LET’s continue to enjoy the ‘inside stuff’ of the leadership manual the iconic UAE leader at this time published in 2012, which I think dealers who pose as leaders need at this time. We need this inspiration from one of the world’s centres excellence at this time, UAE. We desperately need these lessons now in Nigeria where we need dynamic capabilities for development – to lead the black people of the world. Let’s continue with the relevant study on how to serve the God of Big Things in today’s world.
The Lion and the Gazelle:
UAE leader, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum shares this classic illustration in the opening chapter of the his book on leadership to restate a fact that as a leader or manager at this time, you need to destroy this blight called procrastination because the business of management and leadership for change now should be done at the speed of thought, (not light anymore):
‘With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive’.
He shares this insight from the benefit of history as a pathfinder as he notes that since its inception in 1971, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has flourished at an unprecedented rate – one that has astounded the world and still seems to be accelerating. His words:
This young and dynamic country has achieved a great deal since 1971. It competes at all levels in a diverse range of sectors and leads the world in a number of trail-blazing projects. Nevertheless, there is still much to do. We are not content to rest on our laurels, basking in the glory of what we have achieved; we are constantly striving to move forward, to grasp the moment with both hands and capitalize on the opportunities presented to us in a rapidly globalizing world.
To date, our achievements have helped us catch up with the rest of the world in its drive to globalize. This process began slowly during the last two decades of the twentieth century, before accelerating exponentially in the new millennium, and can now be seen as a prelude to what is set to become the most important economic race that the world has ever witnessed. The prize is one of epic proportions and failure is not an option. To ensure success, we have to join the race and win. After all, no one ever remembers who came second – not even the second man to climb Everest or walk on the moon!’
The UAE leader says a nation’s development, however, does not happen overnight or by accident. Nor does the development of a nation ever stop once the process has begun. In the manual on strategy for leading change, he notes that ‘Nation Building’ is the result of intense efforts at building a community and homeland; a phenomenal task not undertaken lightly, but shouldered by a nation’s government, its public and private sectors, and its people. He wants those who want to talk about rapid transformation of their nations to realise that they must all be willing to respond to the rapidly changing conditions that ricochet around the world at breakneck speed. Hear him again:
‘In order to achieve this, a modern infrastructure is not enough; we must have the vision and flexibility to embrace change, to continuously adapt, and to improve our personal performance and our commitment to service. This will enable us to expand our markets and promote our competitiveness on the international stage. Doing so requires time, dedication and hard work.
It goes without saying that the government is deeply committed to the UAE. We believe it is our duty to serve our community and embrace its aspirations, both now and in the future, by assuring our people economic growth, education, health, security, stability, comfort, leisure opportunities and freedom of movement. This will allow for the most conducive atmosphere to achieve the targets that will guarantee our welfare and a bright future. All those who work for the government must appreciate the task ahead of them and rise up to the challenge.
In order to lay solid foundations for the country’s future, the UAE leader reveals in the leadership manual that successors can build on the solid foundations of the founding fathers and that is what they have done in UAE the world’s foreign direct investors are rushing to now. His reflection:
‘… we must build upon the achievements forged by our founding fathers – achievements that must not stop with our generation, but must continue and be perpetuated by future generations. History shows no mercy for weaklings. Sheikh Zayed and my father, Sheikh Rashid, our beloved late leaders, never waited for history to record their feats; they were proactive in making history themselves and in doing so, set the benchmark for us to follow.
He speaks on the dynamics of ‘progress and regression’ in nation building. He wants fumbling leaders who specialise in lamenting the failure of predecessors to note that in today’s fast-paced world, if you are not leading, you will be left behind. If you fall behind, it is likely that someone less capable, less creative and less prepared than you will take your place. Although this can happen very quickly, Al Maktoum teaches us that the race is also one of endurance. His words again:
‘Should you stumble once or twice, do not worry, you can learn valuable lessons from falling occasionally and will be unlikely to repeat the same mistakes. Failure is not falling to the ground; it is remaining there once you have fallen and the greatest failure is when you decide not to stand up again. The UAE’s leadership fully understands that if our country lags behind others economically, it will be left behind. It also knows large-scale development will not only improve the country’s physical infrastructure, but eliminate unemployment, ignorance, poverty and illness’.
Nigerian leaders at this time need to imbibe this next construct, straight from the heart of the UAE’s very successful leader as Nigeria grapples with insecurity, economic challenges and crisis of stability in its complex federation. Hear the man who says he and his people decided from scratch to serve the God of Big Things of this world:
‘When nations fail to develop, they become vulnerable to a collapse in security and stability, and lose the foundations on which their prosperity was built. They also risk being subjugated to tyranny and prejudice, and after a few years of recession, lose most of the benefits, status and respect they had acquired over several decades of development. Before I assumed my position as the country’s Vice-President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, I also served as the UAE Minister of Defence and am well acquainted with the ravages of war. War does not provide solutions or put an end to problems, but rather the opposite. Our world is far from ideal and wherever we look, we will find countless examples of suffering, even in our own region…The secrets behind a nation’s greatness do not lie in its military clout.
Contemporary history is littered with examples of nations made powerful by their military forces but which, in reality, are powerless because of their fledgling economies. Conversely, there are nations with small military forces that are economic superpowers. Nations can only overtake other nations through economic and not military power, as testified by history.
We Arabs have a rich military past. Our faith in God and our determination to overcome other nations of the time led us to expand our influence. We managed to accomplish some of the greatest military victories the world has ever known and in the process, became the greatest power on earth.
The UAE strongman would like leaders who waste their time on propaganda of reputation management to realise too that the credibility the UAE now enjoys internationally has resulted in a number of other nations studying their solutions and adopting them. He avers that although they are a small nation, they have enjoyed international exposure, and are managing and developing major projects in large and important countries such as India, South Korea and Hong Kong in addition to investing in several Arab countries. Hear him:
The large number of creative, highly qualified and motivated people who head and staff our team is ample proof that our empowerment policy is working. We will always strive to make this policy our top priority, based on our belief that our young UAE citizens are our most precious asset and the key to our future success. When I hear company managers complaining about a lack of qualified staff, I have to wonder how they have come to this conclusion when hundreds of well-trained, qualified UAE nationals, many of whom I have met both on official and non-official occasions, are available. I believe the task of managers needs to include the selection of an appropriate number of suitably qualified UAE national staff, with an eye to succession. This does not apply only to companies, but in other areas as well, because it is a leader’s duty to develop the leadership skills of those he believes are suitable. And when the time comes, these people can transfer their knowledge to the next generation.
While this happens most of the time, there are unfortunate exceptions. Some managers are not interested in – or will not tolerate – the existence of another person as qualified and skilled as they are, out of fear of competition or of losing their jobs. Although this is understandable to a degree, I disagree with such managers, because a true leader should realize he cannot be everywhere all the time and implement all his tasks at once. He must learn to delegate. When a leader fails to delegate, he will find himself embroiled in so much detail that it will eventually overwhelm him and distract him from his primary task (developing the business of the company and finding innovative solutions to its problems) to such an extent that he will eventually lose sight of the bigger picture.
But what exactly is the bigger picture?
The bigger picture is one of survival – life’s driving force and the reason why all creatures spend each day trying to catch their prey or escape their hunters. Survival cannot be achieved by wishful thinking. Continued growth requires huge effort, complete attention and being consistently alert to potential dangers.
All told, he says the transformation occurred when Arab nations embraced the one word that summarizes the essence of their entire civilization: ‘pioneer’. This concept filtered into every aspect of life – in peace, war, administration, science, architecture, trade, medicine, history, industry and diplomacy – becoming a philosophy that led the way. The revolutionary spirit continued unabated, not for two decades or five centuries, but for more than 1,000 years, and created a historic view of the Islamic Arab civilization as pioneers of excellence. Will our leaders learn from the UAE revolution where they too serve the ‘God of Big Things?
Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sundays. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Mondays.