HEC Paris in Qatar and Commercial bank team up for Qatari youth leadership programme

The 2013 Youth Leadership Acceleration Programme is part of a series of programmes that Commercial bank is sponsoring in support of the development of Qatari youth and in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.

The programme was held in Doha between February 12 and 14, with the aim of accelerating the development of Qatari youth leadership aged between 16 and 19 years of age.

Approximately 40 attendees took part in the three-day workshop, representing Qatar's talented and ambitious youth—the future leaders of Qatar.

The programme stimulated a process of growth to help the youth group better understand leadership and the leadership skills necessary to be successful and productive contributors to Qatar.

Throughout the 3 days spent together, participants were encouraged to look more introspectively at their own behavior patterns, and to acquire sufficient information and understanding about how to increase their effectiveness in individual leadership development, conflict resolution, personal responsibility and accountability, team leadership, and social responsibility.

All of the above were examined in an effort to develop and enhance the participating youths understanding of how one contributes to the future of Qatar, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 which seeks, among its many goals, to introduce key skills to Qatari youth as part of the vision to build the knowledge-based economy.

Chiefly involved in the programme's delivery were senior HEC Paris faculty members Lily Kelly-Radford, PhD, and Randy White, PhD.

The introduction of the programme was completed by HEC Paris in Qatar's Dean, Professor Laoucine Kerbache, who commented, "The youth of Qatar represent the future of Qatar. This was the ethos behind this particular skills-building programme which was well received by its participants. The strength of HEC Paris in Qatar lies in delivering learning and the provision of skills to enable students to compete in the modern business world. We were pleased to team up with Commercialbank to make this a reality for ambitious Qatari youth."

Commenting on behalf of Commercialbank, Mr Abdulla Saleh Al Raisi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, added, "HEC Paris in Qatar's motto is 'the more you know, the more you dare', and this chimes entirely with what Commercialbank is trying to achieve: a more educated, more able and more 'business savvy' group of Qatari youth who will strive to reach higher levels of excellence. We strongly feel that this programme has delivered a solid training foundation to introduce these talented young individuals showing great potential to the fundamentals of successful leadership."

The launch of the programme coincided with the Qatar National Sports Day and the participants also had an audience with Yasmine Al Sharshani - the only female Qatari golfer to participate in the Arab Games in Doha in 2011.

On day one of the course, February 12, Mr Al Raisi gave an introductory motivational speech to the youth participants, who also heard a welcoming speech from Professor Kerbache, highlighting the importance of developing leadership skills at an early age. Learning is life-long, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to address such a talented group of future leaders.

On the third and final day, February 14, the Certification Ceremony took place. Guests on that day included Mr Al Raisi, Professor Kerbache, the head teachers from schools who nominated their wards, Ministry of Labour delegates, senior officials from Commercialbank, parents of the participants, and members of the media. Collectively, they witnessed the presentation by Mr Al Raisi of the certificates for completion of the programme.

According to the influential UK-based Financial Times media group, HEC Paris is ranked number two in the world for Executive Education.