November 2010

We are delighted to announce that the book Developing Multicultural Leaders published by Palgrave Macmillan, UK, has been released and copies are now available for purchase from Meirc Training & Consulting. Click here to order the book online or email A. Khleif on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Read more about the authors of the book Dr. Farid Muna and Dr. Ziad Zennie . We look forward to hearing from you; please contact one of the authors for more details and feedback regarding the book. Dr. Farid Muna Dr. Ziad Zennie

Click here to enlarge Order this book Purchase "Seven Metaphors on Management: Tools for Managers in the Arab World" by Dr. Farid Muna along with this book and receive a special discount. Please email A. Khleif on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

September 2010

We are delighted to announce that we have been advised by the publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, that Developing Multicultural Leaders will be released in October 2010.

July 2010

About the Book

Developing Multicultural Leaders

Below are the endorsements that we received for the forthcoming book

Developing Multicultural Leaders provides a concise synthesis of the leadership literature while adding a unique multicultural perspective. Based on field research, this book is a valuable and insightful guide for anyone who has the desire and determination to embark on the journey to leadership success.

-- Said T. Khoury
Co-founder, Chairman and President
Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC)

Developing Multicultural Leaders provides fresh insights for our work leading a multicultural organization within the United Nations, where we function in a complex context with multiple, diverse and sometimes overlapping cultures from all over the globe. It unpacks this complexity and provides new understandings of how management, leadership and culture interact. The book examines leadership not only from Western models, but from leadership principles and practices as developed in various regions of the South. The focus on the Middle East is welcomed and long overdue.

-- Thoraya A. Obaid, Ph.D.
Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

It is rare to read a book on leadership that deals with the vital dimension of culture and even rarer to see women interviewed in the research sample. Farid Muna and Ziad Zennie offer us both in a highly readable format. Taken together with Muna's and Meirc's other research, aptly summarized herein, this book opens wider windows on management in a critical part of the world.

-- Susan Vinnicombe OBE
Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Diversity Management,
School of Management, Cranfield University, UK

Developing Multicultural Leaders is an insightful study of how leaders are shaped from childhood to becoming successful heads of their organizations. CEOs and HR professionals will find, as I have, the leadership journey and the three stages of leadership development particularly relevant when viewed from the authors?? multicultural, contextual, and situational perspective.

-- Faisal M. Al-Suwaidi
Chairman and CEO
Qatargas Operating Company Limited, Qatar

This is a breakthrough book?an invaluable guide for any global organization doing work in the Middle East or elsewhere. Cultural sensitivity is critical in today's business environment to ensure sustainable success, yet so many expatriates choose to ignore it. Were there a pyramid of success in a global organization, this competency belongs at its base.

-- Paul F. Boulos, Ph. D.
President and Chief Operating Officer
MWH Soft, Inc., USA

It is very edifying to finally see the Middle East receiving the kind of attention it warrants by leadership scholars. The authors have done us a real service by systematically presenting, analyzing and integrating their study's findings with an impressive array of established leadership concepts. The book also has a strong practical edge for aspiring leaders who seek to lead within and beyond the Middle Eastern region.

-- Brad Jackson
Professor of Leadership
Fletcher Building Education Trust Chair in Leadership
The University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand

Farid Muna and Ziad Zennie have compiled an insightful, empirical journey into the realm of cultural differences and sensitivity, and the importance of becoming a learner of other ways of thinking and working in multinational business contexts. Each one of the authors became literally ??Mu??allmi??, my teacher. I invite you to join their class for improved self-awareness and performance in Middle Eastern environments of all types.

-- Fenwick W. English
R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership
School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.

Farid Muna and Ziad Zennie have written a book of the utmost importance that must be read by anyone who wishes to understand what leadership is going to have to be like in the emerging realities of multicultural management. Muna??s pioneering work on the Arab executive illustrated his sensitivity to countervailing trends to the prevailing Western influenced models of leadership that still dominate our narrow-focus, silo-based teaching in Business Schools. With this book, he and his colleagues have spelled out the elements of a new paradigm.

-- David Weir
Professor of Intercultural Management, and Head of Business School,
Liverpool Hope University, UK
Affiliate Professor, Ecole Superieure de Commerce, Rennes, France

I strongly recommend reading Developing Multicultural Leaders. Dr. Muna and Dr. Zennie and the Meirc team have firsthand experience of developing successful leaders in the Middle East that is conveyed to the reader in this breakthrough book. Their insights on the cultural aspects of leadership will motivate managers to achieve success through sustainable development of human capital.

-- Mustafa Al Sayed, Ph. D.
Secretary-General, Royal Charity Organization, Bahrain
Former CEO of Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco)

I found this book intriguing. It is also easy to read and provides an excellent guide for aspiring leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs who manage across multicultural organizations like mine. The authors expertly map the key development stages of leadership with unique references to the Middle East.

-- Amer Salem
Co-founder, CommVerge Solutions
President, Philippines and Singapore.

In Developing Multicultural Leaders, Muna and Zennie provide significant insights into those factors most important to leadership with a special view to their application in the Middle East. They correctly underscore the special importance of the effective ??multicultural leader?? and provide specific guidance on how individuals and organizations can strengthen their multicultural leadership effectiveness.

-- Ahmad S. Al-Nassar
Vice President, Management Services (retired)
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia

June 2010

About the Book

Developing Multicultural Leaders:
The Journey to Leadership Success
By Dr. Farid Muna & Dr. Ziad Zennie

A Synopsis of the forthcoming book

There are three main stages of leadership development

I. The Early Years of Potential Leaders

• Potential leadership starts from childhood.
• Leadership development continues throughout school and university years, especially through extra-curricular activities.
• The early ingredients for leadership success are gained during those years.

II. Aspiring Leaders

• The book identifies specific competencies and skills that are critical for becoming outstanding leaders.
• Based on the research findings, the book identifies five paths to success. These paths show how to cultivate these competencies and skills.

III. Outstanding Leaders

• Specific actions, strategies, and systems needed to remain outstanding.
• Leadership and decision-making styles must fit the culture and context.
• Hiring and developing potential leaders for the future.
• Vision, strategy, execution, and accountability are required ensure that organizations grow and remain competitive.

Culture, context, and situation must be taken into account to truly understand leadership success. Leadership and management differ from culture to culture; future successful leaders are those who have a multicultural mindset, and are able to manage within and across different cultures and contexts.

We look forward to hearing from you; please contact one of the authors:

Dr. Farid Muna

Dr. Ziad Zennie

(For more information about the forthcoming book, please see below)

May 2 2010

About the Book

Developing Multicultural Leaders: The Journey to Leadership Success will be published by Palgrave Macmillan, UK, during the last quarter of 2010. As promised we are pleased to provide excerpts, extracts, and quotations from the forthcoming book at the start of each new month. In April, we published on this site the table of contents (see below).

Here are the first four paragraphs of the Introduction:

??What makes great organizational leaders? This question has been asked by management thinkers, scholars, and practitioners from a multitude of countries and cultures. Developing Multicultural Leaders aims to answer this question using a multicultural approach and field research conducted in twelve countries.

However, to discover what makes great leaders, it is necessary to delve further and deeper and to tackle the following five related questions:

• What influence do early childhood years have on success?
• What are the specific life experiences that contribute to leadership success?
• How do leaders with potential become outstanding?
• What critical paths must leaders follow on their journey to success?
• And, finally, what must great leaders do exceptionally well to become and remain outstanding?

This book synthesizes the best leadership literature while introducing a multicultural perspective as it addresses these questions. The lessons are useful for current and aspiring leaders and for those in charge of recruiting, supporting and developing them who must take into account nuances, similarities, and differences in context and cultures. Developing Multicultural Leaders is about becoming a more effective and successful leader. It seeks to enrich our understanding of the ingredients for leadership and to shed light on the journey to success.

We believe that there are a number of paths on the journey to leadership success and that learning to become an outstanding leader is possible for all who are ready to put in concerted effort and have the determination to do so. This book introduces a new framework for understanding leadership.??

If you have any questions or comments on this book, please contact one of the authors:

Dr. Farid Muna

Dr. Ziad Zennie

April 2010

Developing Multicultural Leaders
The Journey to Leadership Success

Farid A. Muna & Ziad A. Zennie
Meirc Training & Consulting

The book will be published in hardcover this year by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers, UK. On a monthly basis, we shall publish in this section of our website excerpts from the book. Let us start with the table of Contents.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Looking at the Whole Elephant

• On Leadership, Followership, and Culture
• A Framework for Understanding Leadership Success
• A Road Map to Success

Part II: The Making of Outstanding Leaders

• The Early Years of Potential Leaders
• Paths to Outstanding Leadership
• Learning to Lead: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence

Part III: What Outstanding Leaders Do Exceptionally Well

• Styles of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
• Decision-Making Styles, Execution, and Accountability
• Recruiting and Developing Talent

Part IV: Implications and Recommendations

• Final Thoughts

Appendix A: Research Methodology and Data Analysis
Appendix B: Semi-Structured Questionnaire and Invitation Letter to Organizations
References
Index
About the Authors