Prevail: The Essence Of True Leadership
Leadership thought leader and executive coach, Abdulaziz Al-Roomi, shares insights on his new book and his own journey to become a renowned authority on leadership development. In your new book, Prevail, you aim to help others reach their potential and become better leaders. What compelled you to write on this topic?
The topic of leadership has always been appealing to me. I like the way it sounds, its impact, its promise to the audience. People always seek vision and guidance in their organizations, society, and personal lives. During my work and research on this topic for over 10 years, I realized that people are missing the essence of true leadership.
What are the main elements of leadership outlined in your book?
The book covers a pathway to finding your ideal leadership style based on your vision and values. It helps you to be authentic and genuine, while enjoying your purpose and journey. It’s not always about the results, it’s about making others feel confident, proud, and appreciated when they are working with or following you.
Prevail consists of leadership triangles including: self-leadership, influencing others, leading teams and, most importantly, fulfillment, which is based on purpose and happiness. I believe the Prevail model is a concise, comprehensive leadership model that makes exceptional leaders with or without a title, and in any environment.
How would you describe your own leadership journey?
My leadership journey was unique. I changed my job very early in my career, moving from IT to HR, and from HR to talent management and leadership development. From there, I moved into executive coaching and now I am a thought leader and author in the area of leadership and talent.
I just followed my heart and passion. I was inspired by my managers and colleagues, looking at their strengths as inspiration and their shortfalls as possible barriers for my future aspirations.
In terms of journey, I had noone to compare myself with, so my success was down to selfmotivation. Along the way, I drew inspiration from world-famous icons, Mohammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, and Nelson Mandela. All three had visions and beliefs that were bigger than themselves and they helped me to pursue my dream of becoming a change agent in the game of leadership.
You have strong expertise in human resources. How do you see the future of HR in today’s world?
My definition of HR is not human resources. Humans are not resources, they are talent, so instead I call HR the organization heart rate! If you take care of your people, they will take care of you. This is done by earning trust, and to earn it you need solid leadership behaviors in your organization’s leaders. Once you have that, nothing will significantly change the performance of your organization, whether it be a pandemic, working remotely, or a new operating model.
That said, data and AI will be solid tools for any organization, so they need to be embedded within an organization’s HR as well as the business side and sales.