True Leadership

I start this post with a quote by the late president Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

“Progress and renaissance are not to be measured by reinforced concrete structures, but rather by building human being and providing citizens with everything that make them live in happiness and decent life.”

Leadership these days is a hot topic and it is becoming the center of attention in politics, business, and education. Leadership studies started about sixty years in modern educational institutions and have ever since been developed, specially in the west. Today, we take a lot of these theories, concepts, and experiences from the west and apply them to our businesses and daily lives. Of course, leadership studies are much older than 60 years; a lot of scholars examined leadership styles for so long, and can be traced to the days of the Greek philosopher Plato. A lot of the leadership concepts that we are being trained on these days are much older than sixty years and are beyond successful business institutions, yet we tend to place our focus the most on such organizations. It is interesting however that many of these renowned educational institutions developed these theories. Leadership theories have evolved from what they call Great Man theories to what is today the ultimatum in leadership, Transformational Leadership theory. While many scholars tend to search for empirical data to support their theories, their concepts could have been proven right if they have examined leadership “outside the boxes” of educational institutions and turned their eyes to the real world. Analyzing experiences that are as new as today or as old as 1000 years is more important than theories. The simple proof is that these experiences have delivered for sure.

Outside the boundaries of these leadership theories is a great example that is transformational if not beyond it. People in the UAE live a very unique experience when it comes to leadership. It is one of the few places where the relationship between the people and rulers is very strong. Stemmed from its traditional Islamic and bediuan roots, we see a very successful model. Recently, under the directions of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited Ras Alkhaima and set up a tent where he met people to listen to their concerns, needs, and aspirations. How often do we see this in the world? In fact where do we see this approach in other parts of the world. This is not a new experience and people in the UAE lived this experience for so long. It is a continuation of the philosophy of the Late Sheikh Zayed who also said,”The Ruler should not have any barrier which separates him from his people.”

It is indeed a great experience! The UAE is blessed with great leaders who have given everything to see their country succeed. The formula is so simple. It is because they love their country and not themselves. It is because they care for their people and they want the best for them. It is because they are humble and live with the people and not away from them.

When Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid AL Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister was asked in a 60 minute interview why does he want to everything to be the biggest, the tallest, and his response was “why not,” and  when he was asked why he is in such a hurry, most people would try to do all of this in a lifetime, and His Highness response was “ I want my people to live a better life  now, to go to the highest school now, to go to good healthcare now, not after twenty years.” This is a the vision that the founding fathers of the UAE had for their people. I end this post by one last quote from the Late President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, “We were like those who had climbed a mountain and reached the top. When we looked down we still wanted to go higher to realise our goals. Despite all the achievements [within the UAE Federation], we still have an ambition for more. That is my way of looking at things.”

And we will continue with bigger ambitions and we will work harder to achieve more and we will work together to become the best.