Commercial Bank and HEC Paris officials together with the graduates of the third “Youth Leadership Acceleration Programme.”
Commercial Bank has announced that 17 Qatari nationals aged 16 to 19 have completed the third “Youth Leadership Acceleration Programme.”
First launched in 2013, the programme was the result of a partnership between Commercial Bank and HEC Paris, a member of Qatar Foundation and the region’s hub for executive education to develop leadership skills of young Qataris.
The programme’s objective is to help talented young Qatari nationals build key leadership skills, identify their personal areas for development, and to consider themselves as future leaders in Qatar.
Themes on the agenda included answering the call to leadership, different leadership styles, teamwork, goal setting, communication, and driving change in the context of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The programme was conducted by senior HEC Paris faculty members Rolf Pfeiffer and Sherena Mistri-Ylannouka, and culminated in a certification ceremony led by Commercial Bank CEO Abdulla Saleh al-Raisi and HEC Paris academic dean and CEO Laoucine Kerbache.
“Commercial Bank is wholeheartedly committed to developing human capital in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030. We demonstrate this commitment by investing heavily in the skills and training of Qatari nationals to lead them to rewarding careers, and by providing education loans to cover the cost of tuition fees.
“Commercial Bank education loans are available at interest rates as low as 4.99% per annum and with easy, flexible repayment options over a period of up to 72 months,”
al-Raisi said.
He added that Commercial Bank’s active role in the programme demonstrates the bank’s ambition “to support the leaders of tomorrow and extends the impact of our structured training programmes and educational initiatives beyond those for our own staff.”
“Commercial Bank is proud of our Qatari heritage, especially during our 40th anniversary year this year. By investing our resources towards the personal and professional development of Qataris, and by providing favourable loans to cover the cost of education, we help to fulfil our commitment to the Qatari community to which we feel a strong bond,” al-Raisi stressed.
Kerbache said, “I would like to thank Rolf Pfeiffer, Sherena Mistri-Ylannouka, the team from HEC Paris and the students for a successful week full of self-improvement, inspiration, and learning. I look forward to working again with our partner, Commercial Bank, to further develop the leadership skills of young Qataris.”
Commercial Bank chief human capital officer Sharoq al-Malki said, “If you are not branding yourself, you can be assured that others will do it for you. You need to decide what you stand for and how you want to be perceived.
“Each and everyone one of us are CEOs of our own companies and in today’s society the most important position is to be the ‘head of marketing’ of the brand ‘you’. Build your brand based on the ethics you want to reflect and be known as hard working, responsible, honest, and ethical.”
Zahra Abdulla al-Raisi, a graduate of the 2013 programme, said, “As a former student of the Youth Leadership Acceleration Programme, I would like to consider myself as a successful example of the programme’s graduates. It was after I completed the programme that I decided
to change and become a leader.
“I can say that because of this programme, I now manage three projects and give lectures about my experience from the first step I took to the point that I was considered a leader. Such programmes will help create and polish responsible leaders for Qatar’s future.”
