Unlocking Success with Heart: A Conversation with Ghaya Al-Barwani, the Ambitions Ambassador
Dive into the world of transformative leadership and team dynamics with Ghaya Al-Barwani, the “Ambitions Ambassador” and “RESULTS Whisperer”. Explore how this master combines over 20 years of business expertise with emotional intelligence to help leaders and teams achieve remarkable results with heart.
Q: As an "Ambitions Ambassador" and "RESULTS Whisperer", how have you seen leadership styles and expectations evolve in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region?
- Ghaya stated that the leadership style in MENA region was conflicted between the former “Western Norms” of performance results oriented strategies and the intrinsic human-centric approach of the region, with time she has seen leaders embrace the true nature of human-centric approaches to drive results, which then researched on the market performance of companies with human-centric goals and approaches confirmed as the best practice for organizations.
- Expectations for the region were high with the growth potential of the region increasing and the opportunities for investment increasing as well, continuing to enhance the human-centric measures within organizations will support the growth and return of investments expected by stakeholders.
Q: How do you think mental fitness and emotional culture play a role in helping organizations and teams embrace digital transformation?
- Resistance can be high to anything that is new, digital transformation has the additional stress of any change management project along with the inherent concerns and fears associated with the perceived loss in opportunities. Mental fitness does not change the realities of the additional work-load, retraining and buy-in activities that are involved; what it does is alleviate the internal automatic responses of judgement and fear to allow team members and employees to respond to the changes rather than having an automatic response; kind of like being physically fit allows to carry extra load that is thrown your way with ease and quick recouperation time versus the muscle pain, agony and longer recovery time a person who is not physically fit can suffer.
Q: In your opinion, what are the key elements of fostering a culture of innovation, agility, and continuous learning in the digital era?
- In her opinion there were 5 key elements of fostering a culture of innovation, agility and continuous learning are:
- A. Identifying the real goal, benefits and north star that drive the need for it
- B. Getting the leadership buy-in for the drive and ensuring that this buy-in is also cascaded downstream.
- C. Like any major project, culture management is a long-term project that can take 3 – 10 years to inculcate and sustain, which means starting small, proving the benefits and then taking it to the next level and the next.
- D. Continuous communication, accountability and measurement of the key markers of the desired culture need to be the driver of the initiative and finally
- E. Celebrate the achievements and share the learning going forward to enhance adaptability and faster integration… The principles applied before the digital era and with the gamification tools that the digital era provides, they can be a fun experience for all…
Q: How does embracing DEI contribute to bridging the digital skill gap and driving innovation in your experience?
Embracing diversity is essential to bringing different capabilities within the organization and the team that aides in creative and innovative thinking. By making it equitable for all those involved, once again, you encourage the diverse ideas to come up, no one feels that they will not be rewarded or acknowledged for their idea and this is what true inclusion means – taking in diverse people with different ways of thinking and looking at situations in the organisation and allowing them to voice their thoughts, creativity and ideas to come with an inclusive solution that benefits the organisation and the community it serves.
Q: From your perspective, what skills do you believe will be most crucial for business leaders in the region over the next 5-10 years?
With AI and digital transformation taking on the heavy lifting in processing and managing the mundane, the human touch becomes critical. Being able to put in the correct human-centric criteria that enable these amazing tools to work for us in an equitable and inclusive manner becomes critical. Looking at things from a human-centred perspective whether it is employee-centric, customer-centric or community centric enhancing the ethical gauge, empathetic skills and approaching business from these perspectives will make the true difference in organizational performance.
Q: What are you most looking forward in the upcoming “Digital Talent Ecosystem Dialogue”?
Listening to the different perspectives and opinions on the subject, I have been called a Pollyanna in my approach and perspective to Digital Transformation and preparing the organizational talent for the reality of things to come; so far most of what I have witnessed show me that the positive outlook I see can be tough and painful because of all the people and mindsets involved and it is doable. Like I said, I look forward to how other experts in the field are managing the beauty of human mindsets with the technical aspects.
Join the conversation with Ghaya at the upcoming 5th “Digital Talent Ecosystem Dialogue” at “Al Bustan Palace”, Muscat, Oman. and discover how her unique approach can transform your leadership and team dynamics. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a master coach who delivers results with heart!
