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24 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2022 In love, as in football, size does not matter. Here’s why IT’s a great time to be a football lover. It might not feel exactly so if your country is not one of the 32 taking part in the 22nd edition of the World Cup in Doha, Qatar. But being a fan means managing to love the game without having your dog in the fight. For example, Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, won’t be in Qatar – the second time in eight years. But since the team crashed out to Ghana in February, fans have managed to reconcile with their misery, especially with forthcoming elections which essentially foist a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. One month of jousting over which striker should have played in what position and who should have been benched is more useful for fans than listening to politicians promising heaven on earth without the remotest idea of how they plan to make it happen. With national pride at stake for some, big money and career for a few, a chance to stake a political claim for others, and yet others with nothing but the ephemeral joy of the moment to lose, Doha is the world’s most valuable, and for the price of $220 billion, perhaps the most expensive one-month distraction. At times like these, for Africans, either at home or in the Diaspora, the trend is to gravitate their passion and support to the participating countries representing the continent. Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon would carry the continent’s flag, after favourites, Egypt and Nigeria had failed to qualify. In the history of the competition, only three African countries have made it to the quarter finals stage: Cameroon (Italia ’90), Senegal (Korea/Japan 2002), and Ghana (South Africa 2010), and only South Africa has been able to muster the resources to host the World Cup. Not for the fainthearted No surprises, here though. Hosting the tournament has never been for the fainthearted. The 29-day tournament is costing the Kingdom of Qatar about 15 times the amount of Nigeria’s proposed 2023 budget and more than six times the proposed expenditure of N 2 0 . 5 1 trillion. Only deep pocket economies like The 29-day tournament is costing the Kingdom of Qatar about 15 times the amount of Nigeria’s proposed 2023 budget Qatar and others like it can fund the huge infrastructural developments and building of eight stadiums. One of them, the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium, is modelled on the traditional Arabian tent with a retractable roof. With the third highest human development index in the Arab world and the third highest gas reserves in the world, this tiny country of less than three million people is proving that some great things can be achieved not by size. And to think that its size is one the reasons former FIFA president Sepp Blatter feels Qatar doesn’t qualify as a World Cup host. But even if physical size is at issue, fiscal ability is the name of the game. And the young Arab sitting over this treasure trove has got more than enough cash to splash, host and entertain the rest of the world, represented by 32 national teams, many times over. Born in 1980, Qatari king, Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani, has built a reputation of attracting high profile global sporting events to the Arabian Peninsula state even before he ascended the throne in 2013, as part of his strategies to raise Qatar’s international profile. He also chaired the 2006 organising committee of the Asian Games. Due partly to his contributions, Qatar had also hosted the Asian Handball Championships in 2004, Asian Basketball Championships in 2005, and the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Cycling Championships in 2016. A bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics had failed as Doha lost out to Tokyo, Japan. Coming after the world cup, are the 2024 AquaticChampionship in Doha and the Asian Games in 2030, also in Doha. Sheikhs of Europe The sheikhs are not only interested in developing a vibrant sports economy, their investments are spreading into the major football leagues of Europe as Qatar Sports Investments’ Nasser Al- Khelaifi owns Paris Saint Germain, PSG, – leading French club side and one of the richest clubs in football – with a net worth of $3.2billion, according to Forbes’ Soccer Team Valuations List. They reportedly own substantial shares in Portuguese and Belgian club sides as well. They also have substantial investments in what is arguably the world’s deadliest club side, Manchester City, and the latest sensation of the Premier League, New Castle. Qatar 2022 is the first time the senior World Cup will be held in the Middle East since its inception. The Qatari Kingdom had to face up to giant neighbours Saudi Arabi, alongside UAE, Egypt and Bahrain imposing an economic blockade that cost the tiny Gulf nation $43billion in losses, according to Al-Jazeera. In June 2017, the four states cut all diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting “terrorism” and destabilising the region – allegations Doha denied. Qatar ramped up local production and established diplomatic relations with Iran to not only overcome the challenges of the siege, but manage declining oil revenues. In January 2021, Saudi Foreign Ministry announced that Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had resumed ties with Doha, during the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, summit, a reconciliation mediated by Kuwait. A mistake? Blatter says Qatar 2022 was a “mistake”. Qatar was graded as having “high operational risk”, and generated much criticism as being part of the FIFA corruption scandals. Blatter’s “confessions” indicate that there was pressure from the French government under Nicholas Sarkozy and the connivance of former UEFA president, Michel Platini, to award hosting rights to Qatar. But the travails the world has gone through in the past few years are indicative that the choice of Qatar was probably right. Most rich Arab Gulf nations have been significantly insulated from the global economic shocks and the ravages of COVID-19. The global economic depression and the COVID-19 pandemic had left even the financial powerhouses of Europe gasping for air, with the Russian-Ukraine war delivering yet another power punch on the world’s cereals and grains powerhouse. Rising food and energy costs which have caused domestic unrest in many countries would have made the high costs of hosting the World Cup at this time a very difficult task for the United States, which, according to the former FIFA boss, should have been the host of the 2022 tournament, after Russia hosted the 2018 edition. Football pundits and insiders have always alleged insider manipulations and boardroom politics in the running of the international football federation, and it appears Blatter is bent on confirming it. These considerations may well be behind the reasons Africa, with 54 member states in FIFA, gets only five qualification slots for the World Cup. Yet, going by Blatter’s words, Europe which is comparatively smaller than Asia, Africa, north and south America has 13 slots for Qatar 2022. Blatter may be talking about hosting rights and not participation in the world cup, but the goose and gander deserve a fair shot at one of the world’s most popular sports. It doesn’t make sense that Europe with 55 members in FIFA, gets 13 slots, more than double that of Africa, which has only one number less in FIFA’s membership. We, the tribe As the games begin on Sunday, about 200,000 fans will be travelling to match venues in Qatar, while an estimated five billion fans would be watching around the world, including fans in Russia and Ukraine separated by a totally needless war. Football is a tribal game. Though money and politics have often competed to spoil and corrupt it, just as they have sometimes proved indispensable in its improvement, when all is said and done, the kindred spirit of the true fans prevails. And that is the promise of Qatar. Strategic leadership for success in volatile times By CHARLES CRAWFORD FROM November 21 to 24, world renowned Ambassador Charles Crawford will leverage TEXEM’s proven and tested methodology while joining other TEXEM’s illustrious faculties, such as Harvard’s Founding Director of Maximise your Board, to deliver TEXEM’s upcoming programme. Professor Paul Griffith, the world's first management professor to lead a team to launch a rocket into space, and Gerald Baldwin, CEO of Cadbury World, are also TEXEM faculty members delivering this programme. In addition, during this programme, participants will include senior executives of different organisations attending TEXEM UK’s upcoming strategic leadership for success in volatile times programme taking place at Jury’s Inn, Birmingham, UK. The University of Oxford alumnus Charles Crawford shares insights into how organisations can deploy strategic leadership for success in volatile times, especially especially via influencing and negotiating. He also explains why executives should attend the forthcoming TEXEM programme. "What are the specifics with respect to what leaders and followers actually need from each other?“ Big question! A typical answer is "trust." But maybe trust depends on honesty and honesty is hard. How far does a leader really want his or her team to be honest about the leader’s performance, or things that are going wrong or opportunities being missed? Do a team of followers wants their leader to be honest in telling them that they’re lazy and not trying hard enough? These are subtle things. But good organisations talk about them in a smart way. It boils down to any organisation’s culture. Is that culture based on excellence? Or on explanations? Attend TEXEM’s forthcoming programme to glean m o r e insights. “In what ways could leaders apply smart questions w h e n Give people a chance to jump before they’re pushed; and if it finally comes to letting people go, don’t come across as nervous or unhappy involved in the negotiation process?“ One key part of any negotiation is figuring out what the other side really wants from it. And the other side might not be clear on that. So, you need to explore the issues, and that means asking smart questions in a smart manner. A lot of technique comes into play here. Another aspect is learning how to summarise well, so that you keep the issues together in an organized way. The Texem sessions we run draw on professional mediation skills that combine active listening (and active watching) with subtle questioning skills that help get people talking and so (all being well) reveal their deeper motivations. And, if all goes well, that leads to negotiated outcomes that are not just a dull ‘win-win’ but something much richer than that. “In what ratio should silence and speech be applied by leaders to ensure better results and influence while involved in negotiation?" Speech is like music. Music is not mainly about the notes; it’s about the space between the notes. The phrasing and emphasis. So it is with speech. There’s what you say and what you can convey without actually speaking. Gestures. Tone. A sense of confidence. Basically, less is more. Don’t be afraid of silence. Let it do some of the heavy work. But you also have to train yourself to be good at listening to those silences. What aren’t they saying? What have they avoided saying? What have they avoided doing? What are the best communication arsenals leaders should apply while addressing employees during periods of business uncertainties? Best not to mention Arsenal to a Tottenham supporter! When in doubt, be honest. If jobs have to be lost, make that clear in broad terms and explain how and when it is going to be done as fairly as possible. Give people a chance to jump before they’re pushed. And if it finally comes to letting people go, don’t come across as nervous or unhappy. •Ambassador Charles Crawford Making and then implementing difficult decisions is part of your job. Do it with conviction. It’s also important to convey confidence that these hard times can be survived and may end up making everyone stronger and wiser. But don’t overdo it and raise false hopes. As my journalist friend used to tell me, ‘The truth is usually the best story’. Upon attending TEXEM’s forthcoming programme on Strategic Leadership for Success in Volatile Times, you will learn how to communicate strategically and influence effectively. "Kindly enumerate specific leadership strategies that heads of organisations could use to revive such organizations in periods of recession." Hard to say: it’s bound to be very organisation- and sector-specific. One good, profound question that always needs answering is: What business are we really in these days? Maybe the current storms can compel a much-needed tough-love reorganisation and re-focus that looks at opportunities and customer service in quite different (and much better) ways. Likewise, have a searching look at what the organisation really does well and what it does not so well. Honesty again. Cut out the not-sogood things and put more effort into the wonderful things. Nowadays, most organisations have mountains of useless processes. Try to reduce those mountains! That’s hard when so much IT and digitalisation push a lot of processes into over-restrictive rules that take away individual responsibility and initiative. But there should be scope in all that for bringing back plenty of ‘human touch’ that makes customers feel pleased and grateful and so wanting to return for more. That is why TEXEM’s forthcoming programme on Strategic Leadership for success in volatile times is very topical and relevant. "What are the best tactics a leader could deploy to control a meeting or negotiation successfully without appearing too assertive?“ Nothing wrong with being assertive. If it’s done well. There’s a thin line between confidence and over-confidence, or assertive and obnoxious! Assertiveness isn’t just about coming across as rather noisy and self-confident. It can come from not saying much, but making sure that everything you say has authority and helps move things along. All in all, slow down. Give yourself time to think about what you’re doing as you go along, and to adjust if things are not on track. But you also have to know what track you want to be on. That means, before a meeting or negotiation starts, having a test of success and a test of failure. If you don’t know what success looks like, don’t start the meeting! What benefits are there for chief executives attending TEXEM UK’s programme on Strategic Leadership for Optimised Organisational Performance in an era of uncertainty? You’ll learn a lot of highly practical, specific ideas and skills that will help you be a far more subtle and thoughtful (and, therefore, effective) leader immediately. The programme will also leverage TEXEM’s tested and proven methodology that has helped over 4000 executives and their organisations win and makes learning fun, impactful, engaging, stimulating, and fun. Not many courses achieve that.“I look forward to welcoming many senior executives to this programme.“
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