Marwan Kheireddine Shares His Top Leadership Secrets
Marwan Kheireddine runs AM Bank with an entrepreneurial spirit. His door is always open and you won’t find him wearing a suit unless he has a meeting at the central bank. He’s usually sporting jeans and a T-shirt so he can dive in and make major deals with ease. With a vested interest in the private sector, Marwan Kheireddine brought Virgin Megastore to Lebanon, introduced credit cards to the region, and is passionate about supporting startups in the Lebanese market and working with young entrepreneurs. He also served as a minister of state in the government of Lebanon from 2011 to 2014.
In 2014, AM Bank pioneered a project under Circular 331.”We are very proud to be the first bank to launch the pilot project under Circular 331, as it set a precedent in the ecosystem of entrepreneurs and the evolution of banks as a whole,” Kheireddine said of the Banque du Liban initiative that dropped $400 million into the Lebanese enterprise market.
Although the banking mogul is often asked for business advice, Marwan Kheireddine admits he rarely offers any.
“I typically don’t give advice because in my culture, when you give advice, you become financially more responsible because you’ve given the advice,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “I have found over the years that the best formula would be to explore options with whoever is asking you for advice and to try and shed light on something that maybe they don’t see.”
The founding member of Young Arab Leaders finds it easy to influence people because of his position and it’s something he doesn’t take lightly.
“If someone comes and asks me about a project, I can easily influence their decision and tell them, ‘Go do that,’” he says. “And I did that in the past and regretted it because when I say ‘Go do that,’ I assume that they will know how to do that. A lot of people went to do it and didn’t know how to and they failed.”
Experience taught Marwan Kheireddine that he shouldn’t offer counsel. “I would rather explore options with whoever asks me for advice and then let them decide,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “Let them make the decision. They are responsible for that decision. At best, I would’ve acted as a consultant to them. So I don’t like offering advice now.”
Twenty years ago, Marwan Kheireddine says it was a different ballgame. “Back then, I would offer advice to anyone in a split second,” Marwan Kheireddine recalls. “But I realized that not everyone is structured in the same way. Not every person has the same abilities. Not every person would understand it the way you mean it. So I prefer to explore options with anyone asking me for advice and then let them decide on the best course of action that suits them.”
When it comes to leadership, Marwan Kheireddine offers a unique perspective. “I think with leadership, you develop skills and nurture leadership. You have to have it. You can’t really learn it,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “I think you can learn what needs to be done to be a leader because you can read that in books and take courses on it. But I think you need to have some leadership skills to start with.”
Marwan Kheireddine’s first encounter with leadership began when he was a Boy Scout. As a youngster, he moved up the troop ranks and tinkered with his first experience with being in charge. It instilled a strong sense of motivation in him and an urgency to inspire others.
“I learned how to manage people and how to talk to people,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “But then, I developed all of that through education and experience.”
Never Stop Learning
Marwan Kheireddine remains committed to continually furthering his education.
“Until this day, there’s rarely a year that passes that I do not take some form of a course that expands my education,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “Nourishing your brain is really important.”
Marwan Kheireddine also advises those seeking to strengthen their leadership skills to learn from professors in the classroom and experts in one’s chosen field.
And when one studies at world-leading institutions, he believes one has two advantages. “Obviously the professors who are teaching you are very good in their field, but more importantly, the people with whom you interact, who are sitting in the classroom, are all running companies that are typically larger than yours,” he says. “They’re all older than you and you learn so much by being with them in the classroom, by being in study groups and going over case studies.”
Marwan Kheireddine estimates he has conducted around 500 case studies on 500 successful companies over the past two decades. “In these studies, you go into detail, where you learn and meet the CEO and you have interactions with them. Learning is a continual process. And I believe in that wholeheartedly and I will continue to do it.”
Surround Yourself With the Best People
Although Marwan Kheireddine says he hasn’t had one specific mentor, he does have multiple mentors he consults for specific needs.
“In terms of leadership, for example, I go to a specific guy that I look up to for his leadership skills,” Marwan Kheireddine says. “I’ll speak with different people who work for me. While I didn’t have one specific mentor, I have an inventory of skills in my head where I know where to go for specific reasons. I don’t have a one-stop shop. I have 10 people that I go to and they all mentor me in something that they are much better at than me.”
Strengthen Your Public Speaking Skills
In addition to leadership workshops, Marwan Kheireddine has offered Lebanese youth priceless wisdom while teaching at the American University of Beirut. Marwan Kheireddine taught financial and business courses at the university for 20 years. Connecting with his students is something Marwan Kheireddine remains passionate about. Some have even gone on to work for him. The experience of teaching brought Marwan Kheireddine deep satisfaction. He often runs into students he mentored when he’s at the airport or out doing business in Lebanon, and it’s a feeling that brings him great joy. Great leaders should also have strong public speaking skills, according to Marwan Kheireddine and that’s another bonus of working in the classroom.
“Teaching really helped me develop my public speaking skills,” Marwan Kheireddine says, “I can speak about complex issues in a very simple way. And I learned that standing in front of students over 20 years.”
Originally published at https://www.hngn.com on February 1, 2022.
