OM DENNE EPISODE
“The world will never be as slow as it is today.”
Alain Bejjani learned leadership in a warzone — then ran a $15 billion, 50,000-person empire.
He watched his father keep a business and its people alive through 15 years of civil war in Beirut — crossing demarcation lines to pay salaries in cash, because "you're not paying salaries, you're helping people stay alive." Then he became a lawyer, walked away from law, and ended up running Majid Al Futtaim: 50,000 people, 17 countries, built from a single Dubai mall.
In this episode of Reimagining You with Dr. Elie Daher, he dismantles the rules most careers are built on:
The voice from above. “If you're waiting for a voice from above, it never comes. The voice comes from within.”
The business card. “Success is not the title on your business card. Success is when your name means something to people — it's the only thing you take with you on your last day.”
Promotion on performance. “I do not promote a successful person. Would you buy a new iPhone with zero memory space? What matters is the memory space you have left.”
Being indispensable. “An indispensable CEO is a bottleneck. A successful CEO is there, is felt, but is not seen.”
Plus: how will.i.am pitched him an AI assistant in 2016 — years before ChatGPT — why AI is the first non-biological intelligence in history, and the one trait that will decide who survives what's coming: adaptability.
Alain Bejjani is the former CEO of Majid Al Futtaim, a Shark on Shark Tank Lebanon, and the author of NEXT: Leading Through the New Realities.
IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) The world will never be this slow again
(01:14) Why will.i.am built him an AI assistant in 2016(03:37) Leadership learned in a warzone
(09:57) Salaries through the crossfire
(12:19) The voice never comes from above
(13:39) The comfort trap
(17:18) Your name is your title
(20:52) "My name is my title" — the Majid story
(21:56) Why he never promotes successful people
(27:57) The CEO who refuses to be needed
(35:41) NEXT: the four new realities
(43:06) The final word: adaptability
New episode every Thursday, 5 PM Dubai time.Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cq0lyCCN5QA
Rebuilding who you are after the title? Start here: https://reimaginingyou.me
