JEDDAH, 17 March 2007 — “Leading from Within: Finding Yourself and Leading Others” was the theme of the sixth annual career day at Effat College that took place on Wednesday on the college’s campus in Jeddah.
Sharing their experiences as role models, a host of successful individuals delivered a series of talks to students about to graduate. Muhammad Abdou Yamani, former information minister and vice president of the Dallah Albaraka group, delivered an inspiring talk to the soon-to-be-graduates who could not stop clapping after his speech.
Yamani spoke like a father speaking to his children and shared his experience as former information minister. He stressed the point that change only comes after someone takes the initial step.
Yamani mentioned that when he first became information minister, details about the ministerial meetings were not released to the media. He said that following his first Cabinet meeting, “curious journalists” asked him what had been discussed and so he told them. The news was subsequently broadcast on radio and television the very same day.
“I got a telephone call from the royal court rebuking me for telling the news to journalists and that the information was not supposed to be made public. I thought I might be in trouble,” he said.
Yamani was summoned the next day by King Khaled. “I said to myself, ‘Oh God, I’m in trouble. God be with me,’” he said.
When the king asked why he had divulged the information, Yamani made an excuse saying there might have been a problem with the media. As things turned out, King Khaled thanked him for releasing the news. “Things were changed through only one attempt. Whoever insists on attaining a goal will succeed and achieve it if he tries,” he said.
A discussion panel entitled “Trailblazers” also shared their experiences about determining and reaching goals. Participating on the panel were Hatoon Al-Fassi, historian and professor at King Saud University in Riyadh; Safeya Binzagr, artist; Turki Al-Dakhil, presenter of “Spotlights” on Al-Arabiya television; Ahmad Al-Shugairi, owner of Andalusia coffee shop-cum-library and youth program presenter; and Kaswara Al-Khatib, owner and general manager of Full Stop Advertising Company. Moderating the panel were Saudi Radio journalists Samar Fatany and Tahani Sindi.
Binzagr was among the first Saudi women to practice plastic art and had her first official exhibition at Dar Al-Tarbia Girls School in 1968. She now owns Darat Safeya Binzagr Museum. Binzagr believes art to be a way of documenting history. “We know about previous generations from their paintings engraved in caves where they used to live. There is no society without art. It is the easy way to read about the history of nations,” she said.
Shugairi initially obtained a master’s degree in business administration and, being the only son, was supposed to take over his father’s business after he retires. However, Shugair switched careers after attending a lecture on how to organize one’s life. It was then that he realized that he wanted to bring the youth back to the concept of reading and so set up a coffee shop-cum-library called Andalusia.
Al-Fassi pointed out examples of people uniting to make a change and emphasized the need for people to be critical. “Many women refused the proposal stopping them from praying in the inner courtyard of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Being united in refusing the decision made a difference and stopped the implementation of the proposal,” she said.
Al-Khatib spoke about how he started his purely Saudi company in a highly competitive advertising industry. “We had to work on proving ourselves in the market and let people know more about us through advertisements we aired on Arabic television that made people aware of the facilities and creativity of our work. It took time and there were some obstacles at the beginning but we reached there in the end and are still going strong,” he said.
Al-Dakhil said the obstacles he faces in life are sources of strong motivation for him and challenges him to move on. “It is the easiest thing for people to say that I found obstacles on my way that is why I will not continue work,” he said.
On the sideline of the event, a job fair was being held with many companies attending. Graduates were able to look for potential vacancies and leave their resumes.
