The charisma culture - a leadership myth

Sim Sitkin is a leadership professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. He was in Dubai last week to teach in the first Dubai Duke Leadership Workshop. He explains why charismatic leaders may not necessarily be the most inspiring.

What approach does the programme take on leadership?

Our approach challenges the idea, for example, that leaders are born, challenges the idea that the most important thing to know about a potential leader is their inherent traits or capabilities, like either intelligence or personality … We focus on the specific behaviours you can engage in to enhance the effectiveness of your leadership.

What has more influence on leadership style - personality or intelligence?

I think both of them are tools in the tool kit. Does it help to be smarter? Of course, because you are more perceptive about what's going on around you, you're going to be more credible to the people around you. But sometimes the most intelligent people have trouble connecting with others. They have trouble seeing it from [other people's] perspective as it's so obvious to the person who is smart. We don't have strong research data on this, but I don't think being charismatic necessarily helps you very much and could even hurt you in being an inspirational leader.

Why?

To inspire other people, what you need to do is to convey a clear and compelling vision of the future that is exciting. There is a reason I should strive for something difficult. If you are charismatic and you engage in those behaviours, that's golden. The reason I think being charismatic may have neither effect, or [may] have a negative effect, is because for charismatic individuals, it's more about them than the followers. They may have never had to learn to engage in the behaviours that are focused on encouraging others.

What makes leaders fall from grace?

I think the most fundamental reason that leaders fall from grace is that they lose a sense of themselves. They may get too caught up in the trappings of getting attention, being treated as special and maybe begin to believe their own press. The more important your role, the more inclined people are to tell you what they think you want to hear, rather than the truth. As a leader, you need to actively create an environment where you can do that, because otherwise it's too easy to spend your time effectively looking in the mirror rather than through the glass to see the world and to see what's needed.

What is the difference between a great leader and a good leader?

I think the most important thing is that they have an incredible talent for connecting with people in a way that enables those people to do things they wouldn't otherwise be able to do. It's an enabling and empowering connection. The other thing is that great leaders often, but not always, have great insight into what is needed in a situation. It can be what the people need, what strategically the organisation needs or what the customers need.

* Gillian Duncan

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Normcore explained

Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Scoreline

Abu Dhabi Harlequins 17

Jebel Ali Dragons 20

Harlequins Tries: Kinivilliame, Stevenson; Cons: Stevenson 2; Pen: Stevenson

Dragons Tries: Naisau, Fourie; Cons: Love 2; Pens: Love 2

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

While you're here ...

Damien McElroy: The risk in extending a lockdown indefinitely

National Editorial: Muslims prepare for Eid under lockdown

Hussein Ibish: For Trump, it's public health vs the economy

How does ToTok work?

The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store

To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.

The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.

Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.

How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

UAE currency

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COMPANY%20PROFILE

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MATCH INFO

Everton v Tottenham, Sunday, 8.30pm (UAE)

Match is live on BeIN Sports

if you go

The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.

The trip

Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

%3Cp%3EThe%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20-%20Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Arabic%20Language%20Centre%20will%20mark%20International%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Day%20at%20the%20Bologna%20Children's%20Book%20Fair%20with%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Translation%20Conference.%20Prolific%20Emirati%20author%20Noora%20Al%20Shammari%2C%20who%20has%20written%20eight%20books%20that%20%20feature%20in%20the%20Ministry%20of%20Education's%20curriculum%2C%20will%20appear%20in%20a%20session%20on%20Wednesday%20to%20discuss%20the%20challenges%20women%20face%20in%20getting%20their%20works%20translated.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD

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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin