Book of the Month – July 2020
Our book of the month for July is “Lessons from A Warzone: How to be a Resilient Leader In Times of Crisis” by Louai Al Roumani
Louai led the strategic planning of a leading bank in one of the most hostile business scenarios imaginable; in Syria during its civil war. Despite the grueling circumstances, the bank was able to safeguard the savings of Syrians from all over the country.
Louai has lived in six different countries across the Middle East, USA, and is currently based in London with his wife.
His debut book Lessons from a Warzone (Penguin Business, 2020), is a part-memoir and part-business story that highlights the leadership lessons learned from this almost matchless experience.
In Lessons from a Warzone, Al Roumani shares his very personal account of coping with the day-to-day realities of leading an organisation in dangerous and hostile conditions. His story shows how inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places – from the timeless wisdom of merchants in ancient souks to the changing patterns of military checkpoints. During that time, not only did the bank remain robust when others faltered – it thrived and became the undisputed leading bank as people’s trust in its capability to safeguard their life-long savings strengthened.
In this book, Al Roumani distills the knowledge and skills he and his colleagues developed while steering the bank through four impossible years into ten lessons applicable to any leader facing a crisis today. His valuable, and often counterintuitive, advice – ranging from resisting over-planning to hacking your own IT department to cutting costs (but not morale – will help anyone understand how to be resilient even in the most challenging of times:
- Don’t do things right; do the right thing
- Transform your concept of time
- Chase opportunities relentlessly and don’t die until death comes to you
- Now could be the best time to create a strategic rift
- Be a situational leader
- Change, but don’t rush to change everything
- Cut costs, but don’t slash morale
- Do more and speak less
- Don’t over plan
- Align motivation and never become lax
‘A compelling guide for leaders grappling with the pandemic’ Financial Times
‘A remarkable book telling business leaders what to do when disaster strikes’ The Times
As a speaker – Louai shares his experiences and the lessons he learned with powerful visuals and images from the war-battered streets of Syria. He outlines his clear key steps on how to navigate a crisis and demonstrates how lessons learned in a warzone can help us today.
If you wish to know more on his speaking work please contact us on 020 8854 7247 or email enquiries@scampspeakers.co.uk