THE STORY OF UAE BY MOHD BIN RASHID AL. MAKTOUM PART III

 

 

MY VISION - CHALLENGES IN THE RACE OF EXCELLENCE- THE STORY OF UAE BY MOHD BIN RASHID AL. MAKTOUM

 

 

MANAGEMENT

The crisis the Arab world is facing today is not one of money, men, morale or resources it is crisis of management. Good management requires a capable manager. The Arab world have politicians plenty, more than it really needs, but lack creative manager who can lead us out of constant crisis we are facing. The need for people who can build airports, ports, companies, factories and other growth generating ventures cannot be overemphasized. These all require managerial skills capable of mobilizing the resources needed to reach specific targets within a defined framework.

Routine is the enemy of pioneering spirit. We must adopt a creative mind to achieve success. Hard work ensures joy and path to success. We should not be afraid of hard work, challenges and pressures because they will come our way no matter what and will make us better people. A diamond is nothing more than a stone until it is cut and polished; only then it does become a precious stone. But what is it that polishes a manager? Work experience and commitment.

Our experience in UAE has taught us that the difference between good and bad government sometimes lie in the number of obstacles we can remove from the path of our citizens we put before them. Most of Arabs world suffer from self-imposed obstacles – those facing students, business men, traders, investors, creative people and women, all evident in airports, infrastructures etc. on bad government.

We must focus on relieving these bottlenecks in order to promote business and talent and allocate the remaining time to work, production and generation of wealth. The civil servants are supposed to be at the service of the citizens not the other way round.

 

To accumulate talent, you must develop it; to make a good trainer you must train someone first; to make leaders, you must coach promising talents and teach them how to avail themselves of good opportunities and avoid failure.

Human beings are the most precise asset of all nations and most important factors in the progress of countries. The development of human resources is the gauge for the development of our country.

We cannot succeed in the absence of trained Human Resources. This is the responsibility of sound management; it is also the responsibility of the leader because he leads the management as well as the community.

For management to become productive, it must adopt modern management principles and set standards for management development in a new and future economy.

Making the right decision at the right moment is one of the most important factor for success. Making such decisions is critical because it calls for daring, will power, a quick response and a deep awareness of the consequences of the decisions and how it fits into the leader’s goal.

 

Teamwork is obviously the major driving force of any great undertaking.

The biggest obstacle I have encountered in my drive to develop my country was to know how to convey the message to those in charge of the development process, so that they understand precisely what I wanted them to do.

Development for Survival.

The extinct of the pearl trade and great depression of 1930s affected the Dubai economy. Modern Dubai trade policy which centres around principles of free trade, open market/ skies and a free economic system was an integral part of Dubai constitution and set in the minds of its leaders from their forefathers. The interaction between these principles with the high skills and expertise of Dubai traders and cooperation of its people are true makers of the great opportunity and puts the emirate in a leading commercial and Economic position in Gulf.

Modern Dubai – One crucial turning point in Dubai Modern history was the dredging of the Creek in 1960. Dubai Creek- 14 Kilometres water way is one of the best natural harbour in Gulf, if not in the world. Excellent harbour for small and medium size ships that moved along the bank. The boom in shipping after 2^nd world war, made Dubai to raise funds to the further dredging of the Creek to accommodate larger merchant ships with deeper drafts. Their oil was discovered in 1966. Larger port facilities were constructed to accommodate increasing trade. Port of Jebel Ali was constructed, Dubai aluminium company and Dubai international trade centre etc. to equip Dubai with unique infrastructure and industrial basis to excel.

Only people can make development happen. The secret of successful development lies in reaching an ideal formula that can efficiently use the skills of the people

 in Dubai’s case, the existence of the Creek, sunny skies, desert, sandy beaches and sea to put in place a uniquely successful metropolis. The context of this formulae, the right vision and key to its success is the leader, who combines his goals and determination to see them through to fruition, despite all obstacles.

The absence of any delineating line between your goal and their implementation is key to Dubai since history. Leader’s optimism in light of negativity. Trade and services/ tourism were also the foundations blocky Dubai leader’s development goals. Despite gains in the oil exploration.

Minding the minds.

What I wish most for the youths of UAE is success. Our experience in UAE has taught us that there are no big secrets in the development process. The quality of a group is derived from the quality of its members and the strength of a community is derived from the strengths of its sons and daughters. When we free the potential of individuals, we simultaneously free the potential of the whole community they are part of, and when we let the creativity of individual’s blossom, the creativity of the whole community as a whole blossom.

Failures and successes are not permanent but failures should always be analysed to determine the reason why we failed to enable us succeed the next time.

 

 

The only thing that could ever guarantee success is to have the largest number of excellent achievers on board your team because the race for excellence calls for exceptional participants. But creativity itself is not a product we can buy and nor enthusiasm. We have to look for those who have these characteristics and nurture their talents.

The idea factory – Our minds are factories of ideas – the higher the quality of raw materials we absorb, the better the quality of the final products. A true leader develops and encourages others to present new ideas.

- The key to a true and effective development process is a vision that does not allow small details to cloud basic goals.

Importance of My Horses

Horses are not just like other animals. They bless the house of their owner, they are pride of every Arab and a symbol of strength, magnanimity and power. Not every rider is a horseman and not every horseman is a knight. A horseman is one who rides a horse but a knight is a horseman who knows the meaning of riding his horse. It is chivalry, magnanimity and pedigree that is why I am proud that I understand horses.

Horsemanship is an activity and sport for the body and soul. It is one of the most important sources of generating positive energy in human beings.

Whenever I am with my horses, you will see me scurrying between them, wiping the sweat from one and taking pulse of another, feeding them, training them and teaching them everything that will enable them. This kind of relationship is not one sided as I not only teach them but also learn from them. I learn from people around me and my horses. Whoever, knows how to love and respect a horse will also know how to treat people with equal love and respect. And whoever knows how to raise the morale of horses also knows how to lift the spirit of those around him. What you give them is what they will give to you in return and if you encourage them, they will overcome difficulties and take you to victory.

 We can monitor a leader’s performance through the morale of his team. Armies do not defeat their enemies because they have the right weapons and infrastructure. They win and lose wars because of their morale. If the morale of a team is high, they will respond to the vision of their leader, achieve his goals, follows his steps but if low, the leader has only himself to blame. Positivity in all we do matters more than negativity.

A Wiseman once said, ‘’wishes are mere daydreams and the fantasy of the deprived’’ change does not come by wishful thinking and the leader who just sits and wishes for change is without a doubt a failure.

Excellence in Dubai

To achieve excellence, all the elements of developments, including vision, goals, leadership and implementation by management process etc. must be excellent.

You can only achieve progress when laws are distinguished, goals, planning and behaviour constantly revolving to meet self-best standards internationally. This list includes public and private sector, public and private schools, institutions universities etc.

Readily available finances do not necessarily mean development, because real value of money lies in its efficient use of it, not its amount. The better the ingredients of the development process, the better the development we will enjoy, to a level that only allows nations to compete and survive, but also allows them to take the giant step toward excellence.

People are the most important ingredient of the development process. If you fail to educate the young people, develop their skills and generate the spirit of excellence and creativity in them, we will never under any circumstances, have a successful development process. God bless us with a leadership of achievers, not egotists. Some leaders destroy their countries while others promote the status and prosperity of their people. Our leaders walk down the streets without armoured cars and large entourage of cars/motorcycles because they are not afraid of their people – they are one with them. With close/deep relationship with people, decisions taken are in the interest of the people. This is the basis of True Vision – it’s in the interest of the people.

 

Success means several things to us in UAE, one of which is achieving excellence. If a leader can achieve excellence by using the available resources, capacities and expertise. We should do so asap, but if they are not available, he must be prepared to create and cultivate them. A leader can achieve excellence once he has invested effort, money, creativity and all other resources in developing his people.

A leader who wants to transform his Vision into reality cannot be in two places at the same time must be either in his palace or on the work site, leading the team. We want Dubai to be a global Centre for excellence and creativity. We want it to be become the world premier city for trade, finance, investment and tourism in 21^st century. We can provide the necessary infrastructure, sciences and environment and confident that it will happen.

·        The Dubai Government Excellence Program was launched in 1977 to enable government respond efficiently to challenges of new era, upgrade performance of public sector through continuous trainings and development, a revolutionary management reform to revamp our public sector in many aspects efficiency, initiative and excellence in service.

·        Dubai Quality Awards competition, it’s a process of recognising role model organisations that provide other organisations with a road map to achieve excellence through adoption of good practises and sound approaches deployed systemically and continuously measured and reviewed.

·        Corruption and bribery in Public sector has been dealt with ruthlessly. Extra controls etc.

·        Some government projects adopt hi tech solutions and make them available, with other facilities to private sectors like Dubai internet city and Dubai media city.

·        Public sector is implementing cost effectiveness and resources management principle to achieve optimum performance, which will have a positive spin off on the whole economy.

Public sector was able to match performance of the private sector because we manage to extricate the public sector from routine and monotony, and put it on the path of modernity, development, increased productivity, greater performance and respect for the public. This was made possible by people working in this sector. They developed themselves and their efficiency and their responsibility and achieved this transformation. This was in the interest of their country.

UAE economy is the most transparent and liberal in the Arab world, and most closely linked to free market models. The country public sector is therefore at the service of the people and the private sector. Improving the performance and productivity of the public sector is to enable them to perform optimally in their regulatory and supervisory role of extending guidance, monitoring compliance to rules and regulations and assuring commitment to quality control standards. They must also eliminate obstacles, facilitate services and reduce bureaucracy to non-existence. Enhanced performance in public sector leads to increase in productivity, speeds up the economy cycle and speeding the economy cycle benefits the private sector and people.

-          The creation of new economic entities like Dubai internet city and Dubai industrial county, Dubai healthcare county, Dubai international finance centre etc was to provide sophisticated environment where private businesses can operate, improve their productivity and profits, and provide job opportunities.

-          One of the main goal of Dubai e-government initiative is to redefine the concept of government and allow it become more efficient and active through the use of internet. Simplifying procedures is the basis for improving services, which is precisely one of the goals of electronic government. Another major goal is reducing cost and mistakes increasing speed of response, providing services and information through world wide web, elimination of routine, bureaucracy and serving business communities.

Dubai private sector is renowned worldwide for its dynamic power, resilience, and ability to develop new markets, create opportunities and expand around the world. The new global economy provides Dubai with opportunities that never existed before. Energizing the traditional economy must go hand in hand with the introduction of new economic sectors, such as electronic trade and online shopping etc. This must be further accompanied by proper training for the new technologies involved and adopting modern working methods. Dubai must excel in trade, services and the economy in the digital age just like it did before. The success of the government initiatives aimed at energizing the public sector and enabling it to deal with the new economy and digital technologies is possible only through full coordination and cooperation between government and the private sector.

   Final goal of both private/private sectors is to develop local economy, to service local and oversea market and to provide consumers with the best services possible. Both public/private sector has a common goal to increase productivity and improve performance and efficiency working together.