Profile: the making of Mohammed Al Habtoor (page 1 of 3)

When Mohammed Al Habtoor returned from the United States to the UAE in the late 1980s, armed with a degree in hotel management, he was looking forward to the high life when he joined the family firm back in Dubai.

At the time, the group owned its first hotel, the Metropolitan on Sheikh Zayed Road, and the son of the founder and chairman expected to walk straight into a management position.

'I thought I would come back to a big office and 10 secretaries,' he recalls.The reality could not have been more different. On his first day on the job, his father handed him an apron and told him to go and work as a waiter. Stints as a porter followed. Even once the young Mohammed made the transition to management, it was far from plain sailing.

'My father fired me twice, ' he confesses, 'both times for taking bad decisions without consulting him or the other managers.'

Today Mohammed Al Habtoor is chief executive officer of the Al Habtoor Group. The company portfolio includes an international network of hotels in Dubai, Lebanon and Britain; eight major real estate developments currently underway; an engineering contractor; one of the largest schools in Dubai; and Bentley, Aston Martin and Mitsubishi car dealerships.

It's a complex, highly diversified, rapidly growing organization, but Mohammed says the basic lessons of those early years are among the most critical to being successful. 'I learned a great deal, particularly about consulting people. I may like to put gold windows on a building, but if four managers say silver is better, then silver it is. You have to listen to people.'

That philosophy extends to the lower ranks, to the waiters and porters he used to work alongside when serving his apprenticeship. 'I visit the staff accommodation and speak to these people. What good is it if they feel scared and start shaking when I enter the room? I don't want them to tell me everything's perfect when I talk to them informally. I want them to tell me what is wrong.

'These people are the front line. In a hotel, these are the people the guests meet. I want them to feel empowered. I don't want them to feel inferior to the guest. In Europe, if you talk to a waiter, you don't feel he is below you, and he doesn't feel he is below you. That's what I want in our hotels.'

Khalaf Al Habtoor founded the Al Habtoor Group in 1970. He had been working with a local construction firm but spotted a gap in the market and left to start his own company, Al Habtoor Engineering Ltd.

Even at that early stage, Khalaf recognized that Dubai, a small, sleepy port on the Gulf coast, was about to take off. The following year the United Arab Emirates was formed, linking Dubai with its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. At the same time, DubaiÕs ruler, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, was emerging as a visionary leader who was poised to transform Dubai into a modern, international city.

Against this favorable background, Dubai became a boomtown, and the Al Habtoor Group took full advantage. The group won a number of major construction projects throughout the country. Khalaf spotted further opportunities, and began reinvesting the company's profits into building a diversified business empire. Today, it is recognized as one of the most successful companies in the UAE.

As it is a private company, financial information is not available, but independent estimates value it in billions of dollars.