80 years ago, if you had said that you were going to do business in the Middle East, you would have been advised to stay alert for the cultural differences. Middle Easterns have different views for time, they are conservative when it comes to females, and personal bonds are a prerequisite for professional relations. If […]
Recently, a client wanted to open a business in the UAE. He had a great idea that he wanted to move from concept stage to reality. It was a copy of Airbnb.com for the Middle East (basically an ecommerce site for residence sharing). He began by writing a strong business plan with the help of […]
Typically, communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning “to share”) is a purposeful activity of exchanging information and meaning, using various technical or natural means, whichever is available. The first major model for communication was introduced by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver for Bell Laboratories in 1949. The original model was designed to mirror the functioning of […]
At the end of a training session the ultimate question is ‘What is the outcome?’ In fact, prior to the post training assessment and evaluations tests many other factors before and within the training sessions can help define the targeted outcome and can clearly guide the trainer to ensure the best impactful outcome possible. It […]
Having worked in the Middle East for a short while now, I am very aware that in a number of the GCC countries there are nationality “quotas” to be met by organizations in order for them to continue to operate in said countries. Terms (or initiatives) such as Saudisation, Emiratisation or Omanisation are commonplace when […]
What are the problems that keep CEOs awake at night? According to the World Economic Forum: poverty, climate change, water scarcity, food scarcity, energy volatility, and cyber attacks top the list. These issues are not company centric, but externally focused and global in scale. They are complex, global problems, with no right answer, requiring collaboration, […]
Organizations are constantly on the look out for ways to grow and stay ahead of the competition. The ones that succeed will have fostered a culture of innovation where creativity and disruptive thinking can thrive. A recent poll by Bayt.com of over 6,000 professionals in the MENA region revealed that 89% believe creative thinking is […]
A lot of businesses are talking about how they will need an abundance of resilience to get through this time. The reality is, they won’t need resilience, they will need mental toughness. Please, allow me to explain the difference. Resilience is about experiencing stress and being able to withstand it or bounce back from it. […]
I couldn’t believe my eyes when my 2-year old daughter grabbed the iPad from my hands, flicked through it until she found her favorite game, started playing and when she was done, she switched off the iPad and handed it back to me! The question is, “What is the relation between this and leadership?” I […]
The generational diversity that currently exists across today’s active work groups is indeed exceptional. With an increase in life expectancy coupled with economic necessity, our oldest working generations, the ‘Silent Generation’ (1923 to 1944) and the ‘Baby Boomer’ Generation (1945 to 1964) are uniquely positioned to be sharing co-worker relationships with no less than four […]
