Name: Mahmoud Awad

Title: Chairman

Organisation: MO & Co. For Restaurant Management (Sno Gelato)

A Seasoned Business Leader, Entrepreneur, & Serial Investor carrying 18 years of wealth of experience and learnings, ex-Schlumberger, Cisco, Ericsson, SAP, & IBM. Founder & Chairman MO & C0. Founder & CEO, Vigor Sports Nutrition

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 Mahmoud'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?

Building trust is a living Core tool both in the Professional and personal lives. End of day, in every single interaction we undergo, it's the trust that ignites the connection and keeps every single relation going.

I believe trust is a two-faced coin, first you have to be trustworthy and second you have to trust others ... trust is a very rich word that extends way beyond the absolute linguistic meaning. Trust is believing in others, believing in their capabilities, respecting their minds & accepting their flaws. Building trust within the organizational culture is about transparency, authenticity, and having a safe & open Culture were everyone is encouraged to tell it as it is, where people are assured that they are valued and heard and definitely by walking the talk and not just have it as a shiny statement in the organization playbook.

As a leader and hence as a human at its core, one has to be GENUINE, and it's a mandatory trait to thrive and succeed.

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

I'd say Vision is the Destination, it's about the Future and the Horizons you want to reach, and it's a reflection of one's beliefs and aspirations.

Mission is the Journey to reach that destination, it's the current actions and goals that have to be met to Knock-on effect towards fulfilling the Vision. Would always keep the Vision at the back of my head and never lose sight of it strategically while tactically working and altering the Mission operationally towards achieving the Vision

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

Empowerment starts with Trust & accepting others to start with, you've got to meticulously choose your people and trust them afterwards by giving them the authority, space & trust ... Coach and mentor them rather than managing them and allow them to innovate, learn, and embrace their flaws.

Define solid expectations and ensure its completely digested, let your people be assured they are heard and understood then enforce accountability coupled with the needed authority and keep on monitoring and coaching from a distance, rather than assigning tasks or in messy times telling them what to do, encourage a collaborative discussion and ask questions that would unlock their limits and allow them to set back and reflect to land on a progression.

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?

The Regional General Manager of Schlumberger in Africa "Hesham Lofty" was such an inspiring leader and he is the one who shaped the way of my leadership practice, He had a very Special Leadership Style and traits, a very humble and empathetic leader who have influenced and inspired others unintentionally, humanity and humor was his way always ensured others are comfortable in every conversation and was always genuine in every aspect which led to everyone trusting him and following him as a leader, as well was a true leader who always encourage empowerment and coach the team towards achieving their best and ensure opening up the opportunities to grow people, while having a razor sharp focus on the Business KPIs he always believed that its a team game and that the individual members growth and achievements would directly contribute and positively affect the business growth.

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

Don't micromanage.

Don't hold insights or plans from the team.

Don't engage in daily operational hiccups unless it's super threatening.

Don't step on your team's given authority or decisions unless it's one-on-one coaching. Don't lose focus on your vision.

Don't be immersed in the operational progression aside from the precise KPI's Dashboard.

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?

Driven from the Overall Vision and the mission in hand I'd always have a 3 years plan that is revised and altered as needed, this plan would be then subdivided into milestones of smart goals that would be reflected on and tweaked quarterly, weekly and even day in day out I'd focus on the short term business goals and operational progression keeping an eye on the overall long term plan and how our daily action would contribute and influence it.

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

Hire the right solid authentic humans, coach and train them, then trust them, delegate the smart way, stretch them but never overwhelm them, and accept the flaws along the way, but work on correcting them through guided mentoring. Give space and intentionally hold yourself off applying your mind after delegating, responsibility, and accountability can't be achieved without authority and space. Keep the Critical and strategic tasks later in the stage once the trust is elevated, as well as the competence & Confidence of the team.

Delegate is the only way to scale and multiply as well as to grow your team but never lose sight of the strategical level, encourage innovation and let go the minor hiccups keeping in mind that with mistakes comes the learnings and there is no 100% flawless execution and that there is always a room for the trial and error unless you are in the Aviation or Healthcare business :)