21/04/2014

* Our time is no longer our own but belongs to the others and everyone is competing for your time to take a slice of it.

If you are currently reading a book on time management or intend to attend a course in this field, I suggest that you wait for a little bit. As we all know, life, no matter how long it is, is short and we have a great hope. Most of us always seek to be better and improve constantly but we do not have plenty of time; we always have pressures and there are always urgent things that have never been planned. Our time is no longer our own but belongs to the others and everyone including your boss, subordinates, colleagues, family members, friends and relatives is competing for your time to take a slice of it. This is apart from the time you waste in waiting, whether waiting on the phone, or queuing for a service or stopping at traffic lights.

In addition, a large part of our time is wasted in many things such as checking e-mails or deleting unimportant messages, not knowing that time is the most precious element we have and that all of us are equal in this respect, given that each one of us has got 168 hours per week. Based on this, it is difficult and impractical to manage time because demands are increasing and time is limited.

Most writers and leadership scholars like Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and Marc Fritz agreed on the importance of focusing on what we do and what we should do by asking ourselves whether what we are doing now is consistent with the goals we aspire to achieve.

We must always focus on our goals and not forget the purpose we are working for. Based on this, it is a matter of focus management rather than time management. Focus only on significant issues and watch how time is spent and where your time goes. If argument rages in a meeting, is the purpose to prove your point of view or to fulfill a task? Focus on how to fulfill the task. If something goes wrong, it is not as much important who caused the error as how to avoid it, learn from it and move to the next step. Do not begin your meetings or day with a list of tasks but with how much time is left. It is preferred at the end of the day to record where you spent your time during the day, where most of your time goes and whether your time is spent on your major goals or is wasted without added value.

Learn to delegate some tasks to others as long as they can accomplish them on your behalf. Do only what others cannot do for you. If you can seek the assistance of a driver or use public transport, do not waste your time driving, particularly if you are driving long distances, spare the burden of looking for a car-park and make use of the time needed to do so.  Use smart services instead of physically go to where the service is provided. Finally, do not forget your family’s share; you must allocate part of your time budget to your family members, provided that it should be time of high quality and concentration, i.e. do not sit with them with the phone in your hand and do not allow them to do so either. You must allocate high-quality time for your family; it is focus management rather than time management.

13/04/2014

We used in the past to remember beautiful, meaningful phrases by heart. These phrases had a direct and indirect effect on us, were firmly established in our minds and often motivated and encouraged us to defy the odds and overcome obstacles in order to be able to achieve our aspirations and surmount all difficulties whatsoever.

Phrases like “As you sow, so will you reap” and “No pain, no gain” etc. tell us that everything in life has a price and that achieving success requires you to show diligence and perseverance, to exert as much effort as necessary to reach it and not to be submissive and dependent and wait for miracles because “If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.”

One of the reasons behind success as commonly known by mankind is work. This is because success in any job is not achieved through wishes but through proper, error-free planning. It is obvious that too much work generates a lot of pressures, which need hardworking and perseverance to be confronted and overcome.

It is also natural for those who work to face pressures that vary according to the nature of work as well as its place and time. A hardworking person, whether a man or a woman, who tries hard to excel in his study, will be subject to huge psychological pressures but, thanks to his/her intellectual uniqueness, he/she can convert these pressures into positive effects that urge him/her to work hard until he/she achieves his/her objectives, build a presence and gain prestige. In contrast, a person who crumbles after facing a few pressures believes that this is the end of the road and that the right decision is to quit work and look for another job where there are no pressures, imagining that success is easily achieved without challenges or obstacles.

13/04/2014

Have you ever hesitated to take the appropriate action towards a certain challenge but have failed to act? Have you ever waited for a solution from someone else,  through a certain instruction or  through a gesture to act upon?

Have you waited until you build confidence in yourself or even until obstacles  have vanished so as it will be easy for you to achieve your goals?

If yes, then you are a person who does not have initiative and who is not interested in being an active member in his/her practical or humanitarian environment. Nevertheless, you have to be cautious because the longer you are so, the more this passive attitude is firmly established and the more difficult for you to take a step or move on your own. Hence, you will keep waiting and waiting without doing anything.

The truth is that no challenge or problem will be solved by itself and no obstacles will be removed without your effort. Likewise, no one will volunteer to achieve your goals.

Every minute that passes with you standing in the same location means you are more steps behind and away from believing that by doing so, you are sitting in the comfort zone where there are no problems and you do not need to make any effort. The truth is that you are in the area of ​​oblivion, retardation and setback, and therefore you have to wake up and recognize the meaning of initiative and how to have a positive attitude towards everything around you.

When anyone of us feels lazy and avoids taking any action toward any incident, they do so because they convinced themselves that the situation is very difficult, that they would not be able to confront it by moving forward and that there is nothing that would necessitate them to be the first to take the initiative to solve the problem, given that the situation is insoluble.

Do you know what the solution here is?

The more firm steps, albeit small, you take towards achieving your goals, the more you are interested in taking initiatives. Hence, the steps that will follow will become easier with every step you make. At last, you will discover that these small steps have a great effect despite the little effort you need to exert. You will also begin to enjoy what you have done and accomplished because you have started to have initiative and act confidently and the effort you have exerted has yielded excellent and significant results.

Are you ready now to make a few steps forward and be a person with initiative?

07/04/2014

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, recently said “All can learn from ‘five star’ service centres.” The word “learn” in HH Sheikh Mohammed’s statement led me to questions like: What is learning? How do we learn? Who is to learn? What are the types of learning? At that moment, I remembered the story of a manager in a multinational company who had a project idea and did not leave any chance to talk about it and the huge profits that the company would earn from it.

After the idea had been presented to him, the company CEO found the project had a poor chance for success but agreed to it following the young director’s insistence. The $10-million project failed at the end and the young manager offered his resignation, which was rejected by the CEO. “We have neither lost nor failed; we have learnt lessons worth $10 million”, the CEO said.

Learning is always an absent/present issue; a word we repeatedly utter but only a few apply the lessons learnt. “The only truly sustainable competitive advantage is the ability to learn”, says Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric. So, what is learning? who is to learn? Are they the managers or the staff? Is there corporate learning?

There are four levels of learning: individual learning, collective learning, organizational learning at the level of the organization as a whole – such as learning through benchmarking, audits and quality awards – and finally government learning. Each of those levels has its own application strategies. In order for the process of learning in its 4 levels to be implemented and for learning to turn into a useful practice, we must ensure the availability of essential resources.

Learning has become an industry worth of billions; in the United States, the annual spending on organizational learning exceeds $160 billion and there are currently jobs that are based on organizational learning industry. So, we badly need to learn how to learn due to the fact that learning can add a value to what we do towards reaching an innovation and knowledge-based society, which has the highest levels of quality and ensures happiness in life. Learning is a lifelong process

01/04/2014

Smiling is a language that doesn’t need to be translated and is a key to opening hearts. It doesn’t cost money nor effort, nor does smiling take time more a blink of the eye. However, it does penetrate our hearts.

Smiling is the oldest and fastest way of communication known to human beings. It the only common language that is understood by all nations without the need for translation. Smiling was the practice of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) who was known to be the most magnanimous, the greatest, the most honorable, the most gorgeous and the more smiling human being. He urged people to smile when he said: “smiling to your brother is charity”. This virtue was followed by all the Prophet’s followers.

Smiling has many good effects on health; it strengthens body’s immunity against diseases and stresses, eases the stress resulting from life’s difficulties, particularly in our days. It makes your life more stable and helps you be optimistic as it evolves positive sense, purity of mind and ability to surmount obstacles.

Smiling has a great role in bringing happiness to others’ hearts, emits positive energy among them and develop hope in their souls. Seeing you smiling, many patients or distressed people may also smile and feel better.

The Emirates Identity Authority was always keen to bring happiness to its customers. It continuously urges its employees to make smiling a practice while providing services to customers and it allocated an award for the “most cheerful employee”. This is based on the Authority’s understanding of the importance of smiling as a key factor for any organization’s success.

My brother and sister employees, here is a call for you to keep smiling.. Glory to our Islam that made smiling a charity that will be rewarded.

19/03/2014

To be a creative person means to create or invent something or an idea that has never actually existed. Consequently, creativity is always associated with linking two or more elements or ideas as part of a relationship that has not been established by anyone before.

Creativity is not restricted to a particular area or a particular science; in our daily life, any touch of beauty that we see or feel is a creative work because it generates a feeling of fascination and admiration in the minds of onlookers.

Creativity is regarded as a significant indicator that contributes to a large extent to inferring how much efforts have been exerted by the person and how far he/she is able to develop his/her ideas towards implementing such ideas for the sake of benefiting people and improving their living conditions.

The concept of creativity is associated with certain criteria which are summarized as follows:

• Creativity is not linked with academic attainment but means in the first place that the creative person’s knowledge has jumped from the level of remembrance to that of understanding, application, analysis and the desire for change.
• Creativity is a product of self-reliance and the result of streamlining self-learning for acquiring knowledge. Thus, a creative person will not be satisfied with files, references and textbooks but will go beyond this to research, reading, visiting libraries and asking for more information.

Here, a question comes to the mind of each of us: Are you a creative person?

The answer to this question depends on the willingness of each one of us to achieve creativity; every person has got potential creative capabilities but only few people seek to explore and employ these capabilities, develop themselves and publish their creative works. Hence, creativity is not limited to certain people and those who believe that achieving creativity is dependent on the existence of genes or the like have a wrong way of looking at things and must remind themselves of this fact whenever they feel desperate or fail to achieve a creative work.

(To be creative is to add something new to life). Come on; let’s fly together in a new creative life full of achievements!

16/03/2014

Many people seek to gain the friendliness and respect of others while they may sometimes behave in a way that does not reflect self-respect. Examples on this include causing inconvenience to other people around them by words or actions, paying no attention to conversation etiquette and uttering abrasive terms.

Respect is acquired when an individual lives honestly with others and treats them politely and respectfully, because one’s respect for oneself is the basis for one’s respect for others. Those who respect and trust themselves will be able to have high self-esteem and this will reflect on their behavior  towards others by dealing with people the same way they like to be treated.

It is emphasized by psychologists that one’s respect for oneself  is the mainstay that one needs for facing life’s challenges and that most of one’s decisions and actions are based on such respect, which leads to  psychological balance through which one can deal with others and gain their respect.

People  who are able to respect themselves are known for their diplomatic skills; they avoid getting into conflicts with others, particularly in the event of conflicting views, because this will add to the severity of the problem and threatens the continuity of relations. They are also known for their ability to evaluate their actions and to hold themselves accountable for their mistakes one by one in case they have caused any offence.

Good listening to others is also a fundamental pillar of self-esteem because listening to different viewpoints makes a debate useful and successful as it eliminates all forms of intolerance and non-acceptance of others’ opinions.

People who respect themselves usually have a great deal of responsibility; they do not even hesitate to admit their mistakes and do not force those around them to change themselves, considering that they are responsible for their actions. They also avoid hating others and feel no malice against them when they commit mistakes that are often unintended.

This is a call to all of us to show self-respect and concern for upgrading our morals and behaviors and to accept each other so that we can all contribute to serving our country and developing our society.

12/03/2014

The words that a human being utters and the way they deal with others are evidence on how far they are cultivated, elegant and intellectually developed. This is because it is such standards as cultivation, elegance and intellectual development that measure the human speech and behavior rather than the number of books a human being reads or the types of degrees they are awarded, though these two elements are highly important.

In this short essay I would like to present to my colleagues in the Emirates Identity Authority and to all those who read this section some ideas that may contribute to helping all of us develop ourselves and improve our positive thinking based on the concept of exchanging ideas and thoughts for the benefit of all of us:

The 1^st idea is a call for research and reading about any problem we face in life with the aim of educating ourselves and gaining more information. Here, I would like to say: You may experience bad feelings due to the lack of understanding or otherwise you may find a solution or a way to adapt.

The 2^nd idea: We can say bad words properly and good words badly; so before you think about what you are going to say, think of how you are going to say it.

The 3^rd idea: If you want to stop worrying and need a fresh start, here is the rule: Count the graces that Allah bestowed on you rather than your troubles.

The 4^th idea: It is smart to feel optimistic when you fail, while self-confidence in times of despair means you are strong and perseverance despite obstacles means success in itself.

The 5^th idea: Make reasonable and viable goals because if you start something that you cannot finish, you will be disappointed and frustrated and you may be accuses by others of being a man of a fluctuating mind.

The 6^th idea: Teach your child the skill of thinking for himself. So, when your child asks you how to solve a problem, ask him about the proper way to solve it and give him the opportunity to do so. By this, your child will learn to keep trying to overcome impasses.

11/03/2014

Our lives are full of situations, some of which are repeated but leave no effect on us while others are rare and are never forgotten but remain in our memory as a beautiful spectrum wished to return.

In this article of mine, I am going to tell you about a situation that I passed through while working in the Emirates Identity Authority’s  customer service, a situation that I could not forget though it took place two years ago.

One morning, I prepared myself well and came to work as a new employee under training. I was assigned to work in the reception section, which is the front section of the center where customers have to stop by to ensure that their required documents are complete and are told where to go for completing their transactions.

In that morning and while more customers were heard coming into the center, I was surprised at an angry customer standing in front of me and nervously posing a question: “What is your name?” “Raya”, I answered. “Shame on you!”, he replied back.

Although he exceeded all acceptable limits, I tried hard to hide my anger and control my reaction so as to know why he was angry. It was found that he did not receive the ID card of his daughter although a long time elapsed since her transaction was completed. I asked him to accompany me to the official, who would help him in resolving the issue.

At first, I had a challenge with the internal conflict that left me with two choices: either to help him and absorb his anger or to file a complaint because he offended me. I, however, opted for the first choice and the day was over just like other days with the issue being entirely forgotten.

Two days later, I moved for help desk training where an employee would be required to try hard to respond to all the inquiries of callers. I received a call which surprised me as it was from somebody asking for an employee named Raya. “Speaking, what can I do for you?”, I replied. He  said: “I want to apologize for what I said two days ago. God knows that you were very kind and generous as you will always be. I offended you and treated you harshly but you did not respond in the same way. I wish to express my thanks and gratitude to you for your positive response to my offence.”

I replied: “I forgot the whole issue as if nothing happened.” He thanked me again. His call had a great effect on me as it healed the wounds that I sustained two days ago.

Those who read about the life of prophets and God-fearing people will find that they were close to perfection in terms of knowledge and faith thanks only to their truthfulness and forgiveness. It was one of their morals to forgive those who offended them in word or in deed, giving the humanity lessons about the true meaning of morality. An example on this is Prophet Yusuf (PBUH) who repelled his brothers’ envy, slander and conspiracy by forgiving them at a time he was in power and could impose the toughest punishments on them.

03/03/2014

Beautiful are those words which are uttered the moment people meet together; those words, though few, bear a lot of love, amity, cordiality and peace connotations. They are so great that they are mentioned in the Holy Quran where Allah urged that they be used by people and be the salute of the Paradise inhabitants: “Their call therein is, “Glory be to You, our God.” And their greeting therein is, “Peace.” And the last of their call is, “Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.” (Yunus, Verse 10).

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also urged people to spread peace and love as a way to enter the Paradise when he said to his companions: “You will not enter Paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love each other. Shall I show you something that, if you did, you would love each other? Spread peace between yourselves.” (Sahih Muslim). This approach was adopted by the entire UAE society, which was built on the virtue of spreading peace through exchanging the greeting of Islam.

As soon as he is born, a citizen hears the word “peace” several times a day, whether within the family, among neighbors or on the way to school.  He used to say “Al Salamu Alaikum” to those he knows or those he does not know. So, he grows up, and so does this virtue, which he uses wherever he goes: in his work, among his friends and colleagues and anywhere else.

Regretfully, less people are nowadays committed to this virtue. Nowadays, we say “Al Salam Alaikum” only to those we know, missing the great connotations of the words of peace, which give us peace of mind and a feeling of serenity. Imagine a world of no amity and love because of the absence of peace: How will it be, how will people live in it and what is the law that will govern their relations? There is no doubt that the law of the jungle will then prevail where the strong devours the weak.

This is a call for each colleague in the Emirates Identity Authority and those who read these words: We should all be keen to maintain the commandment of our Prophet by spreading love and peace anywhere and anytime.