There are those who suspect companies based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the GCC are being slow in developing effective leadership practices. Such practices were typified by Charles Handy as flat-structures, where creativity is encouraged to handle complex situations. This approach is beginning to replace command-and-control, process-orientated management in companies in many parts of the world, but are we seeing the same in the GCC and in Saudi Arabia?
Across the globe, there are continued attempts at false equilibrium, where excessive pressure (from owners and directors) treats individuals as programmable units of production. Such archaic systems of Taylorite-management are still not uncommon, typified by barked-out orders and attempts at maintaining discipline through dictat and whim, especially when times become tough.
As change and uncertainty sweeps many industries, such excessive and coercive power is a natural reaction to fear, anxiety and an inability to control what is occuring. But leadership demands a different approach, where those responsible for maintaining and building enterprises act as designers, stewards and coaches. These individuals facilitate improved-learning in knowledge-powered organisations, where employees know more about what is going on than management, the board or owners.
There is this dilemma for business leaders. People at the top of companies know they must deliver fast financial results. Yet they also know that these results depend on staff; people toiling far away from the C-suite. More and more, in fast moving situations, it is workers’ knowledge which adds value for the firm’s offerings to customers.
Paradoxically handling change and uncertainty demands the release of control; less command and more free innovation. And even permission to fail, as long as failure comes quickly and as cheaply as possible. As Tom Peters forecast, leadership has emerged as the most important element of business – the attribute that is highest in demand and shortest in supply – and many Saudi-based and GCC-based firms are waking up to this desperate need for professional and meaningful leadership.
The most successful response to these dilemmas is to cultivate leadership skills broadly in a company’s workforce. Nurturing talent is crucial at the middle and bottom of the organisation as well as the top.
Armed forces are a good example of how leadership from the top to the bottom of an organisation works. Generals provide broad goals for the army. But that’s not enough. To succeed the army needs good leadership at division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company and platoon levels. The corporal taking a squad out on patrol for a specific objective must be as good at the job, if not better, than those at the top.
At the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, based in Riyadh, there is an Entrepreneurial Center in its Economic Technology Development Department where new businesses, and innovation departments in established corporate concerns, are encouraged to stop thinking about hierarchical, bureaucratic and autocratic management systems.
There are examples of Saudi companies changing, where owners and the C-suite are showing consideration of the needs of their staff, measuring and recognising recorded-competences. Positive leadership approaches can be seen rewarding process trust, motivation trust and values trust, encouraging self-motivated, mature and self-controlled responses from committed staff throughout all levels within organisations.
The following quote is taken from one such Saudi firm, where: ‘…all employees are required to work with their managers and others to set broad goals and specific objectives. They must plan their workload and apply sound reasoning to make effective decisions and suggest process improvements where appropriate.’
Business leaders require clarity of direction and priorities; the ability to adapt to changes in their environment and customers’ expectations, and the ability to encourage higher standards of consistency and execution from their staff.
It is not however easy to coach leadership. There is no universal formula, which is where proven experts designing bespoke programs are more likely to help individuals in companies achieve greater mastery of valuable and effective leadership-practices.
Companies encouraging staff to develop leadership skills also need to make sure their senior management are comfortable with this approach. Such companies need to make sure the kind of leadership skills they are encouraging are consistent with the leadership skills demonstrated by its senior management.
SGB Dabal, based in Dammam, is a superb example of this approach, where the owners and senior executives were participants of the company’s leadership development programs and freely and openly shared with other management and staff through the delivery of their leadership curricula (see picture).
Companies adopting this approach will then begin competing much more effectively, raising standards, speed of response, innovation, productivity, quality of service and product-delivery with groups of individuals exhibiting true teamwork.