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RYLA during the pandemic

Last Saturday was the last day in the online RYLA by Alexandria Agora Rotary Club, with two sessions only this night. The first session was around the leadership role during the crisis by Dr. Hossam Farahat & the 6 ways of leadership by Dr. Hanan Abd El-Moneim. Dr. Hossam Farahat discussed that we can define crisis as something abnormal that disturbs us. So, COVID-19 and the lockdown are crises as it is affecting our lives. Crisis is the existence of threat, surprise, and short decision time. So, we need to take an action to change the circumstances. And this agitated a negative reaction as defined by Helberg & Hays during 1980. There is two things to think about during crises, which are either containment or damage control. To deal with a crisis you need a "business continuity planning" which includes the minimum business to help continue performing to limit the negative economic effect. Or a contingency planning to think of different ways to get out of the crises through alternative ways, having several plans ready just in case plan A didn't perform as expected. Leadership consists of building trust to bond the leader with the team, reform as we are not in the norm so we need to reform enhancing our performance, find weaknesses that can be modified, take prompt & fair decisions. And then we had a recap on the VUCA concept which includes: Volatile: changes all the time with unpredictability Uncertainty: you are unsure Complexity: there are many things affecting the situation Ambiguous: it is unclear Then, Dr. Hossam has discussed the methodology to deal with crises through: strategic decisions, assessing the threats & opportunities, finding alternative solutions, selecting a solution, and executing. And then the session was concluded by the fact that stress motivates you to become the best version of yourself or stress that is negative and restrains you.
This was followed by the 6 ways of leadership by Dr. Hanan. You can lead your team through inspiration seeing beyond for the employees to optimally perform. You can lead your team through be committed to a goal that recognizes yourself & others' achievements through motivating employees. Moreover, you can lead through your charismatic personality to communicate their vision effectively so that other people adopt this vision as if it is their own through clear goals, solid action plan, and strong conviction. All leaders should recognize outstanding performance to enhance the productivity of the team. The leader should constantly ask for input & ideas from all of the stakeholders. A leader should never assume. S/he should play the role of a coach & mentor to keep growing the team. A leader is always nice to influence the minds & hearts. All of the above leads to a growth environment through performing a regular maintenance to the team. Motivation is complex, psychological, unique to each person, sensitive to the context, and not fully understood. Motivation should be backed up with actions. As a leader you want your team to be motivated through self motivation. So, you need to build a "do it now" attitude breaking any task to smaller milestones and never wait for the right mood. To achieve success you need to be: Responsible Hard-worker right character Right time Persistent Creative Committed Learner Planner for the short term & long term Motivator Thank personally, timely, often, and sincerely Take time to meet & listen actively Provide feedback Encourage new initiatives Explain how the members fit into the team Involve members in the decision making process Offer ownership Offer recognition Give chance to learn Celebrate successes And at the end Dr. Hanan concluded her session by defining the following important concepts "strategic planning" is to translate the vision you have to the reality you aspire with a vision & mission in mind. And "change management" which is to facilitate adaptation & manage resistance for change. Managing a successful change through being empathetic, participate, and communicate to improve your life through focusing on personality, community, and life.
And by that we have concluded a 3-day online leadership bootcamp under the theme of "a leader is not a boss".

RYLA during the pandemic
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