Yusuf Sidani’s mother was delighted when he decided to study a Bachelor’s in Business Administration at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Years before, she had attended AUB, earning a bachelor’s in psychology, and she hoped that Yusuf and his sisters would do the same.
Little did she know that her son would one day become the Dean of AUB’s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB).
This wasn’t always the plan for Dr Sidani, however. Once he had gained a business education in Lebanon, it was expected that he would follow his father into auditing. For a while, this plan stayed on track. He moved from Lebanon to the United States to pursue an MBA in Accounting and a PhD in Organisational Behaviour Leadership, before working in audit for nearly 10 years.
But the pull of academia couldn’t be ignored. “I got gradually and incrementally attracted to the world of academia,” he admits. Dr Sidani has now worked at AUB for more than 20 years, joining as Assistant Professor of Leadership and Business Ethics and working his way up to Dean.
The scholar doesn’t regret his time spent in industry, however. It gave him first-hand experiences of some of the challenges faced by his students, both in Lebanon and the wider region. This is something he is keen to incorporate into the curriculum at the Olayan School of Business.
“It’s extremely important for us to be able to bring in examples of real corporate, managerial, and leadership behaviours,” he said. “We want to highlight the challenges and problems that managers and leaders are facing, and will be facing in the future.”
Not led purely by financial gain
Dr Sidani reminiscences about the start of his first economics class as an undergraduate business student at OSB. The professor entered the classroom and one of the first things he said was, “the objective of a business is to maximize profits.”
“But our role as a business school is not simply to maximize profits,” insists Dr Sidani. “It is to give our students the highest return on investment, but to do this in a responsible manner.”
It is with this in mind that the Dean of OSB advises students not to be driven purely by salary when choosing a job. To some students this initially seems counterintuitive coming from the head of a business school, when, as this economics professor expressed, the objective of a business – and of an employee – is so often to maximise financial gain.
Clearly OSB approaches business differently.
Dr Sidani acknowledges there is a large amount of pressure when leaving business school, and many decide to choose a job solely based on the salary. However, he believes there are equally important things you should look for when deciding on a job, recalling a meaningful conversation with a former student.
“Salary is of course an important element, but will your position give you the opportunity to learn on the job, and will you have room to grow in terms of progression?”
“Choosing a job is very much like choosing a university,” he explains. “You wouldn’t make your decision based purely on the tuition cost. You also look at the prestige, reputation, and the value of education and the learning outcome. Similarly, you should not choose to work on a company based solely on the salary.”
The wider impact of a business school on the local community
Business education at AUB started in 1900, and then in celebration of the hundred-year anniversary of offering business programs, the university established in September 2000 an independent school of business.
The Dean is careful not to let his title get in the way of getting to know his students. Students at the Olayan School of Business know that Dr Sidani’s door is always open if they want to talk to him and ask his advice. Many of his students take him up on this offer, reaching out to him directly about their personal academic problems. He always takes the time to meet with them one-on-one and tries to find a solution.
The day before we talked, Dr Sidani ran into one of his old students, an MBA graduate from years ago, who is now a professor at the University of Connecticut. They were both attending the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management held this year in Boston. Dr Sidani spent the afternoon with this accomplished alumnus and described it as one of the highlights of his trip.
“I really took pride in the accomplishment of my former student, who’s now a professor at a very good school in North America. Our alumni are not only having positive impact through successful corporate careers, but they are also meaningfully impacting the next generation of students through such academic roles.”
As the Dean, Dr Sidani sees the huge impact OSB has not only on its students, but also in the local community and the wider MENA communities. It’s one of his favourite aspects of leading a business school.
An example he shares relates to research that the business school has been doing with various local NGOs. The school has been working with businesses to help them better understand the importance of female empowerment in business and encouraging these organizations to include policies which are sensitive to the needs of women.
“We are very mindful about the context in which we live,” says Dr Sidani. “In Lebanon, for example, we don’t score well in the corruption indicators when countries are ranked. As a result, we, and many countries in the MENA region, unfortunately rank in the bottom 50. It’s our role, therefore, to build future leaders who are responsible.”
The business school teaches its students to be strong, skilled and ethical leaders. Ethics is embedded throughout the undergraduate degree at OSB as well as the portfolio of MBA programs and Specialized Masters, and the school encourages engaged discussions about it. Dr Sidani feels a critical need to talk about the problems faced in the MENA region, and to exchange on the issues that are unique to the needs of the companies in this part of the world.
At OSB, what we offer to the region is a deep understanding of how business is done here, of the challenges that face business here, whether in Lebanon, in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and elsewhere,” he says.
“We have diverse faculty members who’ve been there in the field, they understand the types of problems and opportunities that exist in these societies and this indigenous understanding of the region, its dynamics, its potential future, its history, its culture and its values.
“To be a global leader, people need a sensitivity to their employees and where they come from. This type of sensitivity is developed by having a broad curriculum that takes into account the culture and understands the perspectives of those different localities.”
Preparing the next generation of responsible leaders
The task of preparing responsible future leaders is not a recipe that stays the same, Sidani explains. It’s something that keeps evolving. Therefore, the role of a business school like OSB is to constantly be alert to the demands of the new workforce. “An effective leader 40 years ago would not be as effective nowadays,” he reflects.
One example of how the business school is encouraging students to make ethical business decisions is demonstrated in the school’s Investment Management Programme. Across this two-year extra-curricular program, students manage real money in the form of a $1 million fund and make various investments accordingly.
As part of these decisions, the students – acting as portfolio managers – will consider where to invest this money, trying to secure strong returns on their investment. One of the aspects the students consider when making decisions is the company’s ethical filter, such as the company’s track record on their social and environmental responsibility If a company does not meet the requirements, they will most likely decide not to invest in that company.
At the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, a good leader is defined as someone who understands the context in which he or she is embedded and is able to adjust their behaviour accordingly. Dr Sidani is clear, “leaders should be transparent, authentic, considerate and humanistic, but at the same time mindful about deadlines, projects and meeting the objectives set.”
In the MENA region, authenticity is one of the most valued traits people are looking for in a leader, says Dr Sidani. People want a leader who they can trust and who will inspire them to become better. “This is why beyond strong technical proficiency, we strive here at OSB to shape responsible leaders.”
Yusuf Sidani’s mother must be very proud of a son who leads by example.
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