The Graduate Mentorship Program (Thati) at Reyada Centre hosted Sheikha Modhi Al Shamsi, Chairperson of the Department of Family Development Centres, a subsidiary of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, to share her personal and professional experiences with the program’s trainees.
The event is part of “Meeting with Leader” series, which takes place once every two years, with a view to give the program’s trainees a chance to meet with a head or director of Sharjah’s organizations, to learn from their experiences and to encourage them to become leaders and serve their society.
The training centre falls under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs.
Sheikha Modhi Al Shamsi spoke about her professional experience that spans more than 20 years, the pinnacle of which was the establishment of the Department of Family Development Centres that now has more than 100 female employees working in various branches across Sharjah. Al Shamsi spoke about her personal experience in leading the Family Development Centres, and highlighted her most prominent achievements and successes throughout various stages of her life.
Al Shamsi said, “Each person has his own dream from childhood.My dream was to become a teacher. This dream remained with me until the last stage of education because I believe that teaching is the noblest profession. We learn from teachers and we must be thankful to Allah Almighty first and then to our teachers for what we have achieved now.”
The trainees got the chance to ask Sheikha Modhi Al Shamsiquestions about her experience in leading one of Sharjah’s organizations and exchanged ideas and views on how to develop their management skills and gain leadership experience.
“It’s important to have a role model in life to learn from and be inspired by. The selection of one’s role model is based on certain criteria and should not be a person we deal with all time but could be one from the past. Our first role model is our Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him) and his companions who we follow through stories in the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunnah. Your role model could be a doctor, writer or a teacher or any person who has certain qualities that makes him different from others. We are the ones who choose our role models due to what we want to be and what we want to achieve for ourselves and others,” said Al Shamsi.
She added: “The most important thing is for us to learn from our own experiences how to be a leader. The successful leader is one who knows to deal with others and can handle any situation. He is the one who can understand his staff and motivate them in order to develop his organization and his team. The successful leader is the one who puts himself in someone else’s place to better understand a situation.”
Concluding, Al Shamsi said: “I am thankful to Allah Almighty for what I have achieved. I hope that you will be leaders in the future as you are our most important asset. With your skills and abilities you will be an exceptional, highly educated generation that seeks to serve society and the nation. I wish you success and hope that you will achieve your dreams.”
