MUSCAT -- The Middle East Leadership Academy (MELA), one of the Arab world's most innovative and exciting leadership initiatives, successfully concluded its fourth session at Shangri La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa. In what is described as an 'experience of a lifetime', 25 business professionals representing the cream of the crop from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon embarked on an intensive 10-day personal journey that aimed to cultivate a new generation of leaders to become catalysts for positive change.
The MELA 4 curriculum featured key leadership and development topics including: Taking Leadership to a New Level, Understanding Yourself, Intercultural Intelligence, Devising Strategies That Make a Difference, Understanding Systems and Power, Negotiation Skills, Building High Performance Teams and Purpose.
Dr Jim Crupi, President and Founder of MELA, said, "The distinctiveness of MELA is not only in the tailor-made curriculum but in the dedication and personal mentorship approach of the program by some of the most distinguished business leaders from the US and Middle East. The aim is to immerse the participants in an enabling learning environment facilitated by internationally recognized business innovators, instructors and public figures to build practical and instantly usable insights that will enable the participants to play a greater role within their own communities and countries."
Amer Al Fadhil, Managing Director of Competence HR and recent graduate of MELA, said, "There are two factors that truly make MELA one of a kind. Not only does the program challenge your personal ideologies and the status quo but it ingrains a sense of profound responsibility to become a better version of yourself. Secondly, the tight-knit bond that each one of us has been able to establish in this relatively short period of time is truly remarkable and indescribable to those that have not experienced MELA."
Wassim Al Khatib, Vice President of Investment Banking at NCB Capital in Saudi Arabia and also a graduate of MELA 4, said that the program has been an eye opener for him. "The biggest takeaway is that as leaders, the most rewarding aspect of our role is contributing to the development and betterment of others. I look forward to building on my experiences here in Muscat at MELA and continuing this lifelong learning process with my fellow alumni across the region."
MELA is a private, non-profit initiative launched by the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF) whose members serve on a volunteer basis as many of the facilitators and instructors at the MELA workshops. A network of networks, MELA connects its members to similar and expanding networks encompassing over 800 leaders from the US and Central Eurasia through the Society of International Business Fellows and MELA's sister organization Central Eurasia Leadership Alliance.
Supporting this initiative are a number of leading regional and international organizations including: Petroleum Development Oman, Society of International Business Fellows, Weqaya, SilaTech, and King Abdullah II Fund for Development.
© Oman Daily Observer 2013
