“Ammir, how do you view the capacity building and Leadership and Management Development Programme for the HCWW?”

“Overall speaking, I have been in Leadership and Management Development role for more than 20 years in Netherlands’ educational system and for last 4 years I was involved with building Leadership and management development programs in the Egyptian Water Business. From cultural point of view Egypt become aware of urgent need for moving towards modern management. I firmly believe in transparent management style and entrepreneurial management approach. In HCWW case, I had to work with all 3 layers of management – Top, middle and operational managers-  to raise the awareness and help them come up with a plan to improve the availability of motivated and qualified managers who believe in  their roles and act within code professionalism both ethically and culturally. I feel very privileged to be part of it.”

“Tell us about your previous work in other sectors?”

“I have worked for more than 26 years in various professional managerial positions mainly in leadership at universities and colleges. My international experiences started from early years when I got involved in international projects in different sectors mostly in capacity building. I designed and led management development projects in automotive sector in Hungary, strategic leadership in Vietnam, Hospitality and tourism in Turkey, employability in Spain, just to name a few.

My expertise in Quality Management, Middle management development, strategic leadership, business planning, in-company training, tailor made training, e-learning, embedded learning, gave me clear insights in innovation within the context of any project I was involved and gave the conditions for successful implementation.”

“What is your approach to team leadership?”

“Team leadership is a learnable skill. For some people it may come more naturally and others can earn it if they have a good guide to walk them through the steps and if they are committed to learn. A good team leader has a clear vision and the ability to maintain open and transparent communication with followers and colleagues.  You have to spend time with people to understand their motives and interests and to make sure that your ideas are comprehended.  Building and maintaining mutual respect for each other is important.  As part of the job you may have to take hard decisions.  Be clear, transparent, and with empathy.  Always bear in mind the interest of the Client and the overall project objectives. Exercise flexibility if you can, after all, we are all human.

I believe in teamwork and like to delegate responsibilities. Professional behaviour is the key to a successful teamwork and feedbacks are necessary, both positive and negative ones.

If I could I would like to copy and paste the modern leadership and management to whoever we are helping but this is not the case in many occasions. Leadership style may vary geographically. I have interest and many first-hand experiences particularly in this matter. For example in Egypt, it is quite different than the one in the Netherlands and Europe. We have a unique working leadership pattern in Europe. When it comes to transferring and implementing the leadership knowledge to other countries that requires taking into account many factors such as cultural aspects of the intended clients and it has to be tailored to their specific needs and crafted to the local managers input capacity to help them to grasp the concept. Besides a complementary coaching plan on daily practice basis will engrave the new model in their corporate structure and will assure its implementation.”

“What is your motivation?”

“Every successes story that I have made some contribution in it, gives me personal satisfaction. I like to help both corporates and people who work for them to get the job done efficiently and smoothly. This is a big challenge but I have been able to collect a team I am convinced can do the job, backed by a network of experts that has an outstanding track record in the field of capacity building, leadership and management training.  I am proud of my contribution in success of various projects in multiple countries. It has been a privilege to be in the position to improve people’s life.  I am looking forward to similar experiences in the upcoming projects “