How To Do It: Lessons from Elton John concert

The recent visit by Sir Elton John has rightfully been hailed as a major success story for both Dubai and the flamboyant entertainer. Anyone lucky enough to have attended his two-and-a-half hour concert will not have gone home disappointed. Indeed there are some who would rate his show as the best ever on these shores.

Without him even knowing, there are lessons that the mercurial knight has taught the UAE business community. Whether they will take them on board remains to be seen.

It was probably the first major concert held here that actually started on time. Many people outside the arena were visibly shocked to hear the maestro begin with 'My Song' on the appointed hour. What a transformation would take place if everybody were to start work on time and how much this would add to the local economy would be staggering. And a further boost would occur if all meetings could follow Elton's example and start when they should.

Apart from the timekeeping aspect, the 'Rocket Man' taught us all another valuable lesson - whatever your job try to do it in a professional manner and to the best of your ability. This was the singer's 200th concert on his present tour but the energy and application shown indicated that he was performing to the height of his undisputed ability. To say that he was doing a fair day's work for a fair day's pay would be an understatement.

It brings back memories of the former Liverpool FC manager, one Bill Shankley, a legend among his peers and football supporters the world over. His attitude was that everybody should work hard and when asked what he would do if he had been a street cleaner, he replied that he would have been the best in the world with the cleanest streets in the city.

Elton has been in the music industry for almost four decades during which time he has had his fair share of ups and downs. During the 1980s, he went through a phase that would have brought many a lesser performer's career to an abrupt halt.

Likewise many a business will go through critical stages and it is important that management is in a position to adapt to present conditions expediently and have the right strategy in place to meet all possible circumstances.

He has somehow managed to reinvent himself. The show indicated his ability to combine the best of his past hits with the current trend in pop music. He has demonstrated that he can keep up with the times while maintaining his links with the past.

Companies should take a leaf out of his book and remember that marketing and continuous brand awareness are of paramount importance to the survival of any business entity.

Other Elton facets are his ability to network and his charity work especially in relation to AIDS. There is no doubt that networking plays an important part in most people's personal advancement but Dubai must be the home base for many of its better exponents.

The expat brat and the expat sycophant are two of the less savoury aspects of life in the Gulf. The Gulf-based expatriate must always remember, but they often forget, that networking is a two way street.

Reg Dwight has taught them that you can get on in life but never forget where you came from and that you have to put in to take out. There is an increasing tendency for the expatriate to go around wearing blinkers and only care for his own personal welfare. Maybe some could follow the example of Elton Hercules John and devote more of their time to community and charity work.

The organisation ensured that there were no last minute hitches and everything went smoothly on the night. I have lost count the number of times that I have attended meetings to find that something like the PowerPoint presentation would not work ensuring that the end result lost much of its impact. Another valuable lesson for Gulf-based businesses: perfect planning prevents pathetic performance.

Although the venue was an idyllic setting, this could now be the time for Dubai to have its own purpose-built entertainment centre, maybe as part of a sports/ leisure complex. We have witnessed the success of Internet City, Media City etc, and it seems a natural progression that Enter-tainment City would ensure Dubai's rightful place on the global stage.

The presence of the likes of Elton John can only enhance Dubai's position as a centre of cultural activities. One can only hope that we see his speedy return and what media exposure would the country attain if say the Rolling Stones, along with another notable knight of the realm, were to perform in the desert. Satisfaction guaranteed.