Members of the Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy’s (SC) 2016 Youth Panel took a giant step towards their personal development after participating in last week’s Josoor Institute-organised workshop ‘Leadership Lessons from Sport’.
Most of this year’s 45 panellists were active listeners of the main presentation titled ‘Building and maintaining a high-pressure environment in a volatile and competitive industry’, delivered by former Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC Director of Football Damien Comolli.
Comolli, who signed current global superstars Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez during his Tottenham and Liverpool stints respectively, spoke about various leadership models in sport in an insightful presentation laced with anecdotes from a glittering career as elite executive with giants of the English Premier League.
For 21-year-old Manar Abdulla Hashim, a Qatari student at the Virginia Commonwealth University, Comolli’s presentation was an enormous learning experience. “The most striking aspect was his idea that quick problem solving is the essence of good leadership and therefore every individual can aspire to be a leader in one’s profession or community,” said the graphic design student. “I am proud of my country hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the lessons learnt from the workshop will help me do my bit for my country during the delivery and legacy phases of the tournament.”
Tom Cross, Sport Psychologist with the Sussex County Cricket Club of England and formerly involved with the Great Britain hockey team in the 2012 London Olympics, also spoke on leadership theory.
The youth panel members, who were divided into small groups, enriched the discussions with their collective and individual inputs. Their active participation, praised by Comolli, demonstrated that the initiative by the SC’s Community Engagement team is indeed in the right hands for its second successive year since inception.
The Youth Panel is aimed at giving the youth of Qatar, irrespective of nationality or ethnic background, a voice in the delivery and legacy planning of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.
Along the lines of their 2015 predecessors who graduated this March, the class of 2016 are setting their own agenda gaining unique access to experts from across industries. They have interacted with renowned artists, historians, designers and civil engineers involved in 2022 FIFA World Cup™ stadium construction during the four previous assignments of the year, with seven more sessions scheduled before their graduation.
Joshua Jiao, a student at the Philippines School in Doha, said Comolli’s insightful presentation will help him represent the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar as well as in the Philippines. “As an Asian living in Doha, I am proud of the World Cup and feel I am a stakeholder in it,” he said. “I will represent the tournament in Qatar as well as in the Philippines, and I will need to forge strong relationships to get my message across. Comolli’s notion that the hallmark of a successful leader is the ability to form and maintain personal relationships is very thought provoking.”
Comolli said that he was impressed by the clarity of thought and focus of the participants. “In my view, the main legacy aspect of any major sporting competition are the people. As young people in a country tasked with hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the youth panel members will play a vital role in making the tournament a success. Looking at their insightful observations, passionate involvement and capability for collective thinking, I believe they can be good ambassadors of the tournament,” he said.
The next assignment for the Youth Panel is on 15 October, when they interact with in-house SC experts on various aspects of the FIFA World Cup. (SC.qa)