Please follow link to read article:  http://aljarida.com/2012/01/11/12421277/

EQ Empowers Young Saudi Women for Business

 EQ Business, EQ Education, EQ Life, Six Seconds  Add comments

Jan 21 2012

Saudi Arabia’s first female team won the national competition in a pioneering program for young entrepreneurs.  Emotional intelligence training and coaching equipped the girls with a competitive edge as they prepared to represent their company and country in the regional Injaz Al Arab 2011 Finals.

EQ coach Solafa Batterjee with CATALYST student company team and Omar Mandorah , Operation Manager

INJAZ-Saudi Arabia is a non-profit organization working to fill the gap between the education system and workforce readiness with the engagement of the private sector. Through strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Education, Saudi companies and highly experienced volunteers from the private sector, INJAZ-Saudi Arabia delivers educational programs on Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Work Readiness to Saudi youth between 10 to 24 years old who will be the employers and leaders of the future. The aim of this program is to reach 250,000 male and female Saudi students by 2018.

At the beginning of 2011, the Company Program (CP) started with 24 male and female high schools participants. In CP, teams of students create companies with actual capital.  The program allows students to design business, production, financial and marketing plans and strategies. At the final step, students liquidate their companies, produce an annual report, and develop personal career goals. These companies compete on the national level; the winner of the national competition goes on to represent Saudi Arabia in the regional Injaz Al Arab annual competition.

In the Saudi context, there are relatively few role models of women entrepreneurs, and so generally young men enter this type of program. In Saudi there is growing recognition that females are an important part of a competitive business, and organizations like INJAZ are charged with supporting leadership for both genders. So it was a great accomplishment that after 12 weekly sessions of meetings, planning, coaching and hard work, the INJAZ- Saudi Arabia national competition, FIKRA 2011, announced the 1st ever female student company: Catalyst.

The CATALYST EQ contract that included the girls “personal logos”

Catalyst is a partnership of six girls from public high schools. While the “emotional intelligence” skills for leadership are important for all the young entrepreneurs, these girls were also stepping up as leaders in the cultural evolution of the Saudi business world. So, to prepare the young entrepreneurs for the cross-cultural environment and the emotional stress of competing and interacting with peers and professionals from all over the Arab world in the regional completion, Solafa Batterjee was recruited to be the team’s emotional intelligence trainer and coach. The combination of their business accumen and emotional intelligence proved a powerful combination:

Catalyst won the national competition and was qualified to represent Saudi Arabia in the regional Injaz Al Arab Young Arab Entrepreneurs Competition finals in Amman, Jordan.

The Emotional Intelligence (EQ) coaching sessions, based on the Six Seconds Model, were used to guide the girls throughout this challenging and fulfilling life experience. Six Seconds Certified Practitioner Solafa Batterjee facilitated learning on a number Six Seconds’ emotional intelligence competencies such as Navigating Emotions, Exercising Optimism, Engaging Intrinsic Motivation, and Pursuing Noble Goals. The trainees created their personal logos as part of “Know Yourself” portion of the program. The logos became the basis for an EQ team contract that joined their personal aims and objectives into a company business goal to guide them to win the Arab regional competition.

The training also introduced the team to a central EQ concept:

Emotions drive people and people drive performance.

Throughout the training program, the young businesswomen were taken on a visualized trip of the upcoming journey. Expected emotions were discussed openly among them, to make them aware of their behavior patterns that might jeopardize their effort at anytime because of emotional stress.  Instead of experiencing feelings as an obstacle, they learned to use emotions as a source of energy and insight — part of the power of real leadership.

The aim of the EQ training/coaching program was to develop self-confidence, intrinsic motivation, setting priorities, developing wise decision making and self-management, and to emphasize the effect of body language on internal and external judgment.

Developing emotional intelligence skills awareness as a key factor for present and future success was also a primary goal of the entrepreneurship program.

The CATALYST team recognized

The regional Injaz Al Arab 2011 finals was a fascinating rich experience. Young entrepreneurs from all around the Arab World faced personal and team challenges. The incredible energy of these dynamic young people is an indication of a promising future. It was a miniature real world experience of what the future generation will face when they step up as leaders in this thriving business community.

Catalyst, the Saudi student company, was able to prove itself. The six girls won the Judges Award for establishing a business that reflected the most improvement and growth.

Hadeer Sadaga, the winning CEO of INJAZ-Saudi Arabia (Fikra 2011), commented on the occasion and said: “The Injaz program has opened the doors for business and entrepreneurship. Being part of FIKRA 2011 has qualified me to work with all kinds of people. Dealing with the hardships and complications that would most likely happen in a running company, which I believe can only make you stronger and faithful. I now know how to use my time for something valuable that made me even more responsible than I already was. It has given me the chance to be more sociable, confident and an accomplished Saudi young female. It has also given me a chance to learn the true meaning of leadership. Injaz has made me self-determined!

Ten years from now, I will be striving to hold on to my honesty, loyalty and integrity. Throughout the upcoming years I hope and will endeavor to be a respectable woman, daughter, mother, friend and cardiologist. I want to be an educated woman, a role model to those who come in need, an inspiring motivator to those who have lost hope and a treatment to those who need repairing. In order to become all of these things I ought to be a true believer, deep in my heart aiming for righteousness and a steward of Allah Almighty’s dominion.”

Shahad Alsolaimani Catalyst CEO echoed the power of the process: “The whole INJAZ experience taught me how to share and convince others of my opinion, and how to communicate effectively, listen, and use my body language in a natural way. I made sure that I was always smiling and turned those furious emotions into a positive energy that showed how proud and strong I was. Meeting peers from different countries and backgrounds opened my eyes to how the world works. The prior training and coaching sessions unleashed the leader in me and made me more creative and professional. I am now more able to plan on a daily bases and for my future”.

Nael S. Fayez, the CEO of INJAZ-Saudi Arabia recognized the power of emotional intelligence for the Catalyst group: “Having worked with those young ladies right from the beginning at their local public high schools and worked with them 12 weeks in a multi-dimensional training that focused on building their business capabilities and life skills, the effect of Six Seconds and EQ training on those young ladies was evident. Without a doubt, it contributed to their self-confidences, interpersonal communications and presentation skills. Definitely I would think that future students must benefit from this robust training and preferably with the magnificent Solafa herself.”

As a result of that national success, further future cooperation between INJAZ Saudi and Solafa Batterjee of Six Seconds is being planned to facilitate such EQ training to national winners.

For more information about INJAZ-Saudi Arabia, refer to http://www.injaz-saudi.org

Solafa Batterjee is a Saudi change agent and member of the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network. She believes in the power of education as a key factor to develop nations and create change. For more information http://www.6seconds.org/profile/sbatterjee  or her personal blog http://solafabatterjee.blogspot.com/

Six Seconds is a global organization supporting people to create positive change and increase people-performance. Founded as not-for-profit corporation in the US in 1997, the organization is now led by offices in 11 countries. Six Seconds’ change agents work to improve leadership, collaboration, and effectiveness in every sector. The organization gives a limited number of grants to educational and community programs to provide powerful emotional intelligence assessment and development tools to support positive change. Visit www.6seconds.org for more.

My Noble Goal is clear now, thanks to you
For my goal is to increase awareness on EQ
Those who really understand it in life are few
I will achieve that, as my work will help me do

I started spreading EQ at work as a trainer
For helping others also makes me a gainer
The world would then have no complainer
Noble Goals would fill the world’s container

Developing people is the passion of my heart
Attended the SEI Coaching was the award, the tart
Debriefed my first client in the course was the first part
Lined up four more clients to debrief, call Yoshimi & start

Self awareness, for me, is sometimes a pain
“I understand, yet it is a necessity” says Jayne
I learnt from you and got feedback from Hussein
To take lead to my life and not live it in vain

I had a purposeless life & lived it day by day
Thanks to you & Six Seconds I now know my way
Would keep applying the competencies okay
So I would never again be lost or go astray.

Background

Rotana is the leading hotel management company and currently manages a portfolio of 70 properties throughout the Middle East and Africa, with an aggressive expansion plan in place.  The company combines a unique understanding of the culture and communities of the Middle East with the collective expertise of an executive team contributing over 35 years of international experience in the hospitality industry.

Looking to underscore its brand promise of ‘Treasured Time. Our promise to you’, Rotana recognised the need to build on their relationships in ways that increase customer satisfaction, improve productivity, and enhance teamwork — within and across properties. The Area Director of Employee Development, Tripat Mehrotra, identified that to achieve this, leaders needed to develop the skills and attitude that will create the right organisational culture to achieve the company’s vision.

Implementation

In August 2010, Six Seconds MEA (Middle East & Africa) delivered the EQ Leader Certification Workshop to 10 of Rotana’s Employee Development Directors. The 3-day workshop prepared and certified them to deliver the 1-day EQ Leader workshop in-house.

The “EQ Leader” program introduces leaders to the Six Seconds Model and focuses on the core competencies that allow leaders to understand and manage the human-side of their people – starting with themselves.  It sets the context, builds a case for EQ leadership and provides tools to develop a more purposeful, focused, and productive workplace climate. The goal is to enhance relationships at every level and foster a climate of success,

Immediately following this workshop, the newly certified group of Employee Development Directors put their skills into practice by facilitating the 1-day program for their colleagues attending the annual Rotana Human Resources conference.  The certified trainers are now rolling out the program across the region.

Results

The participant rating for the EQ Leader Certification Workshop was nearly 100% – course content (96%), facilitator quality (98.8%).  As The Area Director of Employee Development, Tripat Mehrotra at Rotana put it: “I attended the workshop to learn how to train others in EQ. I not only learned how to effectively use the materials, but also I learned a great deal about myself – which I’m now applying.” David de Silva, Director Employee Development at the Park Rotana in Abu Dhabi said, “One of the best training programs I have ever attended, it inspired me to pursue EQ further.”

As the EQ Leader program is being delivered internally, leaders are already seeing the value.  They are recognising that their own emotions affect their employees, which in turn, affect the customers and the brand.  Developing a shared language for communicating about leadership and the way leaders shape the culture and climate is providing Rotana with a serious competitive advantage.  The program continues to be rolled out by the in-house certified trainers with around 200 managers already having taken part in workshops being delivered across the region. Rotana’s organisational leadership is now beginning to use this shared vocabulary and toolset to shift from a focus on developing individual properties to a commitment to organisation-wide standards for excellence.

has accredited the Six Seconds’ “EQ Certification” program — and Six Seconds is featured on their home page at the moment.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to blend thinking and feeling to make optimal decisions — which is key to having a successful relationship with yourself and others. To provide a practical and simple way to learn and practice emotional intelligence, Six Seconds developed a three-part model in 1997 as a process – an action plan for using emotional intelligence in daily life.

This model of EQ-in-Action begins with three important pursuits: to become more aware (noticing what you do), more intentional (doing what you mean), and more purposeful (doing it for a reason).

Know Yourself

Clearly seeing what you feel and do. Emotions are data, and these competencies allow you to accurately collect that information.

Choose Yourself

Doing what you mean to do.
Instead of reacting “on autopilot,” these competencies allow you to proactively respond.

Give Yourself

Doing it for a reason.
These competencies help you put your vision and mission into action so you lead on purpose and with full integrity.

Know Yourself gives you the “what” – when you Know Yourself, you know your strengths and challenges, you know what you are doing, what you want, and what to change.

Choose Yourself provides the “how” – it shows you how to take action, how to influence yourself and others, how to “operationalize” these concepts.

Give Yourself delivers the “why” – when you Give Yourself you are clear and full of energy so you stay focused why to respond a certain way, why to move in a new direction, and why others should come on board.

You’ll notice we present the model in a CIRCLE – it’s not a list, it’s a process!  The process works when you spin it, like a propeller moving a ship.  As you move through these three pursuits you gain positive momentum!

“Under” the three pursuits live eight specific, learnable, measurable competencies.  They’re measured through the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment – or SEI.  Here are the eight competencies – with definitions below:

At the core, emotional intelligence is something to BE.  By being more emotionally intelligent, smarter with feelings, you will more accurately recognize emotions in yourself and others.  This data will help you make decisions and craft effective solutions to the “life puzzles” you face each day.  It’s also important to put it in action – hence the verbs.  The three pursuits – and the eight competencies – are actions.

To learn more about the model and how to use it:

An overview of the model including additional links excerpt from At the Heart of Leadership: How to Get Results with Emotional Intelligence (this book is an excellent resource for learning about EQ and the model in leadership)

See this video of our COO introducing the model

Order your SEI Assessment with a 1:1 debrief with a coach

Explore our blog and articles which frequently discuss different competencies – or search for the competency that’s of interest!