About
My life themes are of those of change and continuous learning. It all started when I was born in Germany in 1966, about a month before FORD’s historic Le Mans win. Growing up in a multi-cultural environment with a German mother and a Saudi father which was embedded in the German culture provided me with an appreciation for punctuality, dedication to the job, and excellence of execution. After struggling in high school and at the following Handels Schule (Economics College), I started a BMW technician apprenticeship where I fared much better.
In February 1986, my family moved back to Jeddah. It was the first time I experienced directly the rich Saudi Arabian culture and way of life. Soon after, I took a technician job with the Porsche dealership to make ends meet with little cash in hand. While getting used to the new multi-cultural environment, my German education enabled me to work my way up the organization chart at different automotive dealers and brands.
My first introduction to management came in a Marine workshop manager’s role. At that time, I still worked with engines installed in yachts, boats and jet-skis.
Moves to Riyadh and Makkah provided me with more opportunities for growth by exploring new cultural and working environments while living on my own.
From 1986 onward, I have enjoyed exploring the Red Sea underwater world scuba diving. My Dive Club’s engagement led to a BSAC Open Water Instructor qualification and taking on Training & Dive Officer’s roles in 2004. This was the first step in my continuous engagement with helping others learn new skills and develop competencies to experience the beautiful underwater world.
A few months later, my professional introduction to learning & development took place when a German customer convinced me to take on the role of BMW Technical Trainer. After achieving the BMW Master Technician credentials and enrolling in the BMW Trainer Academy, I took over the training centre and became responsible for developing the Saudi BMW TEAM.
I remember vividly the excitement of turning a junior electrician and a new joiner into a winning Team at the BMW Regional Technician Competition. Their careers were never the same afterwards, taking off like rocket ships. This experience was followed by numerous successful ones in coaching and training professionals, resulting in my clients’ leaps in career advancement.
Looking for more responsibility & change, I then left the German car landscape and exposed myself to Korean, Japanese, American, and British brands and their teams’ different working ways. With extended training & coaching engagements, I was lucky enough to have the Mazda Aftersales team recognized as the best in the Middle East region.
Joining the Jaguar Land Rover dealer start-up team in 2010, I established local talent pipelines to provide our customers with sustained outstanding services. The highlight was in 2012 when I established an automotive technician apprenticeship program that was fully recognized by UK’s The Institute of the Motor Industry as well as Jaguar Land Rover Middle East and their UK Training academy.
At the age of 48, I realized that my years of experience needed the academic support of an MBA to grow further. My dissertation explored “How mentoring dynamics affect Saudi apprentices’ on-the-job-learning? A case study of Jaguar Land Rover Saudi Arabia,” and the results supported coaching the local youth apprentices through the apprenticeship program and into the dealer’s work teams.
Graduating in 2017 from a UK Russel Group University and receiving the University of Liverpool MBA degree in front of my dear wife was one of my proudest moments.
Later with Jaguar Land Rover came my first direct involvement in management development programs. Having quickly realized the limitations of pure training & certification learner journeys, I started exploring how to ensure that training leads to measurable on-the-job change and improves with leadership coaching.
The next significant change in my life came when I decided to leave corporate life and join my wife in London – UK, for the final months of her PhD scholarship.
On returning to Saudi Arabia, my passion for helping people learn and develop provided the base for the most profound change yet: I started my own training & coaching business.
My first assignment, which was an SUV comparative product drive event, resulted in the privilege of joining the FORD MENAAP Academy team in Spring 2018, focusing on Sales & Leadership development in the greater Middle East Region & surrounding countries.
Living what I have advocated for so long, I enrolled in 2018 with Marshall Goldsmith’s Executive & Team Stakeholder Centered Coaching training and the Chartered Management Institute’s L5 Management Mentoring and Coaching certificate. I then registered with Coach U, one of the pioneering Coach Training Institutes, to develop my Core Coaching skills which led to International Coaching Federation’s ACC accreditation in October 2020.
Another highlight of my journey took place when I was privileged in 2019 and again in 2020 to be invited as a key speaker at the Automechanika Dubai.
With COVID 19 striking down any face-to-face gatherings in 2020, I held the last two Automechanika Dubai talks virtually. The first was on the Middle East Electric Vehicles Market situation together with Mr Steve Nash, IMI’s Chief Executive Officer, and the second was on the Digitalization of the Middle East’s automotive industry.
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Looking into 2021, I am focusing on fully partnering with my Executive & Business coaching clients in a thought-provoking and creative process to inspire them to maximize their personal and professional potentials, which is particularly crucial in today’s uncertain and complex environment. Adapting to the recent changes in training environments, I now utilize virtual classrooms to train FORD Dealers’ Leadership & Customer-facing Teams.
Presently I am studying to become an EMCC accredited Team Coach under Prof. David Clutterbuck and Prof. Peter Hawkins at the Global Team Coaching Institute.
This will allow me to bring the coaching skills I apply in individual leadership coaching to the team level and multiply my impact.
Completing the Coach U Certified Graduate program allowed me be recognised as a International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
To ensure my European coaching clients that they ae in good hands I completed the requirements to become dual accredited by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) as a Senior Practitioner.
My next big step came in January 2022 when I got accepted in the prestigious Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Toulouse Business School, one of only 90 Universities that has a triple international accreditation by:
Exploring Leadership Development & Coaching at the top academic level will add a lot of value to my coaching clients.