Arab leadership model brings big shifts for business growth

Dr Tommy Weir, Managing Director of Leadership Solutions at Kenexa, and author of The CEO Shift, said the Middle East region will continue to serve as a strategic connection for the 
entire world.

A proponent of the viewpoint that the world has shifted from the concept of ‘developed vs emerging’ to ‘massive people markets,’ Dr Weir observed that the Middle East, with a population of over 300 million, is now a “sophisticated trading junction where the 
world connects.”

Dr Weir calls the shift in market dynamics to massive people markets “Peopleization” which will remarkably influence the future of business. These mass markets, he said, 
cannot be ignored.

Over the course of several years of research on leadership patterns in the Arab world, Dr Weir observes that today’s business environment in the region is a “first generation corporate society.”

“Many of the current workers in the GCC are the first members of their family to work in the private sector,” he observes in his Ten Top Tips on ‘How to Make it in the Middle East.’

For Dr Weir, what is extremely important is that businesses in the region — especially those from the West who are exploring the growth opportunity here — “must not try to export their leadership approaches.”

“Don’t expect to be able to import your native practices or Western-oriented models of leadership and have it work in the exact way.”

According to him, “the leadership style must fit the demands and needs of the situation and the new workforce.”

One notable feature of the Middle East workforce is its cultural diversity. This, according to Dr Weir, implies that managers must understand the cultural nuances and complexities to be able leaders.

He says the workforce of the East — which he describes as the new market for the world — is led by a ‘honour and shame’ culture. Employees take errors and setbacks as personal affronts while success is regarded as an honour.

This is far-removed from the ‘guilt and innocence’ model of the West, where leaders can move on after a setback with a word of apology.

The business leadership of the Arab world, with its family-owned model, will not lose relevance, according to Dr Weir. This is essentially because the patriarchs of family-businesses do not distinguish themselves from 
the family.

He said that unlike the West, the leadership model of the region has a 
‘group dynamics.’

The practice of having a regular, usually daily, cup of coffee with employees is weaved into the leadership model of the region.

Dr Weir said the key factor that guides the business and leadership dynamics of the region is the “youth bulge.”

“In the emerging markets 29.82 per cent are under 15 whereas in the developed markets 25.67 per cent are over 55 (years). And 12.18 per cent of the emerging markets are over 55 and 14.82 per cent of the developed markets are under 15. While the West is suffering from an aging population, the emerging markets are wrestling with a 
‘youth bulge.’”

Unlike the West, where leadership is often about “individual acts” and “superstars at the workplace,” the Eastern leadership approach is more group-oriented, where “the leader is an embodiment of the group,” said Dr Weir.

He projects five key shifts for businesses — market, growth, speed, talent and leadership — as crucial for sustainable growth.

Of these, shifts in outlook regarding talent and leadership are crucial for the Middle East region, where the focus shifts to performance and providing the right leadership in the right context.

business@khaleejtimes.com