Opening of International Leadership Conference 2016

Minister of Energy His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza opened the International Leadership Conference 2016 on May 24 at Crowne Plaza under the theme ‘Leadership and Economic Growth’. The event was organized by Bahrain Management Society in cooperation with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) with local, regional and international participation and a number of expert speakers, CEOs and managers from various sectors.

H.E. Dr. Mirza welcomed the delegates and expressed his pleasure in hosting the conference. He said the conference theme showed how business growth was highly dependent on the leadership, policies and decisions that governed it, and decided the direction of growth. He said that research showed that negative economic growth rates in many organizations were largely due to dysfunctional business leadership. Leadership had three distinguished functions — authority, inspiration and management, he said.

The Minister added that new economic challenges made the job of business leaders even more complex. Different stages of economic growth demanded different categories of leaders. There is a significant correlation between leaders who were perceived as bold, and those who are extremely effective across a range of other skills.

Referring to an article published by the Harvard Business Journal, which compared the boldness of leaders around the world, he said it put United States and China on top, citing cultural factors, based on insights gathered from more than 75,000 business leaders. Boldness must form part of a broader leadership package, and be combined with other skills and strengths, such as courage, cooperation and innovation, and other basic skills that resulted in effective leadership, he pointed out.

Advances in technology and rapid digitization were transforming economies and ways of doing business, the Minister said, adding this was also presenting elusive risks related to changing employment patterns, widening income inequality and rising cyber dependence. Managing the paradigm shift and transition process was critical to securing stable economies. He pointed out that on a global scale there were two economic risks, namely unemployment and underemployment. Energy price shocks topped major risks to economies, including the Middle East. He said companies and organizations could build resilience by clarifying roles and responsibilities, developing crisis leadership characteristics and leveraging expertise. He urged the delegates to get maximum benefit from the experiences at the event, stressing the importance of crisis management training to hone leadership skills and capabilities and ensure institutions were protected from all potential risks in the future.

The Minister said that those working in the field of knowledge management and leadership training would know that the energy sector was in urgent need for more senior management personnel and competent decision makers, top leaders who could identify ways to use obstacles to their advantage, and come up with innovative solutions and effective management initiatives to help transform organizational knowledge assets into core competencies. He said companies should ensure that their recruitment, engagement and talent development programs were best suited for their needs. An engaged workforce would lead any organization to making better decisions and achieving business excellence. This can be achieved by ensuring employment, participation and appropriate talent development, as well as with apprenticeship programs and succession planning, he said.

H.E. Dr. Mirza said the experience of Bahrain in the field of institutional leadership had always been encouraging. The country’s leadership believed in incorporating tried and tested methods to develop future leaders, honing their management skills well in advance so they turn out to be top decision makers in their respective organizations. A National Education and Training Development Project was launched in 2007 by the government of Bahrain to revamp the country’s education system in accordance with the His Royal Highness the Crown Prince initiative to turn Bahrain into a world class talent development hub. The Kingdom had a training organization, the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) to train employees working in the governmental sector, with dedicated programs for future managers and promising young personnel. He said he was proud that NOGA had attributed talent development and succession planning top priority throughout the oil and gas sector in Bahrain.

In conclusion, the Minister expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Bahrain Management Society, the conference organizing committee, participants, speakers and sponsors for the success of the new edition of the series. He wished all attendees a pleasant stay in the country and wished everyone to benefit from the scientific and technical papers presented and from other conference activities. He wished all participants success in achieving their goals.

Dr. Adel Hamad, Chairman of Bahrain Management Society also spoke at the opening ceremony. A number of international speakers addressed the gathering, including KPMG’s Global Head of Corporate Citizenship, Lord Michael Hastings, who in his keynote speech, highlighted the importance of leadership in promoting productivity and in driving economic growth in the light of existing trends in innovation and technical developments.