What Exactly Happened in Qatar..

I’ve been trying for months to figure out what exactly happened in Qatar, what I learned, how it changed me, what precisely touched me...

I figured that I had walked the path warriors once took. I survived relationships that heroes had struggled with. I journeyed through time and places that have been journeyed ages before. In every path I took, in every relationship I had, and in every journey I ventured there was one everlasting quest. The quest of my own self. 

Every hero walks a path. This path never changes. It has been the same from thousands of years ago. Every hero must leave home, embark into a perilous journey into the unknown, find the courage and wisdom to survive, and return home with skills and strengths earned on the quest. I have walked that same path.

I had the courage to let go. I left my comfortable and familiar every day routine. I unlocked my insecurities. I let my defenses down. I stopped thinking of every particular way I thought of my self. I left home not because I wanted to but because I had to. There was a wall that was blocking my view. I could not see it but I felt it. I tried to break through that wall, to get around it, but I couldn’t. I was willing to take the risk. The risk of venturing into a new journey.

This led to the second stage-the quest. This was where all the adventures happened. The overwhelming challenges. Through this stage I have mounted both physically and psychologically. I climbed the hills of fear, I scrambled up the mountains of normality, and I struggled to reach the topless summits of self discovery. Ironically, through unexpected incidents, through some interesting relationships, and through diverting people surrounding me I found what I was looking for. I found the leader within me.

I persisted through this quest. Learning, absorbing, watching, reflecting, grasping, and digesting every single thing around me. At times it was overwhelming; I could not handle the diversity, the emotions, and the excitement! At other times, I was mesmerized with all the vibe. I headed home with a different me. To my surprise, home was different too! I was armed with new capacities and a deeper understanding that I could have only acquired through venturing through this quest. The quest of Mosaic. A quest for self-discovery...

Using No Way As A Way, Having No Limitation As A Limitation

Warrior, muscular, aggressive, martial artist etc. We have all known him with these adjectives. But rarely do we recognize a philosopher in him. "There are no limits", a philosophy he built himself on and later made it a core of his style called "Jeet Kune Do". Bruce Lee was not God gifted by birth, but achieved what he was through relentless training and a belief that there are no limits. A true masterpiece of personal leadership, where his colleagues rank him as one of the strongest men in the world on pound for pound basis. 

"Low aim is the worst crime a man has"

One of the Lee's students, Silliphant relates an interesting story about Lee's attitude towards progressive resistance as his refusal to let a person underestimate their own potential. 

"Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We'd run the three miles in twenty one or twenty two minutes. Just under the eight minutes a mile (running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six and a half minutes per mile). So this morning he said to me, "We are going to go five." I said, "Bruce I can't go five. I am a helluva lot older than you are, and I can't do five." He said, "When we get to three, we will shift gears and it's only two more and you will do it." i said "Okay, hell I will go for it." So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile, and I'm okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I'm tired, my heart's pounding, I can't go any more and so I say to him, "Bruce, if I run any more," - and we are still running - "if I run any more, I am liable to have a heart attack and die." He said, "Then die". It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterwards I went to the shower and then wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know "Why did you say that?" he said, "Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. there are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level."

In Search Of A Great IDEA?

Ideas are dozen a dime. If you don’t give them wings, they are useless. In order to make them useful, you need to play with them. While playing, there are chances, you don’t like the game. Fair enough; change the game. 

Start again with a fresh idea. Spin it, dissect it, reach to the core – question it. If you don’t have answers to the questions, you can’t explain it. If you can’t explain it, it’s not clear in your head. If it’s not clear, there is no way you can test it well. Try again. Think more. Challenge the unknown. Branch out all your questions, and dig out the answers. Assume less and find out the ground reality. Facts are healthy for ideas, assumptions are not. Connect the dots. See if your idea is capable to take off. Don’t forget to determine its capacity; how high it can fly. Still not there; start again. That’s the only way to get to a good idea. Once there, the journey to the great idea starts. All it needs is your blood, sweat and tears spent in the effort of experimentation with your good idea.

And most important of all, you need to start and persist!

Originally posted at jamilgoheer.wordpress.com

Is Your Team Challenging Enough?

Mosaic 2011

Do you dare choose team members who challenge you? Do you dare build a team that is full of people who give you a hard time? 

When building your team, choosing people who are not easy to deal with, who truly challenge you is rewarding!

But why? Why should you make things harder on yourself? 

Allow me to tell you why…

When you have a diverse team, you…

Have to make a great effort to communicate your vision to different mind sets. You have to view your vision from every angle in order to make sense of it from every team member’s point of view. In addition, you have to make sure that everyone understands, comprehends, appreciates, and believes in your vision.

When you have a tough team, you…

Have to make the right decisions, and if you make a mistake you should hurry to admit it, then walk tall and strong! You have to really think before you speak! You have to make the rules even clearer! And you have to know that you should lead when there is a need. Although you have a tough team, you should not forget to celebrate their small successes and support them when in need.

When you have a vigorous team, you…

Consult, obtain, and integrate their suggestions and ideas into decision making. You invite your team members to share in choosing choices and in determining results. You also need to challenge them to perform work at the highest level of performance possible. You establish a high standard of excellence and expect them to seek continuous improvement. In addition, you need to show a high degree of confidence that your team members are capable of accomplishing challenging goals.

When you have a distinctive team, you…

Need to understand your team members’ characteristics. You’d need to change your leadership style according to the needs of your team members. You would support those who need affiliation. You would provide structure and clarity to members who are dogmatic and authoritarian. In addition, you should have the ability to jump from participative leadership to directive leadership with harmony while dealing with different circumstances.

When you're building a team, any team, to be effective, you need to help your team members by giving them what is missing from their environment and by helping them compensate for deficiencies in their abilities.

Why a challenging team? Because of their diversity, toughness, vigorousness, distinctiveness, and your unique leadership style you would reach the skies and above!

Do you dare?

MOSAIC 2011: A Life Changing Experience - Guest Blog By Norah Jan, KSA

Norah Jan is working in the education sector as an HR-Recruitment Officer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She is a graduate of King Abdullaziz University, majored in English Language and Literature. Norah appreciates diversity, philosophy and exchanging stories of success. She also enjoys poetry and fashion. Thanks to MOSAIC, she decided to shift her post-grad study from MBA to MA in Cross-cultural Studies.

'It is fascinating how people smoothly open up to complete strangers. Considering that you will only live with this group of people for 10 days, and then, most probably won't meet again! Something ticklish in that sense urges you to speak your heart out. Share your hopes, regrets and moments of pride and joy. Trust others with your fears and dreams. No concerns of judgement or misinterpretation.' 

I was privileged to be let in to others hearts. A roller-coaster ride of emotions. 

Dramatic shifts. Between fighting a soft lump in my throat, and letting go of a big crack of laughter: I lived in between. Lives told. Whole lives were summed up in between. And I lived in between. 

I Listened by an attentive heart, in a religious respect, to the recited dreams. Observed pure eyes as they glistened to the painful memories of failure and despair. And shivered at a euphoric lift of sensations, overwhelmed with rising hope and belief in a better tomorrow. 

I witnessed sincere tears. Some dripped down the tender cheeks, and some were firmly locked in the corners of the eyes. In both events I felt so little, humble and helpless. I felt so naked. My pride faded. I shrank in presence of intense humanity and feeling for others. 

"…To serve the Ummah." -- An eye opener. 

What a shame! 

I could not even remember the last time I heard the word "Ummah", 

and consider it as an entity I belong to. Let alone building my world around, and dreaming of serving it. 

A waking bell rang in my head. I have always been drawn to personal concerns and never had a careful look at the bigger picture. Even at the level of philanthropy, I have always considered myself in the first place instead of others. What a shame! 

"I come from a poor family…" -- 'Poor' only exists where ignorance does. 

How small I felt! 

I wondered how such a genuine heart could relate to poverty, while carrying all the richness of giving and caring for the less privileged children. How could that be poor? 

My mind drifted away. I was amazed by sincere altruism while in a similar situation; common sense would suggest 'care for me first!' 

I learnt that common sense is not common after all! Giving; despite the need, never equals losing. It actually enriches one's life, and leads to the most aspired for: Self-satisfaction. 

"…Because I have always dreamt of saving a soul." -- A Paradigm Shift. 

Nothing, ever, sounded more angelic, holy and sublime. 

I could not help recalling a Qur'anic verse: "And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind." AlMa'ida, verse (32) 

I was; and still am; utterly fascinated by the shared values among these young passionate souls, their awareness and dedication to noble causes. I walked away overwhelmed, inspired and lost in thoughts. 

10 days later I went back home… 

It has been only few months. However, I can already sense the profound positive changes in my perception, future plans, attitude and sense of responsibility towards my community, environment and the world as a whole. 

I went back home a different person: An Enlightened Citizen of the World.

Norah Jan

17/2/2012

Stylish Leadership

I am a leader who leads with style. 

I have the power to affect others’ beliefs, attitudes, and courses of action while using a stylish kind of power. I do not need to enforce anything. My followers are influenced by me because they like me, I am their role model, they view me as highly competent, and highly considerate. 

I am a leader who leads with style.

I am verbally involved with my followers, I seek their opinions, and I am firm but not rigid. I lead with style because I fit within my group, I am intelligent, confident, and in our group, goals are reached through realizing everyone’s needs and wants.

I am a leader who leads with style.

My leadership is stylish because I combine and mix my task and relationship behaviors in a way that influence my followers in their efforts to reach our assigned goals. I would provide them with structure while nurturing them. If I figure out that I lean towards being production oriented, I would make an effort to promote the personal worth of my followers. On the other hand, if I was more people oriented, I would attempt to use this type of orientation towards accomplishing what actually needs to be achieved. 

I am a leader who leads with style.

I know that if I do not have the so called “charisma” that this would not stop me. I know that leaders could be made. I know that leadership is a process that can be learned, and that it is available to everyone. I know that I need to be alert, responsible, persistent, confident, social, and have insight to become a leader. But what if I am not that intelligent or as confident as I should. Well, I would lead with style and create in me the drive for responsibility, I would become more self aware, surround myself with positive people, and I would build my capacity and exercise social interaction. Nothing would stop me!

Lead with style…to be cont...

MOSAIC: Where Dreams Are Shaped - Guest Blog by Hadeel Alabbasi, KSA

Hadeel Alabbasi is a counsellor, writer and educator dedicated to the advancement of Muslim Society. Her area of focus remains family health, individual empowerment, life planning, relationships and positive parenting. She is a co-founder of Mama and Me program and author of many children books. Hadeel graduated from King Abdul Aziz University with her majors in economics and did her post graduate in Leadership and Development from Walden University. 

Everyone is telling me I’m a leader, so the next obvious step is to take action and be one. I will talk to you through my blogs about my leadership journey. As for that, I would be delighted to hear your comments and suggestions along my challenging yet exciting journey. 

I live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and although I come from a Saudi family, I have always felt a connection with foreigners. I enjoyed their company and I loved listening to their stories. They always wanted to learn, develop, and get the best out of their time here in Saudi Arabia. The sad part is that a lot of them came and left without achieving their dreams. Many came to study Qur’an, but were faced with a rigid system in Qur’an schools. Many wanted to learn Arabic, but only found elementary school like classes or nothing at all. A lot wanted to raise their kids to become good Muslims but could not get their children in the Saudi school system to learn Islam and proper Arabic. 

A while back, someone surprisingly pointed out the number of centers teaching English here in Jeddah while on the other hand, no centers that taught Arabic. That’s when an idea sprouted its roots in me. After attending the MOSAIC summit, the real energy to realize my dream came. I realized that a lot of my fellow delegates don’t know Arabic. Truly, this was partly from my ignorance as I expected every Muslim to know at least a little Arabic. Moreover, I have always felt that Muslims should be able to communicate in the original language of the Holy Qur’an as well i.e. Arabic. As a result, I felt an enormous obligation towards humanity, responsibility with respect to my beloved Arabic language, and commitment towards my new dream. 

My new dream is to open a center that teaches Arabic to non Arabic speakers. I would name it “ICTA” which is “I Can Talk Arabic”, cool right? But how can I tell if this is the right dream? And if this dream is truly my window of opportunity? Let’s go together through the 10 leadership check list…

1. Am I proud of my dream and do I believe in it? YES 

2. Am I showing commitment and am I living it? I believe so, I ‘m not waiting on it and I’m not forgetting about it 

3. Did I carefully think about it? YES 

4. I have the plan ready but am I starting to take actions? YES, I have formed a focus group to discuss needs, experiences, and obstacles. 

5. Am I ready to make mistakes and face challenges? I hope so 

6. Am I ready to show my weaknesses and vulnerability as a leader? Same as above 

7. Am I ready to put everything I have in what I believe? YES 

8. Do I have the dignity to believe that I’m a leader? YES 

9. Am I ready to go all the way? YES 

10. Is my dream actually going to benefit people? YES, I know that it matters… 

I think that my dream is truly a window of opportunity, do you?

I'm excited to hear your experiences with learning Arabic and grateful to hear your thoughts about the perfect ICTA center : ) 

M.D. Hadeel

You Never Lose/Fail, Until You Give Up!

There are number of times you hear about somebody failing or losing and sometimes that somebody is YOU. But have you ever thought, whether you really really failed. Just mull over it for sometimes when you have that feeling next time. And when you do, just ask a simple question, why you gave up? 

You may have not heard about Derek Redmond before; I never did. But when I knew about him for the first time few years back, I could not forget him. He is a retired British athlete with numerous medals and records to his credit of which I know a little about. But his 1992 Olympic performance in Barcelona will be remembered by generations. He was the last to finish the race, but I guess hardly anyone remembers the athlete who actually won. Derek won the hearts of 65000 spectators. Click to watch what happened.

For sure, somebody who doesn’t give up, can never fail and it’s hard to beat the one who is not willing to give up. 

MOSAIC 101 – How To Get The Best Out Of The Summit

I can imagine the excitement amongst the delegates gearing up for the Summit just 2 weeks away in Qatar. A lot of you must be having goose bumps imagining about the summit and the rest would be chilled while waiting to see what happens. Well I must say whatever happens, will be one of the most exhilarating time you would have ever spent. But, having said that, there is a way you can even proliferate the fun. And the core rule for that is, “Be Proactive”. 

I just finished the entire round of introduction with my group, what a pleasure to know so many enthusiasts with such diversity. While having this first level introduction I came across quite a few questions and thought to write this post to share some experiences from 2010 and help you all get the best out of the time you will spend during the summit. 

1. Be Proactive – As I said, you can get the best out of the summit if you are proactive. You need something, ask it. You have a question, ask it. You want to connect to someone, ask it. You want some information, ask it. You want some help, ask it. You are not feeling good or facing any challenges, tell your group lead. Being proactive will help you being most effective during the summit. This is the golden rule and rest is all a derivation. 

2. Know Your Group Members Early – Earliest the better. You will be closely working with your group during the 10 days spent together. It’s always better to know them as early as possible. By now, your group leads would have gotten in touch with you and you have a fair chance to introduce yourself. Use this opportunity as an ice breaker. Introduce yourself fairly and share as much as you can so that rest of the group members is able to connect to you. Extracurricular details like, interests, hobbies, and past experiences help identify synergy easily. 

3. Be Receptive – You will be meeting with almost 100 different people in 10 days. On average knowing 10 persons a day. This can be overwhelming but it’s a great chance to network. You may not be able to spend much time with everyone, but try to talk to most of them. Get to know about them a little, share contacts and don’t forget to follow up. There is a great probability that you have a home and a host in 17 different countries by the end of a summit :)

4. Be Punctual – The sheer pace of the summit can put you on the back foot. Be very cautious about time keeping and being punctual. Your slight delays can make you miss out some wonderful opportunities to listen and connect to some wonderful people. I am sure you don’t want to be in that situation. Best thing is to be on time during all the sessions given in the agenda. And least to say, being punctual is the first step towards leadership. 

5. Cram the Agenda – You will be given the program time table and a pack of file when you arrive and register at the summit. Make sure you get some time to look at all the details and mark your game plan. All the sessions are very important, do not miss them. Mark those that are of your interest and if possible explore and think about them a bit before time. This will help you connect a lot of dots. 

6. Participate and DO NOT SHY away – You will be listening to a lot of different speakers and will be going through some workshops and activities. You MUST participate and interact. Remember, we all are here to learn and do not shy away asking any tempting questions or sharing your views. It’s a collaborative place and everybody who participates is respected. And this is one good chance to overcome your fears and shyness. 

7. Make Notes – You will be receiving bits and pieces of very unique learning’s that is worth noting. There is so much going on that its always good to write notes and probably jot down the pointers that you can later reflect upon and connect with. I am sure you will have a list of lessons and learning’s that you would like to keep as your guiding principles in future. So don’t miss out, keep your pen and paper handy. 

8. Leadership – The main theme is leadership and you must all be excited to learn some leadership lessons. But honestly, half of your learning’s will be your actions and experiences during the summit; how you respond to various situations, how you deal with your peers, how you react to various scenarios. So be self critical, and reflect on your daily actions and outcomes. Where you did well, where you did not and how you can improve. Don’t forget, you are all a part of a bigger Mosaic, so play your role well. 

9. Don’t Panic - There is so much happening in a day that most of you may not be used to. Don’t panic, rather take it as a challenge and try to participate as much as you can. In case you miss out anything unfortunately, just move on. Being IN is the name of the game. 

10. ………………………………………………. 

Well I have left that empty for my peers to fill in :) Come on Mosaicers 2010, I am sure you would like to contribute some Suggestions from your wonderful experiences during the summit last year. Delegates from 2011 are waiting to hear some real time experiences; I just collected some of my thoughts, please add yours. Its a good time to reminisce as well :)

Ineffective Leaders - 7 Common Traits

The article is written by Paul Morin and copied from Company Founder Blog

This list of seven traits is not all-inclusive, nor is it in order of importance. These are simply seven traits that I see all the time, which undermine the ability of leaders to help their organizations and themselves achieve all that they can.

I also want to point out that not all the following characteristics are intrinsically “bad”. There are certain situations that call for some or all of them. In “everyday” leadership scenarios and organizations not in crisis though, the following seven leader traits are not likely to result in an optimal outcome.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #1: Micro-Managing

Wait, are we talking about leadership or management? Sometimes the line becomes blurred. My favorite metaphor illustrating the difference between management and leadership is from Stephen Covey’s story of a logging crew working in the forest. The crew is working hard and someone yells from atop a nearby mountain (paraphrasing), “Hey, you down there” … “What? We’re busy making progress, don’t interrupt us” … response: “You’re in the wrong forest”!

The effective leader is not the one that goes around “getting into everyone’s business”. Rather, the effective leader makes sure the organization and everyone in it is in the “right forest,” then let’s them get their jobs done.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #2: Unclear Objectives

Many, if not most, organizations do not have clear objectives for where they are trying to go. The leadership of the organization has not taken the time to define where the organization is trying to go or what it is trying to achieve. In other cases, the objectives have been clearly defined, but they have not been effectively communicated to the members of the organization. Following on the forest metaphor above, the organization may even actually be in the “right forest,” but due to poor communication, the team may not know whether they’re supposed to be cutting it down or planting more trees.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #3: Frequent Direction Changes

There aren’t too many things more demoralizing to someone working hard toward an objective, than having it change, constantly. We’ve all seen, and some of us have had the displeasure to work in, organizations where the direction and objectives seem to change with the capriciousness of the wind. We all start “rowing in the same direction” only to be informed, or worst yet, find out second-hand, that the objectives have changed and we’re supposed to be rowing in an entirely different direction. If you want to be an effective leader, don’t do this to your team on a frequent basis, and if it’s absolutely necessary at some point, explain it well. Your team will hold it against you a lot less if you communicate with them as openly and honestly as possible regarding why all the work they just expended “was for nothing”.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #4: No Culture Of Accountability

Once you have clear goals in place and have communicated them effectively to your team, it’s critical to develop a “culture of accountability”. Your team must understand that they have their part to do, in order to help the organization achieve its goals. This “part” must be well-defined, with milestones and target dates for completion. Progress toward the milestones and overall completion must be tracked and reviewed on a regular basis. Variances or deviations from plan should be explained and if necessary, course correction must be facilitated and monitored. Without a “culture of accountability,” it’s too easy for members of the team to get sidetracked “putting out fires” and to never quite complete their “part”. If this happens systemically, the organization will never reach its goals and the leadership will have failed.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #5: Don’t Walk Their Talk

There are some leaders who are tremendous talkers. They can “wax eloquently” on most any subject and they inspire confidence with their bold pronouncements. The issue arises when all the hyperbole does not coincide with reality and specifically, when the leader displays behavior that is inconsistent with what he or she is “preaching”. Leaders, as persons who are supposed to inspire confidence, like it or not, are held to a higher standard. If you aspire to be a “great leader,” it’s important that you “walk your talk”. Don’t make eloquent pronouncements, then contradict them with your behavior. That will be the quickest route to lose the respect and confidence of your team and other relevant constituencies.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #6: Run People Over

Ineffective leaders, frequently unable to persuade with logic or emotional appeals that make sense to their team, often just “run people over”. That usually takes the form of “you’ll do it because I said so”. This approach can be necessary in certain situations, particularly where a team member does not want to listen to reason, or simply cannot be given enough information to fully grasp the rationale for a particular mandate. However, if this approach is used as a matter of routine, then it is likely to alienate many members of the team. This point is highly related to the point above regarding effective communication. If you communicate effectively as a leader and you have selected good members to your team, you typically will not have the need to “run people over”. That would be ideal, because when intelligent people get run over, they typically find a way to use their formal or informal power within the organization to make you “pay the price”. They undermine you every chance they get, even if just in a passive aggressive way.

Common Ineffective Leader Trait #7: Take Credit For Everything

If something works well in your organization, give credit to your team. Why? Well first, it’s the right thing to do. If you are playing a leadership role, while you may have put everyone in the “right forest,” it’s highly likely that the remainder of your organization did the execution necessary to “make it happen”. Second, you will look and feel a lot better if you “give credit where credit is due”. Even if the reward is not monetary, pretty much everyone appreciates a pat on the back for a job well done. Remember the adage, “praise in public and criticize in private”. Don’t be shy about highlighting the tremendous performance of your team and certain individuals with your team. While some underperformers may get jealous, the achievers will appreciate the recognition and are likely to continue performing at a high level, for you and for the organization.

So there you have “7 Common Traits of Ineffective Leaders” and some ideas on how you can avoid those traits and continue on your path to becoming an effective leader. As I said at the outset, I realize that this is not an all-inclusive list and I realize that in some situations, these “bad” traits may be necessary.