Profile of the UAE Leader - Essay Example

Profile of a Leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan The Federation of the United Arabs Emirates was founded in 1971 after which Hiss Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan became its first president. This took place after he was a ruler of Abu Dhabi since 1966. For one who would like to understand the history of the UAE well, it cannot go without the understanding of Sheikh Zayed and how religious he lived. The Sheikh lived a very holy man with a lot of vision, determination as well as hard work (Embassy of the UAE, 2014). He is also remembered for his generosity that was displayed both in his homeland and abroad. It cannot also go without a mention how Sheikh Zayed devoted his life to serving his people and making the world such a better place to live in. As the story is told, Sheikh Zayed was born in 1918 as the youngest of the four sons of Sheik Sultan bin Zayed, who also ruled between 1922 and 1926, somewhere in Abu Dhabi. During his time of birth, it is reported that Emirates was very poor and lacked development. Its economy was majorly based on fishing and pearl diving. There were also few practices of simple agriculture on the scattered oasis. Sheikh Zayed is one leader who led by example. We get to know about this when he established a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish for his people of Al Ain in the late 1940s and the early 1950s (Eesa, 2001). Progress finally dawned to Al Ain even with the few government revenues that were collected at that time. A basic administration was established with the help of the Sheikh and he even personally sponsored the establishment of the first modern school. He also mobilized and encouraged friends and relatives to contribute funds that could go to the development of small-scale. Through his help, Sheikh Zayed ensured that the local water ownership was revised to allow a more equitable distribution. Through this, Agriculture was promoted, and the Oasis were re-established as the major market centers. It is his efforts in city planning in Al Ain that ensured the city became one of the greenest cities in Arabia. According to Hamza Hanson Yusuf who is a renowned American preacher and scholar, Sheikh Zayed is a very rare figure that was seen to be very inspiring through his leadership style and way of life (UAEInteract, 2013). He also described Sheikh Zayed as a leader whose words were full of wisdom. Sheik Zayed was also recognized as a leader who had great respect and love for the environment. This is well shown by the way he initiated falconry that became a lifelong passion for many (CPC, 2013). His love for education and development saw most of the revenue that was collected from oil to be directed towards building of schools, hospitals, roads and housing. He was also a man of unity and he believed and even convinced his neighbors that through unity lay their strength. This was strongly shown when he led his fellow Rulers in coming together to form the UAE (Zayed National Museum, 2010). One important point that I have learnt from Sheikh Zayed as my chosen leader in the history is the fact that he was a man of loved holistic development. It is very vivid how this leader laid down his vision to change and improve Al Ain that was less developed to a highly developed place. The Sheikh minded about development of everyone and involved everyone to take place in developing UAE. Sheikh Zayed realized the importance of women in contributing to the development of the UAE and their efforts were appreciated. He minded about creating administration systems as well as major facilities and infrastructure to open up UAE for further trade with the rest of the world. My Life Leader The leader of my life who I have met and has brought great inspiration in my life is my father. My father has been a great inspiration in my life since I was a small boy. Growing as a young boy, he ensured that all the beautiful and good characters were instilled in his boy to grow up to a holistic and responsible man. He gave me a good life and always taught me about life challenges and how to handle them. My father has always taught me the best ways a man can take care of a family as he spreads it out to the leadership in a broader spectrum. My father has a unique way of treating people that many children need to learn from. When theres someone in need, for example, say a beggar, my father doesnt just help by giving out cash. Instead, he tries to help the person in need to find some sustaining solution to their problem. He can, for this reason, find them jobs or something to do that would ensure that they receive help for a very long time. Such a wise way of helping others is a kind of skill that has impacted my life and my way of doing things. In this manner, I have learnt that any good thing that we do either for ourselves or to others, we need to ensure that it is sustainable. Good things that are sustainable help a lot more than those that are not. My father is a very organized and dependable man. He likes and encourages accountability. He likes that we keep the account of all what we do for future reference as well as for accountability reasons. He likes that we have a neat file keeping all the paperwork that we have to go through, either in school, at work or home. This is a kind of skill that has helped me develop into a very organized and neat man as I have to keep all my classwork neat and filed. I have always kept a record of all my school work since I was a kid and that for sure, will help me greatly. Currently, I know that when I need to do something good for somebody, I need to strive to help them in a way that is sustaining if provided with that option. I know that if I need to do something good, I need to make it sustainable. Im also growing into a responsible and well-organized man who can make a good leader who takes account of everything they do and everything in their environment. References CPC. (2013, January 21). The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Retrieved from Crown Prince Court: https://www.cpc.gov.ae/en-us/theuae/Pages/LateSheikhZayed.aspx Eesa, B. (2001, June 23). H.H Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan: President of United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from UAE: History; President Day: http://faculty.uaeu.ac.ae/~eesa/History/zayed.html Embassy of the UAE. (2014, Jan 21). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of UAE. Retrieved from The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Washington DC: http://www.uae-embassy.org/uae/history/sheikh-zayed-bin-sultan-al-nahyan-founder-uae UAEInteract. (2013, July 29). His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan;Reflections. Retrieved from UAEinteract: http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default3.asp?ID=312 Zayed National Museum. (2010, February 9). The Vision. Retrieved from Zayed National Museum: http://www.zayednationalmuseum.ae/the-vision/biography.html Read More