To become an effective leader, it is important to remember that leaders are also great team players. Getty
To become an effective leader, it is important to remember that leaders are also great team players. Getty
To become an effective leader, it is important to remember that leaders are also great team players. Getty
To become an effective leader, it is important to remember that leaders are also great team players. Getty

How changing your attitude about work can make you a better leader


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  • Arabic

Two of my colleagues once worked as deputy managers in a company's marketing department.

Their job entailed event management. One morning, the department received a delivery of brochures that investment managers had to take to a business event.

The boxes were placed on my colleagues’ desks. The brochures had to be placed in designated folders, along with other material, and then passed on to the managers before 12 o'clock that day.

Generally, the department’s secretary was in charge of undertaking that task, but she was away on leave.

So, one of the deputy managers got up and started organising the brochures and placing them in the folders.

The other deputy manager continued to sit at her desk and read her emails.

When the head of the department arrived and saw only one of them handling the task, he asked the other why she wasn’t helping.

Her reply? She said that she was a deputy manager and the task was not in her job description. She thought it was beneath her and she did not want to help or take part.

This wasn't the first time that the same deputy manager had not taken the initiative and helped her team out.

But it didn't go unnoticed. Months later, when the department’s head resigned, he nominated the helpful deputy manager to take his place, telling her that she had what it takes to become a leader because she always put her team first.

Many of us strive to become leaders and enjoy the perks of becoming chief executives or senior managers.

However, to reach that level and become effective leaders, we need to change our attitude about work — and remember that leaders are great team players. They see themselves as part of a team and not above it.

When I first ventured into entrepreneurship, I undertook all sorts of tasks. I went to the post office, personally mailed my customers’ orders, did my own inventory and handled customer service.

It wasn’t what I imagined I would be doing when I first started, but it helped me to lead my businesses the way I do today.

I was able to have a well-rounded understanding of how a business is run. Today, I relate to my team members and understand the challenges that they are going through.

A while ago, I came across a fascinating university student and entrepreneur who manages a design and printing company in Abu Dhabi.

The way he led his venture provides lessons to many business owners.

I ordered some custom stationery from him while I was away on a business trip and asked if he could mail it to where I was.

I also suggested that he mail it through a certain logistics company that I often dealt with.

He went that extra mile and personally inquired about quotations from other service providers. He told me that he had found a company that would charge me less than half the price. That initiative made all the difference for me and I am now a loyal customer.

As many of us strive to become leaders, we need to look at examples of great leaders.

You will notice that many of them undertook different tasks throughout their careers and put their teams' interests first.

They went the extra mile. Great leaders are eager to learn, are the first to offer a helping hand and don’t think they are better than anyone else.

The faster we change our attitude about work, the faster we can become effective leaders.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi.

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

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Stree

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5

Fight card

1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)

2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)

3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)

4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)

5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)

6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)

7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)

8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)

9.  Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)

10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

The Specs

Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)

Torque: 730Nm

Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS) 

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Civil%20War
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The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80

Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

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if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

The hotel

Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

 Events and tours

There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

More information

For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

'The Lost Daughter'

Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson

Rating: 4/5

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: May 29, 2023, 1:11 PM`