Leadership is an important aspect in the managing of a company. It helps the company achieve its objectives and goals at any one time. Leaders are the people who carry out the leadership role in any organization or setting and are in charge of making the organization achieve its goals. They take responsibility of the actions done by everyone within the group they are leading.
In a business setting leaders are responsible for the well being of the employees, offering them guidance and advice as well as supporting them in every task that they undertake (Northouse, 2009). They also create an environment that is suitable for working and one that ensures that the people are able to work effectively.
Leaders have certain styles that they follow when they are leading. These leaders choose the styles that suit them and this may depend on their characteristics and personalities.
Order custom essay Leadership and Communication with free plagiarism report
Leadership styles may also be influenced by the situation that the leaders face. Some of the styles especially in business are more efficient and are preferred more by leaders than the other leadership styles. This paper discusses one of the most successful business leaders in the U.A.E and his leadership styles. It also highlights some of the weaknesses of the leader and gives suggestions of how the weaknesses can be developed.
1.0 Abdullatif AlMulla Profile
a) Achievements
Abdullatif AlMulla is an outstanding business leader in the United Arab Emirates region. He has been awarded for his achievements and was recently named the most outstanding business leader in the UAE and the Middle East Multiple Industry CEO of the year 2010 (JIWIN Public Relations, 2010).
He has been the CEO of TECOM investments since 2008 and is considered to have an extraordinary ability in leadership to handle a complex business organization. He has been able to diversify TECOM’s portfolio and launched new initiatives in various sectors of the economy as part of a strategy to ensure the company is in line with the long term vision of Dubai. These initiatives are involved in various sectors and include biotechnology initiatives, film and TV productions, publishing and the energy sector.
He started his career in business in Dubai Duty free and later moved to Microsoft Technology regional office in Dubai (Dubai Internet City, 2010). He started off as an enterprise sales manager and worked there for over 9 years. There he played a very vital role of making the company sign an enterprise agreement with the Dubai government.
This was the first agreement of its kind in the world and it made Dubai climb up Microsoft’s radar. He also helped in establishing other subsidiaries in the region and was later awarded the Microsoft High Distinguished President Award from Microsoft in the year 1998 (Dubai Internet City, 2010). He also became a member of the leadership program founded by the company in the Middle East and Africa regions. In 2004 he was recognized as being the highest scored manager in the two regions. He has also been a general manager in South Gulf Company.
b) Education Achievements
AlMulla is well educated with a Masters in Economics and Social Development. He also has a Masters in Public Administration and another Masters in Corporate Communication from the University of Duquesne. He is a member of several prestigious organizations such as the American University of Dubai and the HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Mentorship program.
He is also a member of the Board of Engineering School in American University in Dubai. At TECOM Investments, he has handled various challenging responsibilities including coming up with the mission of the company and ensuring the various subsidiaries of the company reach their full potential (Dubai Internet City, 2010).
2.0 TECOM Investment Profile
TECOM Investment Company is a global company that is based in Dubai as a subsidiary of Dubai Holding (TECOM, 2010). It is a company that is dedicated to provide vibrant knowledge to various organizations and to help in the improvement of industries in the region. It is currently involved in various sectors of the economy such as the media industry, life sciences, education sector and information and technology industries.
The company has been managing several companies within Dubai some of them being the international Academic city, International Media production, Studio city, media city and Internet city all of Dubai. It has been growing over the years and has formed several joint ventures with several companies in the region to accomplish some goals.
The company has various shareholding interest in other companies in the region among them Axiom which is the largest distributor in mobile technology in the region. It also has interests in Interorute, a company that is located in Europe and has a densely connected network of data and voice networks.
The company has set its vision to be to invest in the future of Dubai and create and realize its future. The mission of the company coincides with its vision as it seeks to shape the future of the company by focusing on developing and blending the economic and social aspects of Dubai. It aims to achieve this through innovation, excelling in business and through global outreach. Some of the values of the company include valuing its employees, clients and the people it interacts with.
It also cares about the environment and the society around it. It stays committed to its customers and is accountable for all of its actions. Ethics and integrity are highly valued by the company and are continually practiced and emphasized within the company
3.0 Theory on Leadership
Abdullatif AlMulla has been using a leadership style that is found in the business environment and it has helped him achieve a lot through his subordinates and employees. This leadership style is called the strategic leadership style. It is a leadership style that involves critical thinking and planning when it is being carried out. It aims at motivating the employees of the company as well as developing strategies and plans for the future of the company that they employees can attain.
It inspires the employees to perform the tasks that are necessary to attain the strategies set for the future of the company. The leadership style is defined as the approach used by leaders to anticipate and envision the future of an organization through careful analyzing the environment. They initiate plans and changes that create a positive future for the company as well as maintaining flexible and positive relationships with the people who will help achieve these plans (Morrill, 2007).
AlMulla has been using this style of leadership to make plans for the future through careful analysis of the business internal and external environment. He tends to take responsibility into his own hands by making sure that the employees are able to achieve the plans that he develops. He has also been able to keep the best interest of the company in mind as well as considering the welfare of the employees.
He coaches the employees and the subordinates in a way that will help them attain their potential for the benefit of the company. He has been able to encompass both managerial and visionary leadership styles as a way of directing the company in its daily operations and also in the long term operations.
He sets standards and goals that make him expect a lot of responsibility and high levels of performance from the employees and his subordinates in his duties. He expects a lot from them to make positive contributions to the company. He believes highly in himself and his capabilities together with his decisions and the choices he makes.
4.0 Discussions
a) Traits of Abdullatif AlMulla
Abdullatif AlMulla has portrayed several outstanding personality traits that have helped him succeed in every job that he has held. These traits have made him move TECOM Investments into a strategic direction and he has also been able to further the vision of the company. He is considered to be a passionate man who cares deeply about every task that he undertakes. His passion has made him focused and he has been able to achieve the goals that he has set. He is also very dynamic and this has made him develop new initiatives for the company and come up with new strategies that have made the company very productive.
He has established an excellent customer serve within the company that seeks to ensure that the customers are deeply satisfied. He also developed an umbrella organization and created a new division within the company, the TECOM business park that has been incorporating the free zone clusters of the company (mediaMe, 2008).
The division has been able to make remarkable success and it has even been replicated in other countries in the Arab world. He also possesses the trait of being very ambitious in his work and this has led him to set high targets for the company and himself and he is able to attain them. Various governments in the region have sought his advice and counsel in various issues due to his strong ethical standards and values.
b) Abdullatif AlMulla’s Skills
Abdullatif AlMulla possesses some outstanding leadership skills that have helped him attain his great achievements and take TECOM investments into great heights. He has the skill of strategizing and developing a vision that helps him carry out his leadership role in an exceptional manner. He helped develop the vision of TECOM company and develop strategies for the future of the company that have seen the company pioneer the creation of divisions that take care of the free cluster zones for companies (Dubai Internet City, 2010).
This new strategy that he came up with right after he was appointed to his current position in the company has been replicated by several other companies in the Arab world after it proved to be successful. He is also a leader of great integrity and carries out his role is such a way that has made him earn a lot of respect from the various governments in the region who seek his counsel in various issues.
His adaptability skill has allowed him to adapt severally to various industries in the region. He started off in the IT industry and was able to make huge contributions as a general manager and when he moved to the finance and investment sector he has also been able to make significant achievements.
c) Abdullatif AlMulla’s Weakness
Despite the strong personality and achievements that he has been able to achieve over the years, Abdullatif possesses a weakness of not being able to involve others in the decision making process and in developing ideas for the companies he has worked for over the years. He prefers to use his own energetic leadership skills and qualities to develop the company. He has been able to come up with the vision of the company on his own together with the vision that is necessary for the establishment of strategies for the company’s future (Dubai Internet City, 2010).
5.0 Conclusions and Suggestions
Leaders are very important in our society today even in the business world. They are the people who gaze into the future and develop opportunities that are attractive and that will ensure the organization remains competitive and prosperous in the future. They develop strategies that will ensure that those opportunities are attained and that the goals set are also achieved.
Strategic leaders anticipate the future and think of ways that can be implemented by their subordinates to create that advantage to the company in the future. Their role requires a lot of careful consideration, time and precision in the planning. However as they make this strategic decisions, they need to understand the role that the subordinates can play in the strategic decision making. While making the plans and inspiring others to follow them, they need to ensure that the followers are also involved.
Abdullatif AlMulla is an exceptional leader who has been very successful in his leadership role in TECOM investments. His weakness however has hindered him to succeed even further.
He needs to look into ways that he can turn his weakness into a positive attribute for the benefit of the company. One way that he can use is in building trust with his subordinates and the employees of the company. He needs to entrust them with some of the responsibilities and delegate some of his duties to them. He can take risks within the company that will ensure that the company is kept alive and the employees are inspired even further.
Delegating some of his duties and giving them responsibilities will motivate them to become more involved and passionate about their work and their role in the company. He will get to share some of the credit with them and also reward them for their effort. He should be flexible enough to allow the employees and subordinates to give their ideas and suggestions and to contribute in the decision making process.
He can also equip them with the resources and tools that will ensure that they carry out their task according to his standards in order to achieve the vision of the company and the mission. He needs to be willing to make adjustments to the way that he carries out his plans and strategic leadership style in the areas that will ensure that he incorporates the views of the employees and the internal environment within the company.
Reference List
Dubai Internet City. (2010). Abdullatif Almulla, CEO of TECOM Investments. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from TECOM: http://www.dubaiinternetcity.com/UserFiles/File/BIO%20-Abdullatif%20Almulla.pdf
JIWIN Public Relations. (2010, April 24). TECOM GCEO Abdullatif AlMulla honoured at Middle East CEO of the Year Awards. Retrieved on July 12, 2010, from Zawya: http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100424064400/TECOM%20GCEO%20Abdullatif%20AlMulla%20honoured%20at%20Middle%20East%20CEO%20of%20the%20Year%20Awards
mediaMe. (2008, May 25). TECOM Investments expands organisational structure to meet demands of rapid growth. Retrieved on July 13, 2010, from mediaMe: http://mediame.com/taxonomy/tags/abdullatif_almulla
Morrill, R. L. (2007). Strategic leadership. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Northouse, P. G. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Texas: SAGE.
TECOM. (2010). TECOM Investments . Retrieved on July 12, 2010, from TECOM Investments : http://www.tecom.ae/company-profile
Cite this Page
Leadership and Communication. (2018, May 29). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/leadership-and-communication/
Run a free check or have your essay done for you