The Boss Who Sold His Bike

On 11 June 2016, I was the Master of Ceremonies of the first Forum for Trainers in Bahrain. It was an excellent opportunity to meet trainers from Bahrain and other countries. My friend Kamal Al-Shihabi led this initiative. He gave me a call and said: “It would be fantastic if you become the MC for this event.” I retorted: “Why not.” I thought this would be a great venue for me to share one of my deepest convictions with the delegates. And I did.

Before the first break, I told the audience this: As trainers, you have a solemn duty to elevate people’s lives. You do this by sharing stories from around the world. Next time you do this, use a local or a regional example. Your audience will connect better & relate deeper to these examples. We all heard the stories of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs & Jack Welch. And we respect their achievements. However, it is time to listen to the stories of Mohamed, Ali, Abdulla, Amina, Layla, & Abeer. I hope they took my message to heart.

Today, I would like to stress the same message with this article:

Let your local stars shine. Don’t eclipse them by the shadow of international names.

A few weeks ago, I was looking at the profile of my good friend Jaffar Hamza’s LinkedIn profile. I was delighted to see that he worked with a media agency that I know: Black Sheep. I captured my phone screen and sent him the shot. He sent me a message back: “Are you part of the CIA now?” And then I told him, Black Sheep had a sad ending. It could have been one of the most prominent media players in the region. I was an investor in the company.

I told him the main reason for my investment was:

Musa Al-Aali. 

I know Musa’s family very well. Although I only met him once to hand him his collection of marketing books from the USA, I knew the late Musa was a marketing & branding genius. Jaffar was surprised by all of this. My message stirred a mixture of emotions. It reminded him of his time working under the leadership of Musa. And, how an amazingly creative team got let off the hook by the investors who did not support the company to solidify its position in the market despite their success in winning significant contracts in a short time. [Side Note: I was defrauded by the promoters of the investment. I will write an article about this experience in the future.]

[Musa Al-Aali is the first person sitting from the left & the creative logo of Black Sheep is at the center.]

I was surprised to know that Black Sheep designed Bahrain’s Vision 2030 logo. It competed with long-established international branding agencies to win this assignment by Bahrain’s Economic Development Board. Yes, the company may have long gone, but its legacy lives on. The logo it created will continue to exist until 2030 & it will continue to be in all the government’s ministries, agencies & commissions literature. It’s ingrained in the minds of all Bahrainis & expatriates living in the Kingdom.

For Jaffar & his colleagues at Black Sheep, another legacy lives on. The leadership & influence of Musa. Jaffar shared with me a few stories.

A Great Mentor

Jaffar's relationship with Musa started more than 12 years ago. Musa was delivering a talk to one of the local associations & Jaffar was part of the audience who were mesmerized by the concepts, ideas, and creativity of Musa. He was so impressed. He took Musa’s number & talked to him every day. Musa was so generous with his time & knowledge. He was a great mentor who wanted to groom other professionals who were working in the branding & marketing industry. Jaffar went on to establish his agency following the footsteps of his mentor: BOXOBIA.

An Empowering Figure

Musa used the opportunities presented to him to grow the people around him. He realized early on that one of the tasks of an effective leader is to develop more leaders. One time, he was sick but working relentlessly to finish a proposal to an important client in Dubai. He was supposed to fly to present it, but his sickness got worse. He called Jaffar to mandate him to present it on his behalf. Jaffar was reluctant to go because it was a big deal. His reluctance evaporated when Musa told him: “Go, I trust you.” And Jaffar sealed the deal. It was a significant boost to his self-confidence.

 “The aim of a great leader is not to get people to think more highly of the leader. It's to get people to think more highly of themselves.” - Bob Moawad

A Living Legend

In the words of Jaffar, Musa did not die. During his time, he groomed so many professionals in the industry who continue to live by the values he planted in their hearts & minds. They continue to talk about him, his teachings & his touches. While there is another group in the industry, who loathe him out of jealousy of his marketing & branding genius. After all, he was an award-winning creative director who was ahead of his time.

And now to the bike.

As I highlighted above, I was defrauded by the promotors of the investment – Black Sheep. They did not only let me down but also all the employees of the company. They did not appreciate the fact that service agencies needed time to build their names, secure contracts & make a profit. They cut the funding from Black Sheep. The Sheep was let go on its own. The company had no cash to defray its expenses, including the employees’ salaries. And Musa didn’t like this at all. 

He did not like the fact that employees were struggling to make ends meet. He called a friend of his. He handed him his new bike’s key. He instructed him to sell it immediately. Later in the day, his friend came with a bundle of cash. Musa called the employees to his office. He asked them about their unpaid salaries & allocated the money to them. Legally, he was not obliged to do this. But morally, he couldn’t stand seeing his team members not being paid. 

This is one of the best selfless leadership stories I’ve heard so far. And the best part, it’s from Bahrain. 

You don’t have to search far & wide around the world for inspiring leadership stories. Just look around you!

Mohamed Isa is a Business Advisor, an Award-Winning Speaker & 4-Time Amazon Bestselling Author. 

Note: The 2030 logo is owned by the Government of Bahrain and is used in this article for illustration purposes only.