Name: Fadi Serhal

Title: Executive Director

Organisation: YOGi

An Executive Director, leading organizational transformation of a fast-growing hospitality and food service company with a presence across multiple functions. I have 15+ years of experience in senior management roles, where I have set and executed business growth strategies, identified and developed new revenue segments, and managed complex budgets and operations.

Passionate about creating value for customers, stakeholders, and partners, and enhancing cross-departmental workflow and communication. Previously worked as a strategic advisor for numerous organizations in the restaurant industry and as a public speaker on topics related to hospitality, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

Click here to read Fadi's first written interview: 7 Questions on Leadership

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

We’ve gone through the interviews and asked the best of the best to come back and answer 7 MORE Questions on Leadership.

I hope Fadi's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. As a leader, how do you build trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders?

Trust is an essential ingredient for any leader to succeed, and building trust amongst various stake holders requires different strategies, but the one key strategy that holds them all, is the ability to act upon what you have promised. Irrespective of the vertical, you have a promise that was made to each in a different aspect, yet holding to it is the key to building that trust.

2. What do 'VISION' and 'MISSION' mean to you? And what does it actually look like to use them in real-world business?

Vision and mission are the core of each member's journey, and must be passed along from leadership across everyone, therefore they have to be set realistically, and within the ethos of the business itself. Every member has his role in achieving the vision and mission in real-world business, some will strategize while others will execute, with no less contribution from anyone, but both working hand in hand to achieve it.

3. How can a leader empower the people they're leading?

A leader only becomes such because someone entrusted him with tasks, missions, and initiatives, which allowed him to grow and excel in business, through successes and failures at the same time. For a leader to empower others, he must pass forward the baton to others by allowing them to contribute to the business in their capacity, without jeopardizing their morale, and by constantly monitoring their performance from afar, in a way that lets them feel in control and responsible for their results.

4. Who are some of the coaches or mentors in your life who have had a positive influence on your leadership? Can you please tell a meaningful story about one of them?

One of the most influential mentors in my life was my Restaurant Manager back when I was a supervisor, Sobhi Bakir. Back in the day, we had 8 new restaurants that were bound to open, we had their entire management teams training at our branch, a total of 24 managers, chefs, and assistants who simply outranked me in position.

At that time as well, Sobhi was promoted to Operations Manager, with less day-to-day time in the branch, and to make things more interesting, the assistant manager had resigned, which left me alone to train the entire teams of all 8 outlets! Now talk about pressure, right? I addressed my concerns to Sobhi, as I do not feel they will take me seriously or accept the information I am sharing, even though I was very confident of it.

Sobhi then gathered all of them and passed a straightforward message saying that what I say is what he says. After that meeting, I became a different person while training them, I became so immersed in the mission of ensuring they all succeed. If it hadn't been for Sobhi and his support, I wouldn't have experienced leadership at a young age.

5. Leadership is often more about what you DON'T do. How do you maintain focus in your role?

You must focus on the bigger picture, as to not easily drift away. There's always a notebook in hand, with even the smallest of notes on it, i also make sure to sit with each department individually on a regular basis, on order to keep that business sensitivity on what is happening, and what needs to happen. No one likes surprises after all.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone plans differently. How do you plan for the week, month and years ahead in your role?

If you look into my calendar, I probably have a meeting set in Q3 of this year with specific team members. Planning is important, especially since it is easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of business, growth, and life in general. Your planning needs to be divided based on priority and importance, without causing any clutter that could distract you from important outcomes. For instance, a quarterly market analysis meeting is more important than a weekly supplier health meeting, but both contribute to the same end result.

7. What advice would you give to a young leader who is struggling to delegate effectively?

There's a type of rocket known as FaF, which stands for Fire and Forget, in which basically you set it to a target, fire it, and it'll hit the target with precision. The difference is, humans aren't built with precision guidance systems, nor effective lasers, hence, this model never works. Delegation is key in leadership, but monitoring what's delegated is as important as the action itself. Some might require a daily follow-up, until they grow and become less in need of it; some of the most seasoned team members might require a weekly follow-up. Regardless, the fear behind delegation stands in the result, and once you start following the progress of what was delegated and see the results, you'll slowly start trusting that action more.