DOHA: The current global crisis is not financial but leadership-related, and a Shariah-inspired approach to leadership is needed for companies, according to an expert.
Dr Tommy Weir, Executive Director of EM Leadership Center and a specialist on leadership development for emerging markets, presented the Islamic approach to leadership on the concluding day of this year’s Leaders in Islamic Finance Summit at the W Doha Hotel on Tuesday.
Underscoring the need to break away from Western conventions, Weir said there was skepticism about Islamic finance because many of today’s financial leaders had been taking the Western approach for long due to the fact that they had acquired a Western education.
“We have to change our binoculars, we should look at Islamic finance for solutions,” he said.
He urged the participants in the summit to help shape a different view of Islam’s role and contribution to the corporate world and the society as a whole, saying the influence of Islam extends beyond the financial sector to leadership.
Weir dwelt on the elements of the unique leadership approach model based on Islamic principles, such as responsibility, humility, trustworthiness, reward for hard work and decisiveness, among others. He said these basic values are seldom seen in corporations these days.
“A leader should recognise he has responsibility to Allah, the society, his business and himself,” he said.
In addition, he emphasised that a Shariah-based leadership approach is consultative, explaining that leaders as revealed in the Quran operated through consultation.
“If you ask someone’s opinion, you gain his mind,” he aptly said, further underlining that leaders must continually be in pursuit of knowledge.
Source: The PENINSULA / BY RAYNALD RIVERA
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