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 Leadership is precarious because leaders need the permission of those they lead, permission that may be withdrawn at any moment.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...