A Cheesecake Factory outlet was the scene of an unexpected lesson in astute management for Tommy Weir. Matthew Staver / Bloomberg
A Cheesecake Factory outlet was the scene of an unexpected lesson in astute management for Tommy Weir. Matthew Staver / Bloomberg
A Cheesecake Factory outlet was the scene of an unexpected lesson in astute management for Tommy Weir. Matthew Staver / Bloomberg
A Cheesecake Factory outlet was the scene of an unexpected lesson in astute management for Tommy Weir. Matthew Staver / Bloomberg

More discretion on lunchtime lesson


  • English
  • Arabic

Needing to pick up a book for work, I decided to play hookey, stay away from work without permission, and extend my lunch hour for a coveted meal at the popular Cheesecake Factory. I guess you could call what happened next a real "business lunch". But this was not your typical business lunch with a client, rather a lunch alone witnessing management in practice.

As the hostess seated me at a table right next to the main walkway of the restaurant, I noticed the manager instructing one of the waiters. Being a leadership junkie, I could not help but eavesdrop on this conversation as the manager asked the waiter: "What is your favourite cheesecake?"

I think he replied "Banana Cream Cheesecake." To which the manager said: "Good, so you could say: 'I prefer the Banana Cream Cheesecake'" in response to being asked which cheesecake you recommend. It was clear this waiter was having difficulty with a key part of his job, giving diners advice on what to order.

Or: "Have you tried the Bang Bang Chicken, it is one of our most popular dishes?" the manager offered as another example of how to help diners decide from among the hundreds of items on the menu.

As I witnessed this management in action, I was impressed as the manager was doing the basics incredibly well.

He demonstrated workplace intelligence, understanding what was holding his employee back from being his best. Additionally, he worked to nurture his employee's skill and confidence. This manager was taking the time to coach in a very practical way.

One of the best parts of this management in action was that he gave feedforward, rather than feedback. Not once in this conversation did I hear him tell the waiter: "You did this wrong", nor was he focused on a past experience. This whole conversation was about the future and how he could be better, which is the focus of feedforward.

I was about to go and commend him for great management; until I realised he was giving feedforward right in the main walkway through the middle of the restaurant and before the eyes of everyone, including the patrons.

Then I looked around and noticed that many of the other employees had stopped their work and were gazing on as well. You could see embarrassment filling the employee's eyes as he recognised he was on stage.

Watching this made me wonder how much of what was being said was being lost because it was on stage for all to see. What started as a coaching session now looked like a good old-fashioned lecturing for the onlookers. And the impressive action lost its credibility by this one oversight - because of where he was conducting it.

In addition to having a clear future-oriented message (what is said), feedforward has to take into consideration what will help your employees best receive the message (how you say it, and where it is said). In the example from the Cheesecake Factory, the location of the interchange was the overlooked variable. This oversight is not limited to the manager, unfortunately it is common practice for leaders to pull their employees aside in the hallway, address issues in the meeting room, or even rely on the unidirectional communication of email.

Finding the right location matters to giving feedforward. Don't overlook that "where" is as important as "what" and "how".

Tommy Weir is an authority on fast-growth and emerging-market leadership, an adviser and the author of The CEO Shift. He is the founder of the Emerging Markets Leadership Center

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Bah

Born: 1972

Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992

Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old

Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school

 

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

Look%20Both%20Ways
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Wanuri%20Kahiu%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Lili%20Reinhart%2C%20Danny%20Ramirez%2C%20David%20Corenswet%2C%20Luke%20Wilson%2C%20Nia%20Long%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

Titanium Escrow profile

Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue  
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How it works

A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank

Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night 

The charge is stored inside a battery

The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode

A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes 

This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode

When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again

The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge

No limit on how many times you can charge

 

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

AT%20A%20GLANCE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWindfall%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EAn%20%E2%80%9Cenergy%20profits%20levy%E2%80%9D%20to%20raise%20around%20%C2%A35bn%20in%20a%20year.%20The%20temporary%20one-off%20tax%20will%20hit%20oil%20and%20gas%20firms%20by%2025%20per%20cent%20on%20extraordinary%20profits.%20An%2080%20per%20cent%20investment%20allowance%20should%20calm%20Conservative%20nerves%20that%20the%20move%20will%20dent%20North%20Sea%20firms%E2%80%99%20investment%20to%20save%20them%2091p%20for%20every%20%C2%A31%20they%20spend.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EA%20universal%20grant%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EEnergy%20bills%20discount%2C%20which%20was%20effectively%20a%20%C2%A3200%20loan%2C%20has%20doubled%20to%20a%20%C2%A3400%20discount%20on%20bills%20for%20all%20households%20from%20October%20that%20will%20not%20need%20to%20be%20paid%20back.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETargeted%20measures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMore%20than%20eight%20million%20of%20the%20lowest%20income%20households%20will%20receive%20a%20%C2%A3650%20one-off%20payment.%20It%20will%20apply%20to%20households%20on%20Universal%20Credit%2C%20Tax%20Credits%2C%20Pension%20Credit%20and%20legacy%20benefits.%0D%3Cbr%3ESeparate%20one-off%20payments%20of%20%C2%A3300%20will%20go%20to%20pensioners%20and%20%C2%A3150%20for%20those%20receiving%20disability%20benefits.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre V6

Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km

Price: Dh179,999-plus

On sale: now 

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Tina Fey

Directed by: Pete Doctor

Rating: 4 stars