GlocalNet

I’ve been around a lot of leaders in a lot of different fields like business, government, and religion.  I’ve been around very, very few leaders like Prince Turki-Al-Faisal.  He is an unusually rare man.  If we had 1,000 leaders like him globally our world would be a safer, healthier, and more humane place.  Don’t hear me saying he’s Jesus – like anyone else he has his faults.  Don’t hear me saying I agree with him on everything.  Hear me saying he is a man of deep character mixed with courageous action, but there are certain things about him that set him apart from the rest.  He should be a case study in global leadership.  Let me give you some lessons on leadership I’ve learned from him.

Leadership is tied more to the person than to the position.  Prince Turki is not the king – yet he leads.  He has been the Ambassador to the U.S.  He has been a leader in various positions throughout the Saudi government.  He has been in many leadership positions.  What follow him are his character and integrity and exceptionally clear thinking.  He has some core values that, whatever position he is in, guide him.  I may not have them right, but the values I’ve observed in him and in this order are faith, truth, holistic view, and a respect for people.  Those values will serve you as a writer, a scholar, an ambassador, or head of security.  The most immature leaders are those that demand position and title.  Unless your character is the base of your leadership, you may hold a position, but you’re not a leader. 

Leadership is about life long learning.  That’s what Peter Drucker said, and it’s true of Prince Turki.  He told me I have been the only evangelical pastor he has ever known.  He had a lot of “views” on who we were and what we believed.  Some were right and some weren’t.  But he was always open.  He is well versed from foreign affairs (his best field) to economics, to faith – he reads a lot and he studies.  If you’re going to be a world leader, you have to constantly read, travel, engage the world, and be open to different solutions, methods, and ideas to bring people together.  Saudi Arabia and Iran aren’t necessarily best friends.  We were talking about them in one of our meetings and instead of spewing hate he said, “We must always talk, dialogue, try to connect with each other.  There have been times in our history when we have gotten along with the Iranians.  That is what we should strive for.”  To hold on to your position, but keep your hand reached out is an incredible art knowing the other side may not reach back.  But you have to be open, a learner, and willing to risk that knowledge in order to engage. 

Leadership is not something you turn off and on; it’s what you are in public and private.  I asked several Saudis I was with, “Are all Saudis like him?”  I was told again and again, “No, he’s rare.”  When my family and his went out to eat and his family was with him at various times throughout the week, he was always the same.  They way he doted over his wife, would light up when his children were around him – I loved it.  He isn’t a persona, he’s a person.  One famous preacher a hundred years ago said, “Character is what you are when no one else is looking.”  His family, his friends, his work associates – he pretty much relates to them all the same way and they all admire him. 

Leadership is calm confidence in the midst of the storm.  He can be very opinionated.  I’ve read articles he’s written, etc., but he is a man who has mastered his emotions and doesn’t let them drive him.  He never seems hurried, stressed, unfocused, or lost.  From his views on Iran, to the Palestinians – you name it, he has a view!  He generally presents those views in a calm and deliberate manner which demands being heard.  One journalist who interviewed him told me, “I once angered him by a question I asked, but he didn’t explode, he was calm – but I knew I struck a nerve with him.” 

Leadership is honest critique that begins first with you.  He’s not afraid to critique himself or his country.  He doesn’t just critique, he actually acts!  There is the question and challenge of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.  He and many in his family are starting the first Co-Ed University in Saudi Arabia.  I had the privilege of meeting with the head of the University along with some of the Deans and leaders – it was truly impressive.  The university is at least a 500 million dollar project – it has already been funded and is halfway built.  The campus is incredible.  It will have five or six schools and three of them have opened.  Another example is there are not that many pastors visiting Saudi Arabia!  He went out of his way to address me as “Pastor Roberts” – that was making a huge statement to those around him.  We are looking at an Imam/Pastor exchange between our two countries right now.  By the end of the week, when we would wind up in meetings together or at events, he would address me and quickly call me Bob – that meant a lot to me.  While I was there I was with some political analysts.  I liked them, they’re very smart but some of them begin to get on my nerves.  They trashed everyone else’s solutions for the various things they talked about, called the various solutions simplistic, uninformed, etc. but they offered no solutions themselves.  It doesn’t take that much intelligence to look back on history and say what should have been done, and project into the future.  It takes tremendous courage and energy to act in positive ways to move forward knowing you could be wrong, but at least to try something – you call that leadership.

Leadership is about building bridges not burning them.  If you know his history, he knows when to say yes and when to say no.  He won’t be bullied, pushed, or manipulated.  He may even upset others because of that – but he always handles it in a wise manner.  There were some people that I know, for a fact, were very critical of him.  When we were talking, I asked him about them.  He had a perfect opportunity to rant and rave.  He didn’t.  He even found positive things to say about those people.  It doesn’t mean he had them in his circle.  It doesn’t mean he wasn’t cautious.  Nothing good ever comes from trashing someone else, except calling your own character into question.  Down the line, you don’t know who or what you might need.  Neither do you always know all the facts surrounding an issue.  You get what you give out – grace and mercy are preferable to anger and judgment.  I’ll never forget hearing a pastor preach in my early days and he told the story of meeting a new pastor who came to the city, and he told the pastor, “Don’t believe what they say about me and I won’t believe what they say about you.”  There are always two sides to every story. 

Leadership is about staying focused for the long haul.  Leadership is more than a project.  Leadership is more than doing a job.  Leadership is more than getting people to do what you say.  Leadership is knowing where you are going.  Regardless of the various positions Prince Turki has held, the same core convictions and positions and have worked long and hard to see them fulfilled.  Whether it’s supporting the Palestinians or the Afghans – he has put his life on the line, his credibility on the line, in order to see various people’s interests not forgotten.  He has stayed focused his entire life. 

Leadership is about rising up other leaders.  I really enjoyed working with his nephew Prince Faisal.  The young prince is another class act.  I mentioned to him how well he handled himself on a coupe of occasions.  He was filled with enthusiasm for his young protégé.  There were others I enjoyed working with Mohammed Khan, Hamed and a Syrian named Maher – all of these are people that he has taken an interest in and believes in.  I found out there are about 9,000 princes and princesses descended from King Abdul Aziz.  Just being born in the family doesn’t make you a leader.  It must be developed. 

Leadership is about being comfortable in your own skin.  My wife Niki, said, “Prince Turki is calm, gentle, kind – a man at peace with himself.”  She’s right.  Leaders who have something to prove inevitably build stuff around them for themselves.  They live by the accolades and praise of others.  A man or woman at peace with themselves, though they may enjoy those things, is going to do and be who they are regardless of those things.  Whether there is praise or whether there is critique, it doesn’t get them down, because they know who they are.