A foot in two different worlds | Daniel Sharaiha

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [01:54]It's such a joy and honor to be talking to you, Daniel, and I still remember our, conversations through the past few years. It was real fun. My context is a bit different than yours, even though we share the same name. I've been born and raised in Jordan, in the Middle East, and maybe now more than ever, there is, a huge, need for change in our region. With, with everything that is going on, the wars, the conflicts, and, and all of that, there is a real, need. To make sense of what's going on. And for me, being born and raised in Jordan, like I said, my father, my dad was involved in the NGO sector a lot. So I was raised going to, NGOs, going to places where people were underprivileged and working there. I think that left a strong impression on me because all through these years, I've still continued being part of that world. So I have one foot in the business world, working in the banking sector, and the other one in the NGO, non-government and non-profit organizations. It helped me prepare for, working in complex organizations by knowing that I don't have the answer. By, it was, it's a humbling thing because my heart doesn't fit really in the for-profit, my head doesn't fit really in the non-profit. So there is that healthy paradox and conflict within. That is humbling, and that is eye-opening, and, making sense of things in a different, different perspective.

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [08:02]We come from two different worlds, and I think everybody does in a, in their own way. Even peop-neighboring, houses could be so, much drifted apart. That's, I guess, life. So I, my, my heritage is a bit different because we are, we, we, in Jordan, we have tribes, and I come from, a big tribal, very good tribe name, and, it's called Halasa, and this tribe is, the biggest Christian tribe in, in, in Jordan. Christians in Jordan are less than two percent, ninety-eight percent are, are Muslim Sunnis, and while we share the same language, culture, being a, a religious minority, in a way, gives a different perspective and makes you think about the other minorities around you, right? I'll give you another example, a weird one. Jordan has one of the highest education, rates for women in the Arab world, and, you could go to any university, you would find, the biggest ones, at least sixty percent of students are females, which is considered high in the Arab world. But when you go to the workplace, you find that women are a minority in the workplace. So Jordan, unfortunately, is one of the lowest five countries in the world in women participation in the workforce. A big part of it is the unemployment rate. This is our struggle in Jordan, opening up new, new work opportunities, reducing Reducing that, that's the complexity of it, because we have highly educated people, people who can, could, you know, great talent, could fit, jobs and all of that, but yet we don't have the economy to open up enough, jobs for them. So that's a, that's another complicated or a complex situation where you have high education and low, participation, and that also touches a, a spot at my heart, because I keep thinking about these minorities. I keep thinking of people who are less presented, that they, they have a lower voice, if you wish. I remember in our conversation that, that, that when we talked about where you and I come from, even though we're, we have the same first name, but you are, half Jewish, you're gay, I'm Christian, I'm straight, but we're both very handsome. I think we share that at least. So even though we come from different perspectives, this also make me feel sometimes like an alien in the Arab world because I, I can see the un, you know, the unseen, the, the lower voice is more loud in my, in, in my, ears.

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [13:43]I believe that the higher, empathy you have, the more impact, you have in leadership. So one of the, the most important pillars in really igniting passion in others and really influencing others, because leadership is probably all about, you know, the ability to influence. Somebody else. I've seen, I've seen, empathy work wonders in that, if I want to build on the monkeys, part. In, in, in, in the corporate world, in NGO, you see the power struggle, you see, muscles playing, a huge impact. But what about empathy? What, what, what would empathy, do if we practice more of that in our leadership style? And, I think this is one of the things that would really impact the world around us if we can really lead with empathy, lead with, with your heart. rather than anything else. there's an interesting report that came from the West World Economic Forum saying that fifty percent of the jobs will disappear in the coming five years because of AI technology and all of that. And I keep wondering, what is the thing that, AI and technology cannot take from humans? It's the ability to be human and, and empathize with others and make mistakes and learn from them, being able to laugh and cry with, with the, with your fellow, human being. So I think this is what is lacking in, in, in leadership around us, and this is, if it, if it's done, can, wow, it can change, it, it can change the world. I think this is one of, one of the, you know, biggest things that we can reflect on and think of.

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [16:43]I have the ability to make mistakes. I'm very good at making mistakes, but there is, there's something wrong with me, right? So when I make a mistake, I see it funny, and I see humor in, in the mistakes I make, and, and sometimes the mistake of others, and this helps me, learn from that. I believe that we learn through windows, and through humor, the window is more open to learning if we learn how to laugh and take things easy and so on. One of the things that I've learned is, when, when I was younger, I used to, to be a puppeteer, so I used to have, to do puppet shows, storytelling for children, and they are the toughest crowd. And, so That I was being able to better entertain, and, when I got married, my, my wife is very hard to please, so I had to work more on these skills and, be a better storyteller, and, and, and I think we can go a long way if we learn how to laugh together. It's, Daniel, once a few, few years ago, I was in Poland, and I met this guy from I think he was from A-Azerbaijan or one country that speaks Russian, and he speaks no English or Arabic, and I speak no Russian, and we just spend like two, three hours laughing hysterically without being able to s-to-to talk the same language or speak the same language. So I think we need a lot more of that. We need to be messy and be taking it easy while being messy.

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [24:57]first of all, I'm very happy that you don't hear about Jordan a lot in Canada. It means there are not enough news or breaking news, and I, unfortunately, that's a good thing. So Jordan is surrounded by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Israel, and, and the whole region is hot, right? It's a very, very hot region around us. Jordan has played a very funny role, during the past years because, funny as interesting, because we have been, a peaceful country, and we have been promoting peace for the whole region. And while we are welcoming refugees, many, many millions of refugees in the country, we haven't exported refugees. Unfortunately, exporting refugees is something A lot of Arab countries, have, and it's very, very sad to see that this place, people around us, have been involved also with, the hospital for cancer, patients and, Jordan just welcomed more than hundred children from Gaza that are suffering with cancer, and we have been providing free, free, medication, free medical services for them. It's a lot. It's sometimes heartbreaking. Just watching the news, there is, you feel despair, and that's very dangerous. I believe that violence breeds violence, and, and that we really need some, some sort of hope in our part of the world. What makes me, go on is the, the hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, hoping that my, my family, my children, and their children will be able to live in peace. Jordan has, you know, the best food probably in the region. We have Petra, we have Wadi Rum, we have like beautiful nature, beautiful desert nature, and we have the lowest point on With the Dead Sea, we, I can, I can drive for like thirty minutes, Daniel, and see, a, a, a whole, Roman city that is like three thousand years old, almost intact in some places. So it's, there's a lot going on, there's a lot of hope coming, and I think, humans are, some humans at least are blocking that hope to, to come across. So I believe that, you know, being hopeful is what, what keeps me moving.

Daniel Sharaiha, guest · [29:49]I think, one, one advice I would give is, according to research from, Zinger Folkman, about the extraordinary leader and leadership traits that makes a difference, that gets you from good to great, is working on, if you're, for example, if you're a runner and you like to run, they tell you you need also to swim, because swimming, would, help you in your lung capacity and all of that, so it, you can be a better runner. And I think while you are working on some traits, some, competencies of your leadership style, try to build another one that goes along with it. I think having a different perspective, how we look at education is so important. It's like, there's this beautiful saying that, leadership should be about kindling the light within, right? So it's about Through dialogue, you can actually create more impact through education, and I think we are using less dialogue than before. It's becoming more of monologue, so dialogue. I love that dialogue, dia, and, and I think in Latin it means both to and logo from logos, which means word. So I think we need so much words between people. If it's on the coffee table or food or whatever, so increasing that dialogue capacity, I think it would make you a great leader wherever you are in any field you are.