Sunday, Oct 25, 2009
Gulf News
Author and motivational speaker Gassan Takkale wrote a book called 5Cs in Change — Change your way of life. One ‘c' of the self-explanatory title is ‘contribution,' defined by him as contribution to oneself and to the world. For this reason, once a high-flying executive in the corporate world, Takkale now offers his words of wisdom free of charge to universities across the UAE as part of his change strategy.
The man
The Arab-Canadian was once a human resources professional and leadership vice president for a global software firm. "My job was to really change people," said Takkale who implemented corporate strategies of change to improve work production.
However, last year the 35-year-old woke up one morning and resigned from his high-paying job. "They laughed at me," he said. "The CEO called me up and said, ‘Gus, what are you doing, you're crazy?'"
Crazy he was not; he just wanted to "change the world". So he left the life of yachts, fast cars and endless five-star travel behind him and formed a plan to take business methods of changing people and switch it to personal change. "To change the world you have to start with yourself and I'm going to do it one person at a time."
The message
His motto is: follow your passion. "Do something you love every single day and success will follow," he said. "My main message to the university students is ‘make it happen'," he said. What exactly? "Whatever they want," he responded.
He recounted the recent 90-minute session held at the Canadian University of Dubai (CUD) and said he tells students to set high goals.
He told the story of an Al Ghurair University student who had a dream of working for Google. Yet working for Google was not a high enough goal for Takkale. "I told him ‘that's not big enough; I want you to be the CEO!'"
Setting high goals, he believes, will motivate students into hard work which can result in extraordinary things. "If you aim for the moon you might hit the stars, but if you aim for the street light, you will stay on the street," he said.
The response
Inspired by Anthony Robbins dubbed "the king of motivational speaking" in North America, Takkale aspires to be the Anthony Robbins of the Middle East complete with singing and dancing during seminars.
However, are the students convinced? Student services officer at CUD Mary Alison Lyman brought in Takkale with a simple phone call. The idea, she explained, was to give new and old students a chance to focus on how to make themselves better.
"Everybody needs a little bit of motivation and guidance from time to time," she said.
"It was pretty entertaining," said CUD marketing student Pilar Rashad, who helped advertise the seminar on campus. She said audience participation is crucial as Takkale makes students sing and interact with one another.
Takkale is speaking next at the S.P. Jain Centre of Management in Dubai on October 31.
To bring Takkale to your university or workplace visit his website on www. GusTakkale.com
Gus' five Cs:
1. Character
2. Constructiveness
3. Commitment
4. Communication
5. Contribution
By Rania Moussly, Staff reporter
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
