Beat The Odds: The Exclusive Hotelier’s Guide Upsell Yourself and Succeed in a High Occupancy Job Market In Beat The Odds, Mona AlHebsi – renowned hospitality professional and success coach – shares, for the first time, the career secrets that enabled her to stand out, succeed, and become a sought-after hotelier in the industry. Despite the impending cultural perceptions in her society and increasing competition in the job market, Mona daringly stepped in and challenged the conventional wisdom about working in hospitality by constantly delivering successful outcomes even on the most unlikely occasions. “There are many reasons why I wrote Beat The Odds, but the top two reasons that drove me to come up with it are building authority and bridging a gap I saw present throughout my working years as an Emirati female in a competitive and dynamic sector like hospitality,” said Mona when asked about what inspired her to write the book in an exclusive one-on-one interview held by Executive-Women. Reading Beat The Odds can prove beneficial to any working professional in any field seeking advancement in their career journey. However, because the book contains exclusive tips and techniques that experts use to build authority and credibility, it’s primarily aimed at Women and Emiratis hoping to enter the hospitality industry and build a rewarding career. The book is the only one of its kind that has been written on the subject so far. The easy-to-follow tried and tested methods that Beat The Odds offers are available to all hoteliers, should they have the desire, courage, and determination to learn and act to achieve personal and professional excellence regardless of the external environment. Beat The Odds can especially be helpful for hospitality professionals who are looking for a roadmap to shine and excel in their hotel career and take it to the next level. Recently, Mona has also released the audiobook version of Beat The Odds, which is available at 40+ Audiobook Apps and ideal for those people who are always on the move. Furthermore, Mona’s new book “Fired UP!” has already been released in early December 2021 and became an International Amazon Bestseller from the first day of its release! “Fired Up!” It is a transformational anthology that tells ten different stories of 10 inspirational women from different countries and walks of life and how they have turned their “been-throughs” into “breakthroughs.” An expert in Emiratization in the Hospitality Industry in the UAE, Mona is also conducting her DBA research and plans to publish her findings as a book that will be a roadmap and reference for hospitality industry employers in the near future. Beat The Odds is your enlightening, empowering, and inspiring guide to take charge of your career as a hotelier and create your success story that will echo long after you have left the playground. Beat The Odds is now available for purchase on EW’s e-Boutique; click here to get your copy with a special discount. To know more about Mona AlHebsi, visit this link.
“Salama” Concludes Project on HIV & Reproductive Health
Salama- The Lebanese Association for Family Health concludes Japan-Funded Project on HIV and Reproductive Health December 15, 2021 The Lebanese Association for Family Health ‘Salama’ concluded its project on “Reducing maternal mortality and morbidity related to reproductive health among Syrian refugees and the Lebanese host communities in the Bekaa,” funded by Japan Trust Fund and extending from September 1, 2019, till December 31, 2021. A closing ceremony was hosted in the occasion at the Movenpick Hotel in Beirut, in the presence of the President of Salama Association, Dr. Joseph Challita, representative of the Japanese Embassy in Lebanon, Ms. Maki Yamaguchi, representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ms. Mireille Rahmeh, Head of the Lebanese Order of Midwives, Ms. Daad Akoum, and a crowd of volunteers and representatives of international organizations and civil society groups. The welcome speech was delivered by the association’s president, Dr. Challita, who affirmed Salama’s unyielding endeavors to reduce family planning and reproductive health problems in Lebanon. “We are honored by your presence today at the closing ceremony of our project funded by Japan. This project aims at reducing maternal mortality and morbidity related to reproductive health among Syrian refugees and host communities in the Bekaa and has spanned for two years, kicking off on September 1, 2019, and concluding on December 31, 2021”, Challita said. “As you know, the Lebanese Association for Family Health ‘Salama’ is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which is the largest voluntary non-governmental organization in the world, working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues and advocating for them. IPPF operates in nearly 170 countries,” he went on to explain. “Salama seeks, through its clinics, to ensure that all groups of society, especially marginalized groups, have access to the sexual and reproductive health services they need, especially since many women and girls in Lebanon find themselves in need of contraceptives/family planning and sexual health services yet have no access to them, for an array of reasons, such as their low income, or the fact that they reside in rural areas, have special needs, or are People Living with HIV, in addition to a series of other factors somewhat common among marginalized and disadvantaged groups,” Challita added. He thanked, in this context, the Japanese government for its continuous support to the association since 2017, noting that funds were provided for Salama to establish and operate its clinic in the Bekaa-Karak area, purchase a car for field visits, and provide services in rural areas. “For the second time, the Japanese government has been generous in supporting our endeavors to provide services and assistance in light of the humanitarian crises facing host communities in the Bekaa.” “We are gathered here today to celebrate our success in implementing this project. Let us strive together, as always, to make our voices heard by leaders and decision-makers who can create an environment that facilitates equal access to contraceptives and family planning services for all women and girls. This is done by setting the appropriate policies and the necessary budgets, and by providing these services to the widest possible segment of society,” Challita urged. He concluded his address by stressing that Salama will pursue its mission to advocate for reproductive and sexual health rights, provide and support high-quality services, and raise awareness among all social groups, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized. Executive Director of Salama Association, Ms. Lina Sabra, indicated in her speech that the clinic established by Salama in Karak was funded by Japan and that “the association received support, once more, from the Japanese government through Japan Trust Fund in order to operate the same clinic, provide services, and raise awareness. In both projects, the association was committed to the priorities of Japan’s official development assistance ODA policy, which focuses on empowering all marginalized groups that need services and respecting the cultures of different communities. Through the two projects, Salama focused on contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, and 13.” “We will communicate with decision-makers in the country to set a budget for sexual and reproductive health services, and we are working hand-in-hand with the International Planned Parenthood Federation for this end,” Sabra said, revealing a planned conference with Arab parliamentarians to provide training on how to allocate budgets at the countries levels to meet the populations’ sexual and reproductive health needs. However, due to the global coronavirus pandemic and the recent emergence of the Omicron variant, the conference has been postponed to a date to be determined later.” Sabra finally thanked Japan and the Japanese government for their full support of the awareness projects carried out by the association. Head of the Lebanese Order of Midwives in Lebanon, Daad Akoum, pointed out that partnership with the Salama Association has started since the Beirut Port explosion, for the aim of supporting affected people and providing them with subsidies and medicines, in addition to conducting home visits to pregnant and breastfeeding women to check in on them throughout their pregnancy and also postpartum, and provide psychological support and healthcare for them by ensuring they have access to supplements and family planning services. In Akoum’s words, Salama is working tirelessly to reduce morbidity and mortality related to maternal and reproductive health among Syrian refugees and the most in need Lebanese communities in the Bekaa. “We had initially contributed to this project by providing training to the association’s staff on family planning counseling and on how to provide correct information to the beneficiaries in all matters pertaining to sexual and reproductive health. We have also contributed to the project by preparing scientific and practical content on the subject of breastfeeding to be circulated through video presentations and publications…” Representative of the Japanese embassy, Maki Yamaguchi, also delivered a word in which she expressed her pleasure to be present at the closing ceremony of this successful project, which spanned for two years, stressing her country’s full support for this type of awareness campaign and the provision of
Beating The Odds with Mona AlHebsi
Beating The Odds with Mona AlHebsi What did you want to be growing up? I’ve always been fascinated by powerful women who have their own presence, authority, and impact in their surroundings. I remember roleplaying using any chair and table I could get hold of, talking on the phone, and then signing papers as important business deals during my early childhood years as an influential businesswoman. That used to get me very excited and make me feel powerful and vital. What is your secret to achieving excellence? Self-awareness and the constant drive to become a better human. I’m a life-long learner and an avid reader & writer; regular practice of reading and writing provides me with the opportunity to reflect and imagine various scenarios to a challenge that I may be facing currently then make a better judgment on people and scenarios and that’s quite exhilarating. This gets me to overthink at times but I try to self-manage as soon as I become aware of this tendency. I’m also quite a spiritual person and I have a strong sense of direction or intuitive urges that rarely fail me. Overall, I think achieving excellence is possible for anyone once you are true and aligned with yourself, your inner world, and your outer world, then when put the necessary efforts in the right direction. What are the two Leadership principles that you have discovered and executed that have contributed to your success? Two principles that I have constantly lived by and have always given me great results are Character and Competence. I’ve discovered these principles through my own experience; however, these have become very clear to me specifically during a phase of my career when I started managing teams and working with more people as a leader. Effective leaders can build trust with their teams or other people they deal with only if they have both good character (inner) and competence (outer) aligned. If any of these two is missing or compromised at any point, this can lead to mistrust in the leader and can end up affecting his/her credibility, reputation and impact. Character without Competence is unproductive, while Competence without Character is futile. What was your role in the execution of the Emiratization Strategy in one of the most reputable institutions in the hospitality industry in the UAE? Well, I am considered a leader in the field of Emiratization in hospitality because I’ve acquired so much in-depth understanding about the challenges that impede Emiratization in the hospitality industry over the past 16 years through working for various hotel brands both local and international, and interacting with different individuals and entities to understand their perspectives and motives about the subject. During my working years in the industry, I’ve always achieved commendable results when it comes to executing successful Emiratization initiatives and was usually benchmarked by other hotels and institutions. Subsequently, I’ve received many reputable awards for the same like the HR & Training Person of the Year 2015 by Hotelier Middle East Awards and several appreciation certificates from Dubai Tourism. Based on your expertise in the HR field, what steps should any organization in general, the Hospitality field in particular – take towards attracting fresh & high-scale talents? Employers, in general, should be more flexible and adaptive to the new changes in how they manage and mobilize their people. The new world of work will bring about unique scenarios that require HR leaders to be proactive, knowledgeable, and influential to anticipate and respond to such situations or even lead the way in introducing new solutions. Organizations must consider employing their people and other resources effectively and efficiently without draining them out or violating ethical practices because the coming period will be all about observing fairness and ethics in all human dealings and transactions. Employee Branding and Employee Experience will be the keywords for businesses across sectors but more so for service-driven organizations like travel, tourism, and hospitality to attract and retain high-scale fresh talent. What are your thoughts on Women’s Empowerment? Moreover, what has been your role in empowering women & youth in your respective field? First, this is a term that I do not prefer using anymore. As we don’t have a term called “Men Empowerment”, we shouldn’t also use the same for women. Such small mindset adjustments can go a long way and – in my opinion – constitute the first step towards achieving gender balance. I’m proud to say that over the past 16 years of my career, I’ve been a strong believer in talented and driven people and provided them with all types of support within my capacity, be it through constructive feedback, sincere coaching & guidance, or actual sponsorship or recommendations of their work to others to help them get the recognition and exposure that they need. My efforts have been the catalyst in increasing the diversity and inclusion rates in the organizations I’ve worked with, in terms of nationality, gender, or any other aspect. In your opinion, what can more women inclusion bring to the table of the world of Hospitality? What new corporate laws can be adopted and enforced to push for more inclusion & diversity at the workplace? We hear many businesses talking about diversity & inclusion, however, the problem is that many misinterpret both terms or use them interchangeably. While diversity means having a variety of people in terms of ethnicity, backgrounds, religions, nationalities, genders, orientation, ages and the like, inclusion means what policies or practices you have as an organization to ensure all varieties – especially minorities – are treated with dignity and have fair access to all opportunities the company has to offer, based purely on merit and without discrimination. Women can bring more creativity, empathy, intuitively driven decisions, and perspectives to the table. Women leaders in hospitality can relate more to people and balance the inputs used in the decision-making process which is mostly commercially driven if you have only men making decisions. A lot of men also