Dubai: “No one thought that Abu Dhabi could become the capital city of the UAE because it was an island; specialists even advised Shaikh Zayed to build it in the desert instead, but inspiration was a characteristic of this great leader,” said Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security.
This was one of the 102 leadership characteristics of Shaikh Zayed highlighted by Lt Gen Dahi at the National Day Forum that was held in Dubai yesterday.
Lt Gen Dahi, who plans on compiling these characteristics in a book, also recalled some of his fondest memories of the great leader through his direct interactions with him as an officer in the 1970s,
“Throughout my research on leadership characteristics, I found articles on the top seven or 14 characteristics of leaders. The highest number I found was 30 but when I started my research on the leadership characteristics of Shaikh Zayed, I found 102. These are based on my experience as I was there, as a young officer, when the UAE flag was first hoisted and I was at his funeral when he passed away.”
Another leadership characteristic highlighted by Lt Gen Dahi was Shaikh Zayed’s open mind. He narrated an incident about parents in a remote eastern area of the UAE who were reluctant to send their daughters to school because, with the school being far away, it meant getting on to a school bus with a stranger (the bus driver) ‘“I recall [that] parents ... believed it was against tradition to go in a bus with a stranger. The girls did not go to school for three months until Shaikh Zayed heard about the incident.”
When Shaikh Zayed heard about this, he respected their beliefs, said Lt Gen Dahi, and did not force them to send their daughters by bus to the remote school. Instead, he told them to drop their daughters off to school themselves and gave them a salary for driving their daughters to school.
“This reveals how open-minded he was and his respect for the beliefs of others,” said Lt Gen Dahi.
Other leadership characteristics mentioned by him were Shaikh Zayed’s ability to think strategically, set objectives, fulfil goals, identify his vision, withstand setbacks and his ability to lead people.
“He was also humble,” said Lt Gen Dahi. “One day, a woman pointed at him so he went across to her to see what she wanted. He came to know that her husband was in jail and she needed help. Other leaders might not have the time to stop and pay attention to the concerns of just another woman in the crowd [but Shaikh Zayed did].”
The most important characteristic of Shaikh Zayed, said Lt Gen Dahi, is that he has left a leadership legacy that is being taught, and will continue to be taught, to generations to come.
