When researching their book The Leadership Challenge, the co-authors Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner asked respondents to tell them what qualities they look for and admire in a leader. According to their studies, the top four qualities are:
Honesty: 88 per cent rate honesty as the most important. Honesty is strongly tied to values and ethics. People admire leaders who know where they stand on important principles and have confidence in their own beliefs.
Forward thinking: 71 per cent want a leader with a vision, and a concern for the direction of the organisation. No one wants to follow someone who is lost.
Competency: Employees look for a leader that knows what they are doing and can get the job done. It’s important that the leader takes the time to learn the business and to know the current operation.
Inspiration: Employees want someone who is enthusiastic, energetic and positive. While leaders define the content of the work to be done, they can make the context far more meaningful if they're able to inspire people. To earn the credibility so that employees see you as honest, forward-looking, inspiring and competent, Mr Kouzes says leaders need to engage in these five practices.
The importance of other factors to the success of an organisation, such as the personality type of the leader, have also been analysed by Mr Kouzes. He says no one personality type is predominantly more of a leader than another.
He also dismisses the relevance of other demographic variables: “When we took factors such as age, gender, country of origin, length of service, level in the organisation and educational level and correlated those with the extent to which they accounts for engagement at work, in the US, all those variables combined only account for two-tenths of 1 per cent,” he says, adding, “in other words, it doesn’t matter who you are. What does matter is how you as a leader behave.”
For more information about The Leadership Challenge, visit www.leadershipchallenge.com
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
