DWE hosts inaugural 'disruptive innovation' leadership programme

Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) launched 'The Innovative Leaders Programme' for women on Saturday, in collaboration with the Ashridge-Hult International Business School. The programme, which is a Memorandum of Understanding agreement signed between DWE and Ashridge-Hult International Business School earlier this year, is being held in the UK until May 13.
14 prominent Emirati leaders from the public and private sectors were selected from a large number of applicants for the programme, who will have the opportunity to gain deeper personal insight, unleash their potential and develop their ability to inspire and motivate others, through an experiential learning journey based around the findings, solutions and challenges that the world's leading organisations have overcome. Throughout the eight days, participants will meet, speak and collaborate with innovative thinkers of renowned businesses and leading government bodies, enhancing their knowledge about levels of extraordinary and exponential thinking, and helping them to respond adaptively to the challenges they face today.
Mona Al Marri, chairperson of the Board of Dubai Women Establishment, said: "The ongoing development of customised, interactive initiatives such as The Innovative Leaders Program plays an important role in our continued work to enhance and transform the skills and capabilities of Emirati women, which lies at the heart of our strategy. The Program supports the vision of our wise leadership, which places heavy emphasis on the importance of innovation in achieving a brighter future, in line with the National Innovation Strategy to establish the UAE amongst the most innovative countries in the world by 2021."
The programme will offer different perspectives on how to lead effectively in today's dynamic world and help participants to harness disruptive innovation to achieve extraordinary results for themselves, their teams and ultimately the UAE.
This will be achieved through five key learning themes, which include 'the neuroscience of learning to lead in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world', 'developing presence, impact, influence and resilience', 'creating positive working environments and enabling engagement,' 'disruptive innovation: fostering exponential, experimental thinking and leadership agility' as well as 'leading change and driving transformation'.
The programme will also feature innovative project work, allowing participants to demonstrate how they can apply disruptive innovation and exponential thinking to their organisations and wider society. Throughout the program, participants will tackle two strategic projects, one of which is focused on increasing the number of women voters in Federal National Council elections, by changing the perceptions of society around women voters.
The second project will focus on achieving work-life integration, to establish a competitive economy driven by men and women enabled to give their best. Each of the project groups will have an opportunity to present their proposals to UAE leaders following the programme.
"The participants of this program already possess the strong leadership skills and qualities required to nurture creativity and a culture of innovation within their teams and entities. Through the innovative project proposals that participants will be working on during the program, we are confident that each talented, female Emirati leader will have an important impact on their organisation, ultimately leading to positive change across the nation," Al Marri concluded. - sandhya@khaleejtimes.com