Is there a secret formula for success? It is a question many of us will ponder at some point in our lives. If there is a secret formula, what is it and how do we apply it to achieve our versions of success, both personally and professionally?
Success is often synonymous with wealth. For many, in fact, wealth is the primary indicator of success. But in time, this limited outlook has evolved.
Whether you are an entrepreneur leading a start-up or you chair a non-governmental organisation or perhaps you are an artist, success today is about achieving impact and relevance.
To be deemed successful you must provide a service to society by making things easier or better. Entrepreneurs constantly think about their next new idea and how it might better society and allow them to become change makers and enter the coveted world of billionaires.
The entrepreneurial spirit, as it is often called, is this ability to see what others don’t.
Many on this path try to meet successful people. They read their books and watch their TEDx talks for inspiration.
Aspirants on the path of success attempt to figure out from the gurus of business how to arrive where they are so that they, the aspirant, too can follow.
Aspiring entrepreneurs ask themselves: how did they catch that elusive fish of gold that changed the course of their lives.
I was contemplating this a while ago and had an opportunity last November to receive insight on the matter at an event that not only encourages young entrepreneurs but also supports them and their ecosystem.
As a professional in the field of arts and museums I wasn't the obvious choice to conduct a one-on-one interview with a prominent entrepreneur at the Sheraa Entrepreneurial Festival, but the fact that I was invited to moderate a chat of that nature shows exactly the progressive thinking of the organisers. They had considered the potential links between the business and art world.
Something I wanted to probe via this platform was how come so many successful business people have great art collections. What are the underlining synergies between business acumen and artistic creativity?
An obvious answer might be that business people collect art as future investment. This, however, has not been the case with people I know personally, including Muna Al Gurg, a successful businesswoman and Middle Eastern art collector.
It was after my discussions with her that I realised that entrepreneurs and artists share certain traits. Businesspeople and entrepreneurs can be genuinely curious about the artistic process and the ability of artists to express their ideas in unique ways.
Like artists, entrepreneurs too need to be creative. This is fundamental to their success. If they don't constantly think creatively they will not innovate. And without this innovative process, entrepreneurs will not produce anything new and of value. There are other commonalities.
Artists and entrepreneurs don't fit the mould and don't believe in rules. They make their own
Artists and entrepreneurs don’t fit the mould and don’t believe in rules. They make their own.
This ability to create and work outside the confines of what is expected – and of what has been done – allows them to inch closer to success.
Another point gleaned from the talk that has stayed with me all these months is how artists only truly flourish when they are active in their respective communities. All artists strive to make new work that speaks to their audience.
Whether to sell their works to earn an income or to create works that will have an effect on the public, artists cannot thrive alone. They need a dynamic with their communities to allow them to keep their creative energy flowing and for them to continually evolve.
Similarly, entrepreneurs have to produce and provide their audience with something. They have to engage with their consumers. They must listen to feedback.
Consumers need to feel they are being heard. Heads of businesses must create a channel of reciprocal communication with the people they are catering to.
My advice to individuals trying to figure out the formula for success is to periodically move away from trying to find it. Great ideas and innovation don't come from a narrow channel of insight and knowledge of business but from immersing oneself in diverse topics and sources.
That means one has to navigate through unrelated matters because often what will challenge you lies outside your area of expertise and comfort zone.
Read books on topics you may not be familiar with. Educate yourself on a range of subjects, whether in matters of Greek philosophy or in the art of composing music. Attend events – be it fashion or boat engineering. Meet and network with individuals successful in fields across the spectrum, from the performing arts to paleontology.
From there, an aspiring artist or aspiring entrepreneur can go on to tackle questions of how to create something better, faster, cheaper, safer, etc. Great ideas come from the material we surround ourselves with and absorb.
Every piece of insight one picks up from life adds to our growth. This is not limited to artists and entrepreneurs. When one takes each piece of information or idea, it acts as a well-spaced weight in a fishing net. This allows one to cast the widest net in the hope that it will yield the greatest catch, and with a little luck, that golden fish.
Manal Ataya is the director general of Sharjah Museums Authority
Company profile
Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
The%20stats%20and%20facts
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Hamilton profile
Age 32
Country United Kingdom
Grands Prix entered 198
Pole positions 67
Wins 57
Podiums 110
Points 2,423
World Championships 3
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Company%20Profile
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The%C2%A0specs%20
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
Quick%20facts
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EStorstockholms%20Lokaltrafik%20(SL)%20offers%20free%20guided%20tours%20of%20art%20in%20the%20metro%20and%20at%20the%20stations%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20tours%20are%20free%20of%20charge%3B%20all%20you%20need%20is%20a%20valid%20SL%20ticket%2C%20for%20which%20a%20single%20journey%20(valid%20for%2075%20minutes)%20costs%2039%20Swedish%20krone%20(%243.75)%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ETravel%20cards%20for%20unlimited%20journeys%20are%20priced%20at%20165%20Swedish%20krone%20for%2024%20hours%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAvoid%20rush%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20between%209.30%20am%20and%204.30%20pm%20%E2%80%93%20to%20explore%20the%20artwork%20at%20leisure%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
Profile
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
MATCH INFO
BRIGHTON 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 3
McTominay 44'
Mata 73'
Pogba 80'
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio
Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
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