This summer, Cambridge IFA successfully completed its 4th edition of the Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Programme (“Cambridge-IFLP”), which was held from July 29 to August 3, 2018 at Clare College, a member of the University of Cambridge syndicate. Founded in 2013, Cambridge-IFLP continues to contribute to global efforts in developing a new breed of leaders in Islamic banking and finance. Since then, about 100 men and women have graduated from the programme.
Cambridge-IFLP enjoys the reputation of being the first and the only global leadership programme specifically structured for middle and upper-middle management personnel of Islamic financial institutions. Designed and structured by Cambridge IFA, the programme is delivered by some of the most influential leaders in Islamic banking and finance. This year, a total of 50 delegates, speakers and mentors from 15 countries from Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Asia participated in the 5-day residential programme.
Designed on the foundation that leadership can best be understood by studying and closely observing the leaders themselves, the Cambridge-IFLP is designed to allow delegates to benefit from the presence of a number of mentors who are leading personalities in the global Islamic financial services industry.
Notable mentors and speakers at this year’s programme included Adnan Ahmed Yousif (President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group), Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol (CEO, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, Jeddah), Iqbal Khan (CEO of Fajr Capital), Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi (renowed Shari’a scholar), Stella Coz, CBE (Managing Director of DDCAP Limited, London), Sirajuddin Aziz (CEO – Group Financial Institutions, HBZ Global Operations), Mohamed Amersi (Chairman and Founder of a number of telecom companies and a pioneering personality in Islamic legal documentation), Dr. Lionel Paolella (University Lecturer, Cambridge Judge Business School), Richard Thomas OBE (Managing Director, Sustainable Economy Limited), Dr. Zahid Parvez (Principle of Markfield Institute of Higher Education, UK), Professor Mehmet Asutay (Professor of Islamic Political Economy at Durham University Business School), Khalid Howladar (Managing Director/CEO and Founder, Acreditus, Dubai), Iqbal Nasim (CEO, National Zakat Foundation), Dr. Jamshaid Anwar Chatta (Chief Banking Researcher and Islamic Finance Expert at Central Bank of Kuwait), and Waheed Qaiser (Executive Chairman, Maxim LLP).
“IT IS A RIGOROUS PROGRAMME THAT DEMANDS NOTHING LESS THAN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN LEADERSHIP INTERVIEWS AND OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO LEADERSHIP TALKS THE PROGRAMME’S SCOPE AND CONTENT ARE FIRST RATE, AS EVIDENCED BY THE DIVERSITY OF DELEGATES, IN TERMS OF THEIR GEOGRAPHY, PROFESSIONAL PROFILE AND AFFILIATION.”
“It is a rigorous Programme that demands nothing less than exceptional performance in Leadership Activities, active participation in Leadership Interviews and outstanding contributions to Leadership Talks,” said Dr. Sofiza Azmi, Programme Director of Cambridge-IFLP and CEO of Cambridge IFA. The speakers and mentors are primarily drawn from the industry, making it a unique programme as most leadership programmes heavily draw upon academia for delivery. “The programme’s scope and content are first rate, as evidenced by the diversity of delegates, in terms of their geography, professional profile and affiliation,” she added.
For this year’s programme, Cambridge-IFLP included 8 Leadership Interviews, 8 Leadership Talks, 2 Leadership Workshops, 3 Leadership Activities, case studies and social activities. “Leadership workshops, along with interactive social activities and Leadership Activities, allow the delegates to seek mentorships and develop relationships with these leaders as delegates will be able to interact with them formally and informally,” explained Dr Sofiza. Leadership Interviews provided great first-hand insights into leadership values, philosophies and qualities as well as an opportunity for delegates to flesh out questions to the leaders themselves.
During his leadership interview, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group, shared 3 leadership qualities that make great leaders – discipline, efficiency and teamwork, which forms the foundation of superior leadership. While natural talent is necessary and important, whether as a business leader, CEO or manager; talent alone is simply not enough. What many fail to understand is that what determines who will become an extraordinary leader is the discipline to practice, to perpetually learn and improve, and to provide a sound example to others in the organisation. Like so many other qualities, discipline begins at the top and filters down throughout the organization. “Great leaders exercise self-discipline but also require discipline of their teams,” he explained.
“You may be a leader in a team, but you must work as a team,” emphasised Adnan Ahmed Yousif. This means that a true leader should not consider himself as the supreme authority. Instead, he should realize that he is part of the organization as a whole. On the point of efficiency, he said that leaders with a strong results orientation tend to emphasize the importance of efficiency and productivity and to prioritize the work that has the highest value
When asked what leaders should focus on today to meet modern-day challenges, Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC); pointed out that leaders cannot do business as usual given the ever-changing corporate environment. He stressed that as a leader, you need to be flexible and adaptable, steering change and responding to change. “Leaders need to adapt to the changes and the types of challenges that come with them. At the same time, they must be able to make sure their team have updated skills for the future,” he said
On the point of whether leaders make an organisation or the organisation makes a leader, Hani Salem Sonbol believed in the latter. However, he pointed out although leaders build organisations, one cannot ignore the important of organisations in grooming leaders. He further added that life is a big university on its own and you learn on a daily basis. “Through life experiences, you become more rational in making decisions, more patience and more tolerant,” he added.
According to Mohamed Amersi, Chairman and Founder of a number of telecom companies and a pioneering personality in Islamic legal documentation, in the face of disruptions; leaders should be proactive. They should be able to anticipate where the industry is moving and anticipate the needs in the country they are operating in. “It’s imperative that leaders remain one step ahead of the competition in terms of what you are offering to your clients so that you always stay relevant and stay competitive,” he added.
Today’s leaders need to understand the market and adjust very quickly to the disruptions that are taking place. “Previously it took few years before new trends are being set. Today new trends are set within few months. If you don’t have the nimbleness or agility to adapt, you will miss out,” stressed Mohamed Amersi. On the issue of making corporations more socially oriented in their businesses and not just for profit, Mohamed Amersi spoke on the new initiative by the British Academy called the “The Future of the Corporation”, which addresses the purpose of business and asks what its role in society should be. Not so long ago, technology companies were hailed as offering a fresh and beguiling approach to business, but these companies together with other key players in the “sharing economy” are now attracting growing criticism over how they use their increasing power and influence. Hence, this beg the question: Is the corporation adequately equipped and structured to deal with the challenges of the future?
Richard Thomas, OBE (Managing Director of Sustainable Economy Limited), shared his views on sustainability and leadership. He emphasised on the role Islamic finance can play in sustainability, particularly in reference to ethics and governance. “Islamic banking is in the position to provide a sustainable model in its management structure, shareholding structure, corporate governance and the relationship it has with its customers; based on its values and sustainability around the ethos of Islamic finance,” he explained.
He went on further to discuss sustainable economy. When asked his views on why Islamic finance is lagging behind its conventional counterparts in sustainable finance considering the overall goals of Shari’a (maqasid) in operations of Islamic finance, he opined that we shouldn’t look at conventional sustainability sector as a good example. He stressed that Islamic finance should be seen as part of a wider movement towards the promotion of sustainability as a key element of economic life. Islamic finance promotes risk-sharing, connection to the real economy and emphasizes financial inclusion and social welfare.
“CHANGE CAN ONLY HAPPEN WHEN YOU ARE CONVINCED, COMMITTED, MOTIVATED AND SEE THE BENEFIT OF MAKING THAT CHANGE. ANOTHER SITUATION WHERE CHANGE CAN HAPPEN IS WHEN YOU HAVE A MENTOR AND YOU BELIEVE IN THE MENTOR. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, PEOPLE ARE MORE WILLING TO CHANGE WHEN THEY SEE THEIR LEADERSHIP IS ACTIVELY DOING THE SAME.”
Iqbal Nasim, CEO of National Zakat Foundation, emphasized upon the role of zakat in effective management and customer consciousness of social responsibility. He also cautioned against quantitative ambitions as he opined that this is a quite a dangerous way of looking at things. “Most charity works like this where they have certain targets and certain fundraising amount to achieve in a certain period of time. To a certain one can understand where this comes from but it can be quite damaging to the culture,” he added. “Money becomes the object basically and numbers become a focus. Whereas it’s the quality of actions or activities of service that should be the focus on a day-to-day basis.”
On the topic of leading change, Waheed Qaiser who is the Executive Chairman of Maxim LLP, shared some of his personal experiences and offered valuable advice. Successful change is one of the biggest problems that modern organizations face. In the fast-changing world, the strategic imperative to change is often clear: Without doing things differently, organisations are unlikely to succeed, or remain relevant to the changing landscape around them. But change-management research has demonstrated time after time that organizational change initiatives fail more often than they succeed, despite the resources put into creating change management processes.
“Change can only happen when you are convinced, committed, motivated and see the benefit of making that change,” he explained. “Another situation where change can happen is when you have a mentor and you believe in the mentor. But more importantly, people are more willing to change when they see their leadership is actively doing the same.” Although it is important for leaders to have vision, authority, and ambition, but it is more important for them to reach out to others to make sure that everyone feels involved in the process of change. Leaders who don’t do this, who attempt to impose their vision from the top-down; might manage to achieve something that looks like their vision, but in reality is in fact hollow and empty.
During his interview, Khalid Howladar (Managing Director/CEO and Founder of Acreditus) presented two key skills to leadership – logic and empathy. “Everything has a logical path,” he said. “But when you apply logic to human beings, they are not necessarily logical. And this is where empathy comes in. And it’s through this combination of logic and feelings that we can apply one of the most important factors in leadership – empathy for others.” Empathy is the ability to resonate with how others are feeling. This enables you to gain rapport with others and thereby motivate them to do better as it allows you to sense the emotions of your employees and respond accordingly. True empathy combines understanding both the emotional and the logical rationale that goes into every decision.
With a number of Leadership Talks given by industry leaders, Cambridge- IFLP delegates benefitted from in-depth knowledge and understanding from industry experts on how to develop themselves into effective and influential leaders in their respective organisations and in the global Islamic financial services industry. Leadership Talks covered wide range of topics and perspectives including structuring and product development, human resource development, and leadership perspectives.
“VERYTHING HAS A LOGICAL PATH. BUT WHEN YOU APPLY LOGIC TO HUMAN BEINGS, THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY LOGICAL. AND THIS IS WHERE EMPATHY COMES IN. AND IT’S THROUGH THIS COMBINATION OF LOGIC AND FEELINGS THAT WE CAN APPLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN LEADERSHIP – EMPATHY FOR OTHERS.”
Talking on the topic ‘Leader as a Strategist’, Dr. Lionel Paolella (University Lecturer, Cambridge Judge Business School) discussed strategic leader as a thinker, competitor and sensemaker. “Strategy is very important for market identity,” explained Dr. Lionel Paolella. “It is like a glue that binds the organisation together. He further emphasised that strategy is important for competitive advantage. Strategy implemented by the management should enable the organisation to use its core competency in responding the chance of external environment and neutralize the threat.
In her Leadership Talk titled “Leadership Role of Women in Islamic Finance: How Can Women Climb Up the Career Ladder in Islamic Banking, Finance & Business”; Stella Cox, CBE (Managing Director of DDCAP Limited and Chair of TheCityUK Islamic Finance Markets Advisory Group), spoke at length on human capital development. She stressed that in order to strengthen the Islamic financial sector’s human capital ecosystem, there are at least 4 identifiable issues that require ongoing attention. These are (1) opening the industry’s door to new entrants and developing and retaining talent; (2) extension of practical knowledge and awareness opportunities (placement, internship, mentoring) to complement academic and professional qualification; (3) improved collaboration between educators and industry relevant firms; and (4) national and cross border collaboration between providers of education, training and qualifications to ensure consistency and promote best practice.
On the issue of women’s participation and leadership in Islamic banking and finance, Stella Cox explained, “For Islamic financial services, as in global financial services, the presence of women in the workplace has been gradual. 30 years ago it was not commonplace in international banking for women to have senior relationship responsibility for multinational clients or those in Muslim majority countries.” However, despite the steady progress made in increasing women’s representation and attracting new, academically and professionally qualified women to our industry sector, retaining them is another matter. “Inability to retain is perhaps the principal reason that fewer women than are currently destined to, based upon qualification, achievements and ability, reach the highest levels of executive management or corporate practice within our industry,” she added.
The solution? “We need to address barriers to women in finance, as entrepreneurs and in business,” explained Stella Cox. “Having mentors, peers and forums to share experience very much assists in sharing the load, delivers a valuable support infrastructure, networking opportunities and a platform for promotion of self and business,” she added. Private sector engagement has also been crucial in addressing barriers to women in financial services. Citing ISFIRE’s research and qualitative evaluation and ranking of women in the broader Islamic financial services industry, she said that such a groundbreaking initiative is important to highlight the many roles women play in contributing to the development of the global Islamic finance industry.
“WE NEED TO ADDRESS BARRIERS TO WOMEN IN FINANCE, AS ENTREPRENEURS AND IN BUSINESS, HAVING MENTORS, PEERS AND FORUMS TO SHARE EXPERIENCE VERY MUCH ASSISTS IN SHARING THE LOAD, DELIVERS A VALUABLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC- TURE, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AND A PLATFORM FOR PROMOTION OF SELF AND BUSINESS.”
The Leadership Talk by Professor Mehmet Asutay centred on Islamic Moral Economy for Emancipation and Empowerment. He highlighted that Islamic moral economy essentialises justice, but encourages for equality through the expansion of ihsan, for which he stressed that “this framework should constitute the objective of Islamic finance.” Professor Mehmat Asutay went on to say that Islamic finance so far has been successful in generating transactional base; but has not been able to contribute to the transformation of the societies and the ‘Islamic’ in Islamic finance is no longer visible beyond ‘fiqhi treatment of Islamic products.
“As it has moved away from the substance, form and articulation of Islamic moral economy; hence creating a divergence between aims of Islamic moral economy and the practice of Islamic finance,” he explained. Examples of such divergence includes relegation of social responsibility to charity; the widespread practice of fictitious commodities and commodification; developmentalist objectives, SDGs and ESGs are not considered; and innovations towards convergence to existing market system in the sector creates further financialisation.
Professor Mehmat Asutay went on to stressed that “Islamic finance has to move into a new paradigm to fulfil the promise” and that “the objective cannot be ‘Islamic capitalism’ but a sharing economy for empowerment”. He further explained that this requires a knowledge economy to develop authentic institutions and instruments beyond mimicking and mirroring. He added that Islamic finance should be re-defined as “the art of protecting and financing people.”
“TO BE A GREAT LEADER YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP, BUT LEADERSHIP IS BEST UNDERSTOOD FROM A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL POINT OF VIEW TO WHICH HE PRESENTED THE 5 DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP – KNOWLEDGE, VISION, ACTION, RELATIONSHIPS AND PERSONAL.”
Sirajuddin Aziz, CEO of the Group Financial Institutions, HBZ Global Operations; shared his views on leadership in Islamic financial institutions. According to him leadership is about leading people, influencing people, commanding people and guiding people. “But to be a great leader you need to understand the dimensions of leadership,” he emphasized. But leadership is best understood from a multi-dimensional point of view to which he presented the 5 dimensions of leadership – knowledge, vision, action, relationships and personal. The perspective gained from understanding leadership in all five dimensions can help you be more intentional in the practice and development of leadership.
Talking on the subject of ‘Islamic Leadership in a Globalised World’, Dr Zahid Parvez said that living through a period of unprecedented and transformative change requires new visions for leaders to be successful and greater ability to adapt due to continuous change. This involves adopting new approaches, acquiring new skills and new tools as changing environments will demand new and changing organisational structures (ways of organising) and new ways of leading. Hence, three leadership competencies are required for future leaders include leading self, leading people and leading organization.
Dr. Parvez also explained the fundamental differences between conventional leadership and Islamic leadership. Whilst the orientation of conventional leadership is premised on material success, relativism and duniya (short term), Islamic leadership according to Dr Parvez “achieve goals through God oriented (seeking pleasure of God), value and principle oriented (universal) and akhirah oriented, i.e. maximisation of long-term benefits by considering implications of present actions on long- term benefits such sustainability, justice, human well-being.
Hence, Islamic leadership places greater emphasis on soft factors such beliefs and values; knowledge and insights that provide foresight and wisdom (hikmah); and personal abilities and competencies. He explained that belief and values include iman (vision and conviction), niyyah (motivation and drive), taqwah (conscious of moral behaviour/conduct), shura (considering issues from multiple perspective), tawakkal (confidence, courage, trust in Allah that enables sabr and sacrifice) and muhasibah (evaluation, learning from doing, accountability).
“ACHIEVE GOALS THROUGH GOD-ORIENTED (SEEKING PLEASURE OF GOD), VALUE AND PRINCIPLE-ORIENTED (UNIVERSAL) AND AKHIRAH ORIENTED, I.E. MAXIMI- SATION OF LONG-TERM BENEFITS BY CONSIDERING IMPLICATIONS OF PRESENT ACTIONS ON LONG-TERM BENEFITS SUCH SUSTAINABILITY, JUSTICE, HUMAN WELL-BEING.”
In one of the leadership workshops conducted by Kamran Sherwani (Shari’a Advisor at ADCB Islamic Banking); he raised the question “Why are Islamic banks forced to mimic conventional products?” He explained that mimicking itself is not an issue if all Shari’a-compliant structure and documents have been used. He argued that currently the industry is forced to mimic the profit rates, which is almost equal to the interest rate of conventional banks. For example, even though Islamic banks are offering profit-sharing investment account, the losses are not passed on due to profit smoothing technique used as a means to avoid displaced commercial risk problems.
In her closing remarks at the end of the 5-day programme, Dr. Sofiza expressed her appreciation to all the speakers and delegates whom have contributed to the success of the programme. She added that “Cambridge-IFLP has achieved its objective of creating the next generation of Islamic finance leaders. I am happy to see how this programme has, since its inception, helped create a long-term relationship between delegates from different parts of the world, all of whom have come together for a common goal of learning from existing leaders and playing an active role in steering Islamic finance industry forward.” Dr. Sofiza also announced that the 5th Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Programme will be held from 8th July till 12 July, 2019.
During the 5 days at Clare College, delegates took part in several social activities that are a must on the “to-do” list when one is visiting the University of Cambridge. This included punting on the River Cam and enjoying one of Shakespeare’s famous play at King’s College garden. During the garden party held at the Fellow’s Garden, delegates had the opportunity to enjoy the British summer weather while at the same time horned their leadership skills during the Cambridge IFLP Treasure Hunt activity organised on the college grounds.
This year, six Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Awards were announced. These awards were given to outstanding delegates who had demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities during the programme, participated actively and constructively in all discussions, and their inputs added value both to the programme and other delegates. All delegates received their certificates from Iqbal Khan of Fjar Capital, whilst the Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Awards were presented by Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi. Winners were selected based on their active involvement and participation during the entire programme, the originality of ideas expressed and shared, demonstrated superior leadership qualities in all activities conducted and were of great inspiration and role model to others. The winners included: Abed Hakim, AVP and Head of Social Media at Dubai Islamic Bank; Dr. Jamshaid Anwar Chattha, Chief Banking Researcher and Islamic Finance Expert at Central Bank of Kuwait; Karimat Oluwatoyin Kekere-Ekun, CEO of Lotus Financial Services Limited; Ferdaus Toh Bin Abdullah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Affin Islamic Bank; Hjh Irma Suryani Mazwati Binti Haji Hashim, Assistant General Manager, Corporate Relationship of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam and Salim Rashid Ali Al Maharbi, Acting Chief Financial Officer at Bank Nizwa.
TREASURE HUNT
SHAKESPEARE PLAY AT KING’S
COLLEGE GARDEN
GREAT HALL WHERE DELEGATES HAVE
THEIR LUNCHES
GREAT HALL
IN A PUNT
