Petra : Change of Habits

My new consulting contract of employment is strange to say the least. It started with " an out of the blue" phone call from my businessman brother Simon Kanaan. In his usual convincing approach “They need someone like you at Petra.. brother”. That was on the 27th of February 2021.

I spent the first three weeks at Petra equipment listening to employees’ individual concerns, hopes, challenges and recommendations. I listened thoroughly to their grievances until someone said : “Don’t waste your time here Emile. Many consultants came here, and they all failed because nothing changes here trust me… I have been here long enough to know”.

Today the7th of April 2021, five weeks into the journey, I sat in the corner listening to Petra leadership team reporting their daily results during the Take Off Meeting. I smirked in silence, as one of the leadership team members exclaimed: “you know it cost us that much every hour to run the workshop” and added : “I did not know that !!!”.

The lesson is: " If you don't measure it, you can not improve it”, hence the art of leadership is to create a positive environment, while giving your people the empowerment and encouragement to do their job at best of their abilities. As a leader I am responsible for helping my team reach their full potential. Once you do that, miracle happen, and the impossible becomes possible. Five weeks into the job and I am excited about the challenges ahead and I am full of confidence in my team capabilities. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We will take Petra to become again" the hospitality solution centre ". I am adamant about that.

Why, you may ask? Because, we are changing our daily work habits . And hence I can irrevocably agree with Aristotle's philosophy: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”.