Author - Alaa el Nawawy

Leadership My Style…

December 4, 2021
Alaa el Nawawy
Leadership

In recent weeks I got the opportunity to discuss my leadership style it’s been a controversial topic discussed many times and I think over the years I have built a style that is built on three main pillars. Let me take the opportunity to put down those principles in writing it helps me usually grasp my ideas in a better format and also as a reminder to look back at this blog post to discuss and analyze am I really applying them in a life or not.

The 3 pillars for me are as follows :

1. Agree on the objective : A lot of leaders spend time setting objectives for their team members that align to the objectives and mission of the team, but in hindsight forget to make sure that the team is actually aligned to the mission and objective of the team as a whole. Where is point A and which point B are we heading to is in many cases overlooked. While setting individual objectives is definitely very important but that’s a completely different topic than setting team objective and aligning to it. One must not fall prey to confusing setting the objective with setting the path by which we will reach that objective , that is what you leave to each individual team member to figure on their own.

2. Feedback : You get astonished at the amount of people who lose their jobs or fail at it just because their leaders fall short in giving them feedback. There is no merit in watching your team member hit the wall multiple times without stepping in to discuss approach and coach them on their own approach. 6 months or even annual performance review cycles is a very flawed approach. Continuous check-ins both deepen the relationship with team members and insures you are actually setting up a person for success rather than waiting to tell them I have told you so.

3. Moonshots : Its often overlooked by leaders to understand why their team members are doing this job. Apart from the obvious reasons of earning a living , every individual in my mind chose their job initially because they found something they are passionate about in it. The daily ramblings of the job often push people away from their passion to the point that they forget. As a leader you must instill in your team a single project, task or objective that consumes around 10% of their time that is in direct connection with their passion, even if it is not in direct relationship with their day to day tasks. Without a reason to show up everyday with the same enthusiasm , one day they will just lose the reason to show up and things go downward from there

Get used to rethinking your style and adapting , who knows maybe in a few years from now my 3 pillars will change , till then we continue to pursuit what’s best given what we know at the time.

Cyber Security ….We are All Responsible !

September 6, 2020
Alaa el Nawawy
Cyber Security
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In a recent article published by the World Economic Forum, it categorized the great disruptions that the world would face as and I quote “Pandemics, Cyber-attacks and environment tipping points”. (link to article at the bottom)  

The reality put forward by Covid-19 when it comes to tacking a global health crisis is that the collective effort of a society is as important as the individual efforts of people or organizations and maybe in some cases even more important. Putting Cyber-attacks into the same bracket as pandemics and environmental tipping point does not make it difficult to realize the analogy and the reality that we need to start tackling cyber security in similar fashion.

It is adamant to realize that a cyber security breach of an organization that is offering products or services be that a financial institution, e-commerce platform , healthcare provider or others has the potential to spread to other organizations through the fact that many organizations rely on each other’s services to offer a complete user journey or experience through API’s etc , but the scenario that worries me more , is what a follow on cyber-attack could do to the individuals who consume those products and services.

Exposing customer credentials from any service provider, can trigger attempts to leverage those credentials to access regular individual’s social media accounts, other financial institutions they may be using, private emails or even devices. While the cost of cyber breach to organizations is always tied to a monetary value in terms of either direct financial loss, loss of potential revenue or brand reputation, yet the impact on human life in the aftermath of regular individuals being victims of a mass scale cyber-attack is in my opinion unquantifiable.

Similar to the global response to Covid-19, its time the world realizes the need for coordinated cyber security measures to be taken across all organizations offering services to consumers online. Organizations need to realize the extent of impact to human wellbeing from negligence on applying proper cyber security practices on their side, repercussions are no longer limited to their own organization. Regulators, governments and the cyber security community needs to drive every organization offering services online to a minimum state of cyber security controls, those controls need to take the same priority or even higher as imposing taxes, renewing business licenses and should be subject to an audit.

The broader community specially organizations which have an aim of getting as much people connected to the internet specifically social media companies have an obligation to support the spread of proper cyber security practices exactly like they made easy access to Covid-19 information. Internet usage continues to grow, and companies continue to find new avenues to leverage the internet to offer services to consumers, they also have an obligation to inform and educate the average user on proper ways to protect themselves online….

…..In short it’s time for a collective response to cyber security issues, organizations do not just have a responsibility towards their own shareholders and customers, but to the wider societies they operate in.

But will the world really change ? ..

March 30, 2020
Alaa el Nawawy
Life
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With everybody settling into extended weeks of quarantine , thoughts about a world post Covid-19 continue to evolve , with thoughts ranging from new learning experiences , a re-structured payment hierarchy that rewards jobs we realized we need most to people even juggling thoughts about the end of capitalism as we know it today.

I tried to gather my thoughts about this unprecedented time, after all it’s a time unlike any we have lived before nor will we god willing ever live this again.

To start with there is no other that the topic dearest to my heart Tech.

  1. Technology: Time and again technology has come to our rescue enabling millions of people around the globe to continue learning, communicating and working. Jobs, meetings and tasks in industries that were for long deemed undoable down the wire turned out to work just fine. Looking at the cost that could have been avoided over the last 10 years at least if the same means which have been available for that period of time had been leveraged in the same manner and the impact this would have had on profitability, environment and well-being of people.

So, what’s next in that space, more of predictions because everybody does that don’t, they:

  • E-learning will definitely come out as a big winner, and I mean it here in the context of e-learning only and first not just for post graduate studies but all the way down to schools, e-learning only schools are a must ,I can almost see this happen in the next few months .
  • Remote first work ethic, organizations specially in industries outside the tech space will embark on journeys to explore how tech can help them improve their bottom line, after all it worked during a time of crisis, so why not during normal times. Additionally, I do not feel we have realized the full potential of technology in that space beyond the ability to communicate, the need to extend to the ability to execute will drive a lot of change in that space.
  • E-commerce, not that it needed any further boost than it did, but brick and mortar trading I think has taken the final knockout blow with Covid-19. Entire investment plans will be re-visited.
  • Health Care tech, for the lack of a better word, for years Fintech has been the hot topic, no more, I think. VC’s, investors and corporates will embark on a journey of cash splashing on everything health care related that enables faster access to health care, better and speedier testing, old school vaccine development will get an overhaul, at the same time.

 

  1. Capitalism ..think again. A lot of the thoughts I am reading around the demise of capitalism for me do not even qualify for wishful thinking. I am convinced that if it wasn’t for the overtake of capitalism in the past 40 years or so, none of what we have today could have been possible. All the tools at hand that we are using to fight Covid-19, or enable our lives to continue during this time would not have been possible if it wasn’t for capitalism.

Yet the argument about how the system has suppressed the most needing, crippled people and nations with debt is strong and valid. However not strong enough to compel a full system breakdown. I think changes in that space can be summarized in the following:

  • Regulation: Governments will become a bit more heavy handed in regulation of industries they have continuously overlooked, specifically in light of Covod-19 and the realization that free market does not always step up to expectations at times of crisis, healthcare, insurance, consumables are targets
  • Earnings: Triggered mainly by the realization that people who we most need to live deserve a lot more pay than people who entertain us, although astonishing that it took a global pandemic to reach that realization. Yet I fear the euphoria of this will be short lived if not capitalized on quickly
  • Immigration: The shortage of skills or rather the imbalance of it will trigger a new wave of immigration, although I believe it will be a much focused and organized one.

 

  1. Society …or people in general, their emotions, habits and thoughts about their lifestyle and its sustainability will jump high into people’s minds. I do not think within my generation at least that a threat to life its continuity and our abilities to sustain it have ever been tested, a few thoughts there would be:
  • Savings: As soon as the dust settles, the need for new safe nets would emerge, safe nets that do not involve stocks or bond, but more innovative accessible to the masses investment forms to enable people to sustain life at times like this.
  • Healthcare: It would no longer be a need, the big winners out of this will be insurance companies who will be able to develop new more economical models that enables a wide spectrum of people to access healthcare in a more affordable manner
  • Education: Newer generations on the doorsteps of undergraduate studies would rethink their prospects, all lists that currently exist of the jobs needed for the future would be revisited.

 

Ironically the society and human aspects of the post Covid-19 world will be the most challenging, for the simple reason that we tend to forget. Getting the masses to adhere to new principles and way of life has been a challenge at the time of the crisis itself through all the resistance seen worldwide to the simple directive of staying at home, so embarking on a full lifestyle change post the Covid-19 era will be even more challenging.

 

Twitter…..Avoiding the Yahoo End !!

February 28, 2016
Alaa el Nawawy
Social Media
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Well articles have been going around talking about Twitter’s future, fueled by financial results , but I guess the more worrying thing is the number of active users, between stable number or declining number , the elephant is in the room as it seems.

A once giant like Yahoo after years of stumbling, shaking and disarray I think has reached tipping point and is literally about to collapse whether a self imposed collapse it will be or externally forced , does not matter, the reality is the sun is about to set on Yahoo marking an end . Is Twitter heading possibly to the same future ?

Been thinking about this for a while, and trying to figure out what could be wrong , first thing came to my mind is to try and understand or rather define what Twitter stands for, most importantly what it stands for me as a user , in no particular order I came up with the following :

  • Informative in a short but sweet manner
  • Right next to me, no complication to post or read
  • Its casual, I can follow and un-follow no strings attached
  • Its close to real time, I can find news there instantly before any other place
  • Its always on, I can literally find something to read or engage in anytime of the day and night
  • Multiple media mediums presented in a non-complicated manner.

Did you notice something? Its not a place where I learn about goods or services through ads! That’s the core issue…the way the timeline is built and the flow of your experience as you browse your timeline on twitter does not really give you a chance to stop and look at the ads. Yes they are there, yes we all noticed there are ads on our timelines, but the interaction is what actually counts and pays the bills for Twitter.

This actually might answer part of the story with relation to revenue from ads, is it the correct medium etc, but does not actually answer the staggered or declining number of users . So what’s with that ?

Possibly Twitter folks have many explanations on this that accurately describe the issue, cause and probably they have come up with a plan to counter this, but from a user stand point what makes people more eager to get on Facebook than on Twitter?

To start with I think that is the main problem, Twitter is a micro-blogging platform , while Facebook is a community totally different , this is a failed comparison to start with. So if we stick to the fact that Twitter is a micro-blogging platform which it is , what should I be able to do with it that I can not do today and this is where Twitter should focus to get more users on it , so here are some I thought off :

  1. I would like to tweet about topics at different times, but still be able to correlate them into a proper homogenous story (blog) later on. I am not talking hash tags here, but rather category, topic, story, call it whatever . The only way you do that right now is to use hash tags, which does not help the purpose of making it unique to you OR threading the tweets, but yet again your thoughts about the topic might not all come at the same time.
  2. Twitter needs to exploit the fact about it becoming a main source of news for many people by further enhancing the platform to be more helpful to news creators and consumers, an option would be allowing a “group” or “page” type setting for news sources where it’s a more expanded timeline, that both gives more bursts of 140 character pieces of news , but also allows a more expanded advertisement space
  3. Closed twitter groups , suitable for use by project groups , sport teams etc.. where they can communicate in 140 character bursts around their common topic or update about certain progress . Again the interface should allow better tracking , more expanded space for ads.
  4. Twitter for corporate ? possibly but that needs more thinking J

In summary , if I was a new twitter user I would need a reason to join other than it being a hype , I need to get something back, which I believe is missing at the moment specially that the hype is gone ..

 

A vow to Transform…. not a New Year’s Resolution

January 4, 2016
Alaa el Nawawy
Life
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2015 marked an important year for me, it was the year of the 10’s as I called it…on November 2015 was my 10th wedding anniversary, and in March 2015 was the completion of the 10th year of my career…to sum up my feeling I can not be more content with what I accomplished on the personal and professional front in those 10 years. Been an absolute blessing…

Through out 2015 I was always on the search of what the next decade would be about, what will I stand for, what will I aim to achieve, accomplish or even create? Just the thought of the next 10 years being like the previous 10 is in itself discouraging…all of sudden sometime in October everything started to fall in place with a rush of thoughts and wishes.

First move came on the 1st of November, decided it was time I delivered to myself, my health and my family something that I have for a long time wished for, being fit. Dropped the cigarettes smoking and dragged my legs into a neat new gym close to where I live, and the first thing that struck me there was their slogan “ This is where we belong”…it was different, never thought a gym would be a place I would belong too, so was really curious to know more, is it just a slogan or something that they deliver on. Not a big fan of weight lifting machines nor the dreaded treadmill, I signed up for CrossFit classes and oh boy did I do the right doing that. Two months have passed since then and one of the most magnificent and enlightening experiences of my life. Not just from a fitness point of view, but from a whole experience, revelation and inner change of human soul.

I found myself actually belonging, actually looking forward to it , it hurt too much , but I have learned to love the pain and enjoy it . The feeling of accomplishment after every work out , was enough fuel to get me to progress much more in all other parts of my life unlike ever before. Its then that I realised what the next 10 years are going to be about, they are going to be about my WILL to do things and accomplish long parked goals and objectives that span from family to silliest of things like my long lasting wish to learn to play the piano. So be it, a new year is coming 2016, and I will not list my new year resolutions for the first time in my life , but I will list my promises to transform and get on doing things I have ignored for a long time , so here goes some of what I would do :

  • Continue with my fitness transformation along the CrossFit track and not just that, a journey in cycling is about to begin. More on my cycling challenge to self soon…
  • Bring to light something I am very passionate about, working in corporates! How is that I actually wrote a book J …Very very soon I will publish it online. Here you go a life long dream about to come true. Will share the details very very soon
  • Increase the time I spend with my family, each member of them but not just in quantity but in what they like spending time on, not what I like spending time on.
  • I have found my passion for technology at a new intersection between human life and the internet, or what is called IoT ( Internet of things) . I will learn, learn and learn, till I can influence, create and advance that domain.

Finally, I have also decided to challenge myself to share more about the transformation journey aiming to inspire if at all possible..