AUC School of Business support Al-Azhar University develop community leaders

Associate deans from Al-Azhar University enhance their leadership skills through a customized executive leadership program in October.

Developing leadership skills of community leaders with the aim of enhancing the community as a whole, was the main reason for the collaboration of Al-Azhar University and AUC School of Business Executive Education, to train 21 associate deans of Al-Azhar.

ExecEd Learn, Engage, Articulate and Deploy (L.E.A.D.) Change Project aimed to equip the associate deans of Al-Azhar to learn, engage, articulate and deploy a change culture in their work environment. The transformation journey prepares attendees to understand change dynamics, adopt an agile mentality, become more empowered and engaged to sharpen their leadership skills and amplify work goals through effectively managing and developing their teams.

“It was with great pleasure and pride, that I chaired the graduation of the associate deans of Al-Azhar University, one of the oldest universities in the world.” Reflects Mohamed AbdelSalam, executive director, Executive Education AUC School of Business, he also commented “the caliber of the participants, their abilities in their respective positions to positively affect change in their domains and the enthusiastic drive that was conveyed in the speech of the vice-president of Al-Azhar University, Dr. Tarek Salman, who attended the graduation ceremony and shared with the attendees Al-Azhar plans for developing and empowering its people.”

This program is considered a platform for further leadership development tracks for the associate deans of Al-Azhar in the future, which is specifically designed to teach attendees how to: lead change, motivate their teams, optimize performance, manage effective teams to change, communicate difficult messages, take initiatives and solve problems.

AbdelSalam elaborated, “Al-Azhar’s choice of selecting the AUC’s School of Business Executive Education to deliver the program to its associate deans, their positive feedback on the program and its value to their future plans thereafter, are both an honor and responsibility to continue developing and conducting strong programs capable of enabling participants to deal with challenges and opportunities – old and new – with a fresh perspective, and produce positive business impact in their organizations.”

Among the oldest professional development institutes in the region, ExecEd is bound by its mission to create leaders who can positively influence their organizations and lead change. This program is part of ExecEd customized programs, which ensure that participants and their teams are equipped to meet the unique challenges their organizations face.