is observing and mimicking the other's characteristic way of walking. 

Oooh look, it's Hamid! (Correction: It's Salim Al Mawali imitating Hamid.)

As surely as leaders need to be self-conscious in their interpersonal relations, it is incumbent on us to appreciate our own cultural underpinnings. Is ours an "honor society" or a "shame society"? Are we motivated by power or fear? Facilitator Riyadh Moosa moderates the conversation.

Mansoor Al-Shamri demonstrates his Italian side by speaking with his hands. Facilitators Susan Sutterfield, Sami Ammous and Ernst Bruderer listen in.

Majd, apparently, also has Italian genes. Facilitator Dan Ciprari can relate to that.

That's not Italian. That's just Lebanese.

John King returns ("Return of the King") to talk about listening. And to listen about talking. Effective communication begins with listening and ends with speaking, not vice versa. People listen when they hear value that they can connect with. 

Does anyone hear any value in what John is saying? Thank you, Omar and Elham!

People also jot things down, when they hear value in what is said. Mounib and Noor demonstrate.

Practical application of Inter-Cultural Intelligence from this morning's lesson: Salah Albilali, Ghareb and Mohammed are exhibiting culturally defined behavior common to the Gulf countries. Observe the relaxed body language and prominently revealed dentition. Conclusion: John has said something funny.

Samer with Jassim Sharshani. No scientific commentary required. See above for answer.

Asim Alsaawi exhibits precisely the intense listening skills that make for a great leader. Meanwhile Samira Fadhlani wins herself a place on today's list of MELA's expert gesticulators.

All In

MELA 5, DAY ONE: 6 MARCH 2014

MELA 5 is honored to be partnering with Qatar Shell and Qatar Leadership Center. Rob Sherwin (General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Qatar Shell) congratulates the participants on being selected for the program, and underscores his company's commitment to developing up-and-coming leaders in the region.

All dressed up for the formal opening. But in the rough-and-tumble world, the exercise of leadership is never as clear-cut as black and white.

John King (John King & Partners) launches an inquiry into leadership. Leadership is precarious because leaders need the permission of those they lead, permission that may be withdrawn at any moment. John also makes a  promise: that, at the end of MELA's ten days, we will have shared the best and highest of one another – our core values, and sense of destiny of ourselves as leaders.

Rafal Ridha leads an inquiry into John King's inquiry. Omar Kafood gives her permission.

No half measures here. Samer Naccouzi and Farhat Al Harthy are what is called, in John's parlance, "all in."

And now, to investigate the idea of behavioral adjustments and group harmony, we are going to sing.

Why are the facilitators smiling? Because they don't have to sing.

Mashael Al-Wehaibi and Rawan Alsahsah enjoy the discussion.

Jim Crupi (President and Founder, Strategic Leadership Solutions) steps up to challenge fundamental assumptions about power, titles, and notions of authority that can be traced as far back as childhood. Your greatest strength, he contends, is also your greatest weakness.

The good news, on the other hand, is that what you believe is weakness can turn out to be a fountain of strength. Amer Fatayer and Raja Abou Reslan contemplate this complex dialectic.

What you see, as leaders, depends on how well you have learned to look. Khalid Al-Mana is particularly perspicacious on this point.

There can always be multiple perspectives on any single event.

Suha Al Arda sees far.

Effective leadership requires a high level of self-understanding. Bill Starnes (former Partner, Trammell Crow International) approaches the subject within the framework of Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicators.

N's are intuitive. They don't have to study an apple to know it's an apple.

S's are sensing. Show me the apple!

P's rely on perception. When they plan a holiday weekend, they like to keep their options open.

J's incline towards judgment and planning. Hamid Al Brashdi considers how he will be spending his holiday the following Saturday at 4:46 pm. (And what the weather will be.)

We reconvene for dinner and paired introductions, whereby participants in preassigned pairs become more deeply acquainted and present one another to the group.

Such bright characters as Samira Fadhlani and Farid Haroun could not fail to strike sparks from one another.

Ghareb Al Mahmoud and Mounib Jaroudi size one another up.

Heba Alayyan has got Abdelrahman Elbadawy's number. And vice versa.

Nahla Abdelzaher discovers a fellow writer and all-round creative spirit in her partner Mohammed Al Shuaili.

If Farhat decides to install a 50-seat home cinema, Majd Al Khatib is the man for her – and he'll even teach her how to use the remote control. 

Noor Asem finds a kindred spirit (and dress sense) in facilitator Aisuluu Bedelbaeva.

Nidal Ghaith and Monah Al Junaibi claim to be introverts; yet they fire up the whole room with their charisma.

Siham Al Harthy and Mohannad Al Khairy are shining examples of I's and P's – standing for Intelligence and Poise.

Some of us are E's and some of us are I's... 

But whether we are N's or S's, or P's or J's, the experiences that we are sharing and the connections that are forming are revising our inner alphabets into a fresh arrangement... a dynamic new combination of M's and E's and L's and A's...

Diving for Pearls

MELA 5: PRE-START

Welcome to MELA 5, the fifth regional leadership workshop of the Middle East Leadership Academy. Where better to celebrate this landmark jubilee than in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha?

Doha, Qatar. Once a remote desert outpost – now a miracle of contemporary architecture. Once a small community of pearl-divers –  now a global hydrocarbon leader. 

MELA 5 will draw its inspiration from the best of Qatar's new and old ways. In our leadership explorations, we will use industrial-strength techniques to burrow far below the surface and bring forth new sources of energy and potential. And at the same time, with old-fashioned skill and determination, we will dive for the pearls that are hidden, sometimes trapped, within every one of the extraordinary individuals attending MELA 5.

An introductory MELA pre-event was held in the Ritz-Carlton to launch the program and introduce it in Doha. H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani (Managing Director, Qatar Leadership Center) and Wael Sawan (Managing Director and Chairman, Qatar Shell), representing MELA 5's sponsoring partners, presided over a seminar, "Leaders Developing Leaders."

Read all about it! (Gulf Times, 6 March 2014).

Before the program proper commences, the MELA facilitators undergo two days of advanced pearl-harvesting training under the tutelage of dive-master Bill Starnes.

The MELA team proffers its most enthusiastic thanks to Jaafar Al-Sarraf (MELA 4) for hosting a dinner at his family's atmospheric Al-Liwan Suites Hotel, followed by a fascinating and erudite briefing on the history, culture and current affairs of Qatar.

The cake is revealed to be a (pre-) birthday cake for MELA Program Director Samer Ebbini. He's skippering the pearl boat.

Counting the hours till tomorrow.