Leadership in Action - Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Days

Sixth, seventh and eighth days of the summit were to see leadership in action. We had a couple of visits to various places in Qatar. The 80 delegates with their group leaders and the Mosaic team were divided into four groups.

Our group had the honor to visit Williams Technology Center in Qatar. The General Manager Mr. Damien Scott took us through the history of Formula 1 and the next evolution of formula 1 in Qatar. He spoke about the single focus and conviction of thinking to win and succeed that was common with F1 leaders. Then he spoke about the difficult times they went through during 2011 and described it as one of their worst years. He mentioned that part of this year challenge is that some people took more risk than they were supposed to take. It was difficult to allocate the required budget and find sponsors which affected the speed of the cars used in their races.

It is important for Williams as well as their competitors to have their unique style in motor technology. As part of their development strategy, they aim to bridge the gap between sport motor and industry, thus they have established the technology center in Qatar. They are also concerned about having a clear commercial goal, industrial applications and environmental friendly solutions. In addition, Williams F1 is contributing socially by inspiring and attracting the young generation to get into engineering.

The second visit was to Credit Suisse. First we had an introduction from the CEO, Aladdin Hangari. Then we watched a video followed by an interesting quiz. He spoke about how they could remain unaffected with the global financial crisis. His advice to banks that they have to stop the business that requires huge capitals in order to avoid risk and property trading, and focus on the clients satisfaction.

To him, the negative publicity about banks is not true as banks can contribute to helping people live better life by providing employment and training opportunities, and financing projects. He thinks that the best way to lead is by example. The leadership style he follows focuses on team approach, following procedures on reporting and weekly meetings, taking responsibility and accountability.

I loved the conversation we had with Mr. Fernando Cavargne-Sani, the Director of private banking. He was so honest and open. A person with high ethics and admires his own values and principles. I couldn’t believe that a person might be patient enough, creative enough and productive enough to stay in the same industry for about 43 years. That is a life time by itself.

Mr. Fernando is also very much concerned about his clients. He always listens and listens to them, finds the best solution for them and finds out what they really need. He believes that the change he wants to make is not an individual effort and has to be done by collaborating with other people. A great message he has passed to all people: Stop money out of money, fight money laundry, put some rules and regulations, take care of the money and give it to the people who really need it.

The third visit was to Doha Youth Center. We had two presentations delivered by Global Change Makers supported by British Council about the Time Bank Project and Basic Life Support. Majd Al Shibli gave a very interesting presentation about the Time Bank project and his personal experience in volunteering and spreading the importance of time and its ethics amongst the youth. Time Bank is a virtual bank that deals with hours and promotes for appreciating the value of time and using it the right way. It teaches the youth self investment, culture of volunteering, and corporate and social responsibility. In addition, it aims to build a network of dynamic youth who are eager to help the society and a network of funders to help the youth and enhance awareness.

The Time Bank team is a sold team that has media, marketing team and implementation team. It ensures the project sustainability by having a map that organizes tasks. Even if someone steps down and leaves the project in the middle, the map keeps it running. The team also focuses on using technology such as blackberry service and face book as it is the fastest way of approaching and reaching the youth than using papers. That is also part of their plan to remain green and environment friendly.

Finally we had a very active presentation about basic life support and first aid. Hatim Elaji spoke about the importance of CPR. He was so energetic and has a great sense of humor and enthusiasm towards his responsibility on convincing us. This was part of his volunteering work and change making task on raising the community awareness of CPR. He insisted that our role on saving someone’s life is more important than the hospital.