Celebrating a Decade Full of Achievements: Personal Reflections

10 Years in business, what an incredible milestone!

Ten years ago, I started a new professional journey, after leaving a senior position I was very passionate about.?At the time, I was not 100% sure of what my next ‘big’ move would be. Whether I would possibly apply for another senior position at one of the universities or simply consider something totally different. Something where I could find professional satisfaction and fulfilment. Work I would be passionate about, motivated to do and where I can hopefully contribute with to the higher education sector and create impact.

With the support and guidance of my amazing husband Mohamed who I have sadly lost last year after a long battle against COVID-19; I have opted for the latter. I recall his exact words then when he said: “Don’t be scared of taking new steps in life; you will learn how to run a business. Pursue your dream, shine at what you are good at. Build something new, something relevant and hopefully something beneficial for the Higher Education Sector. Don’t worry I will be there all the way to support you “.

He always believed in me, supported me in every possible way and stood by my side in the most challenging times. I was simply blessed to have him in my life and despite no longer being here, he continues to inspire me everyday with the wisdom he has left behind. The journey without him will never be the same and is quite painful; but my only hope is that I can make him proud. May his soul rest in peace.

This is how we launched CLICKS on the third week of November, 2012 with a small team, modest resources and a lot of uncertainty. I had no idea what the future would hold; I knew I will be facing highs and lows, wins and struggles and that I had very limited experience setting and managing a business. But the vision and ethos were clear for me; to help the sector grow and flourish through providing capacity building opportunities and “fit- for- purpose” advisory services that support universities and colleges and the wider HE eco-system in their journey towards quality and excellence.

Reflecting on what has been achieved???

The journey was not without setbacks, bumps and challenges. However, undeterred we continued to believe that the journey was worth making and that we will, eventually see ‘daylight’. The resiliency we developed together with the fortitude that kept us going has, eventually led to the success we are enjoying after 10 years of belief, passion, commitment and hard work.

The recent pandemic in 2020 has affected us on many fronts as any other business, but we have been agile and quickly transitioned our programs and services remotely; enabling us to reach a much winder audience than before.

Having been one of the founding members of the first online university in the United Arab Emirates and having worked in online learning since 2003 were a competitive advantage that enabled me to be contribute and support the sector in times of turbulence as we were all transitioning to remote learning.

Here we are today celebrating a decade of existence and feeling fortunate to have worked with so many HE Institutions and colleagues from across the globe. Gaining new experiences on a daily basis and developing a global network of like-minded professionals, across the whole HE Eco-System.

During these ten years we have penetrated new geographies beyond the Arab region and had the opportunity to work with over 185 higher education institutions on providing capacity building programs and consulting projects of different magnitude and scope. We have trained more than 12,500 members of the Higher Education Community from 32 countries including University Presidents, members of Governing Boards, Deans and Faculty and staff on various topics related to our 5 core areas of expertise.

More recently as part of our third strategic planning cycle (2022-2027); we have added a sixth core area of expertise focused on the student experience and more specifically considering student affairs and academic advising as vital components for delivering a rich and holistic student life cycle. ?

Our portfolio expanded over the years to includes an extensive range of training programs delivered both online and in-person; from half day webinars to six-month certificate programs. This is in addition to our range of consulting services and mentoring programs that cut across our six areas of expertise.

We have launched the Leadership Summer institutes and developed an exclusive coaching and mentoring program in 2018.

We also strived to establish platforms and networks to promote the ongoing exchange of ‘know -how’ a best practice and to discuss and debate emerging trends impacting higher education. Among these initiatives were: The MENA Higher Education Leadership Forum running in its 6th edition (www.menahelf.com ), which attracts participant from more than 45 countries; the MENA Association of University Presidents launched in 2013; the Voice of Higher Education online community group and the “In-Conversation with CLICKS” Virtual Panels Series initiated in 2020 to support the sector during the pandemic and beyond. In addition to most recently in 2021 launching the Zairi International Awards for Excellence in Higher Education, with the support of multiple international associations and organizations.

It has been exciting to work with a global network of committed international associates that are a key enabler of our work and with an impressive international advisory board who enrich our strategy and significantly contribute to the quality of our offerings and our value proposition.

Moreover, we have aligned the Center with credible international partners such as the QAA and Advance HE in the UK, NASPA in the USA, ?the Association of African Universities, the Arab Association of Universities, the Association of French Speaking Universities (AUF), the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP) ?among many others.

What have I personally gained and learnt so far?

One of the major aspects I cherish about my work at CLICKS is the opportunity to work across institutions and countries and to continuously learn from peers and colleagues in different parts of the globe. This is by itself has been a blessing that allowed me to tremendously grow over the past few years.

I have learnt that to succeed you need to possess the 3Ps: patience, persistence and passion. ?I have learnt that no matter how much we may think we achieved; the journey is still at its beginning and that the best is yet to come.?

Most importantly and while I continue to have multiple conversations with colleagues in marketing and sales around expanding our business; I have reached to a conclusion that your ‘best’ marketing is only the quality of the work you do and that good things take time to succeed but hopefully when they do, that success becomes more sustainable.

We are extremely proud of our progress, but we owe it all to you.

As we cross this major milestone this month, I can’t describe the level of gratitude that I have towards all those who supported us throughout this phenomenal journey. We could not be celebrating this success without the hard work of our talented team, the dedication of our associates and board members; the commitment of our international partners and most importantly the trust of our client institutions and participants in our different training programs. To all of you I want to say: THANK YOU!

On a more personal note, I want to thank my family members: ?my parents for standing by my side in the most difficult times and to my brother and sister. I am grateful to my late husband for pushing me to give the “best” of me and to who I owe having a “job” today that gives me every day a purpose.

It has been also a blessing to live in a country for over 25 years where there is an opportunity for everyone who is daring.

I would like to conclude with words of wisdom from the great Nelson Mandela, who said: “I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”

We will continue together to climb hills and pursue our pledge and commitment to support the HE sector.