One-on-One with Leadership Guru Dr. Tareq Mohammed Al-Suwaidan

.innovationresource.com

Dr. Tareq Al-Suwaidan is one of the top management gurus in the Middle East and chairman of Gulf Innovation Groups. His Kuwaiti division is organizing a Growth Strategies Summit on April 26-28 that will feature leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith, innovation guru Robert B. Tucker, and Al-Suwaidan. The author of fifty best-selling books, Al-Suwaidan also wrote “Eidad Alkada” (“Preparing Leaders”), and is a passionate advocate of the notion that leaders are made, not born. After studying at various colleges in the United States, he went on to become the founder of the American Creativity Academy in Kuwait, and AWARE, which champions improved Arab-Western relations. In preparation for the Summit, Robert Tucker and Tareq Al-Suwaidan engaged in a dialogue via Skype. Edited excerpts:

Tariq, it’s great to be partnering with you on this year’s Summit. Why the focus on growth at the April conference?
The business cycle for governments and companies in the Middle East is going upwards after several years of decline. My expectation is that we will see a huge period of growth very soon, so it is important for leaders and their organizations to understand the science and dynamics of what to expect then.

What, in your view, comprises “innovative leadership” in today’s world? 
I define leadership as “the ability to move followers towards goals.” And innovation is “the process of creating something useful. Putting the two terms together means that an “innovative leader” is one who is able to move the team towards creating something useful, which includes creativity, teamwork, values, vision, practicality and using a clear process.

In my work with organizations in 46 countries, I observe some corporate leaders currying favor and acting as politicians, in a sort of popularity contest manner. The other thing I’m seeing is the rise of Steve Jobs imitators: heavy-handed, mercurial, but visionary and demanding the way Jobs was. What are you seeing here in the Middle East?
I see a clear trend in very opposite directions. On the one hand, an obvious rise in bad leaders who have corrupt values, a dictatorial style, greedy, selfish, with no vision or even an identity. On the other side of the spectrum there is also an interesting obvious increase in leaders who are visionary, ethical, caring, patriotic, creative and adhering to their identity at the same time. I am a firm believer that the latter group shall prevail because they are closer to the minds and hearts of the people.

The Good to Great research lead by Jim Collins suggested that the best leaders are not bombastic, but instead lead from behind.” What do you think about that?
The word “Qaed” in Arabic , which translates to leader, comes from guiding a herd by giving the example and role model and walking in front of it. The opposite word is “saeq” which means to beat them from behind and translates as driver. I believe there is no replacement for courage, modeling the right behavior, and practicing what one preaches.

Warren Bennis, an eminent leadership scholar, believed as you do that great leaders are not born but made. He once observed, “the process of becoming a leader is similar, if not identical, to becoming a fully integrated human being.” Both, he maintained, were grounded in self-discovery. You’re not only writing about leadership, you’re running companies, and growing leaders. What’s your biggest challenge in this respect?
After training more than 60 thousand [people] on leadership, and running the Pioneers Leadership Centre for 15 years, I believe that our biggest challenge is that we are starting too late when we try to train adults or even high-school students on leadership. A lot of the damage has already been done! So we should start at kindergartens and even nursery school, because that is the age where personalities are formed.

Do you see a leadership vacuum today?
I do not see a lack of bad Leadership, as a matter of fact we suffer as humanity from an abundance. But definitely there s a huge shortage of ethical leaders.

More and more corporations rely on matrix organizational structures to get work done. Does this lead to a lack of bold leadership, in your opinion? It has been said that at GM, until only recently, you could never hold any single individual responsible for a decision. What’s your opinion on the move away from hierarchy in a world of such dramatic change?
The matrix structure has a major flaw in that the same person reports to more than one person at the same time, which allows for eluding responsibilities and the ease of blaming others for your mistakes. But the hierarchy structure — the pyramid — is also a bad idea since it is slow and hinders common values and a shared vision. I believe in structuring in a molecules style: small independent units that are autonomous in their plans, budgets, decisions and leaders, but are agile and flexible in these fast-changing times.

How do you study leadership styles? What type of research do you do? 
Of course I follow the most recent research published by western universities and organizations. But being the holder of a Ph.D. in Engineering [University of Tulsa]. I add to this our own observations that we see in our work in leadership training in the Middle East.

What do you make of the leadership style of the Millennial Generation (ages 18 to 34)? Here is a generation that has come of age in an environment of distrust, disruption, and turmoil. Yet they are the most connected generation in history.
I am in a very close relationship with this generation. I see a huge majority that fit your description, but I also see a unique group (about 2%) that are the most amazing youth group I have been in touch with in 40 years. History has taught me that 2% of any society always lead the other 98%!

You have a passion for helping young people be all that they can be. Where does that come from?
The Arab Civilization led science and art for several centuries, called the Dark Ages in Western History, while named the Golden Ages during the same years in our history. Then we became backward for centuries. Now we are rising again and our hope is not in our current leaders but in the new generations. So, we need to train them well not only on leadership but also on ethics, and not on the clash of civilizations but on collaboration of humanity. That is not only my passion but also the only light for all of u