Ghida Barakat, spent the past 15 years climbing the corporate ladders of some of the Middle East’s leading companies, such as National Bank of Kuwait, Alshaya Group and Al Humaizi Group – LSH.
Her career enabled her to work directly with decision makers and CEOs alike and, as she honed and developed her training and coaching skills, developing many individuals along the way, she subsequently realized the untapped potential within some of her colleagues.
It dawned on her that her true fulfillment came from supporting individuals and teams to claim their own leadership, guiding them to skillfully steer the challenging situations on both personal and professional levels.
Ghida’s strong devotion and commitment towards empowering people to remove roadblocks, create breakthroughs of their limiting beliefs, in both skills and mindset, unlock those hidden talents & cultivate them into positive actions, was the driving force behind her career shift to become a certified Coach & Trainer and to create Leap, coaching, training and Leadership development practice, currently based out of Kuwait.
We spoke to Ghida to find out more about her journey, choices and leap of faith into LEAP coaching.
How did you become a leadership coach?
After completing all the professional certification that I believed would enable me to become a balanced, diligent, knowledgeable and respected business person, the valuable knowledge I gained allowed me to evolve into an Executive and Leadership Coach, Facilitator & Trainer that specializes in transformational & executive development. I have a unique talent of assisting people in attaining high levels of performance & effectiveness.
I am also recognized for my genuine love of connecting with people, my immense belief in human capabilities, my passion for unlocking hidden and untapped potential, and my determination for challenging people beyond the limits they’ve defined for themselves, so making them unlock their own innate power.
I work closely with teams and individuals from many diverse backgrounds and in today’s fast moving environments, so it allowed me to understand what makes people tick and what drives them towards their true potential and goals, something that gives great satisfaction.
How do you measure your success as a coach?
Nothing excites me more than seeing my clients ready and willing to claim back their lives and unleash their voice and inner power. To me this is the ultimate success, to witness them live up to their full potential, to free themselves from their limiting beliefs, to take more risks and achieving their goals. Their heartfelt testimonials and referrals are ways that reassure me that I’m on the right track.
I also use, mainly for executives and organizations, other scientifically proven assessments and tools to benchmark and measure the success rate after an agreed period, so for every part of my role there is measure but ultimately it is customer satisfaction that drives my success.
However, in light of this, I constantly remind myself that my clients hold the power, authority and responsibility for their own transformation, not me. There’s an old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” So, we can’t change our clients, only they have the power to change themselves!
What we do is use proven and powerful techniques to guide and support them in their journey. It’s very important that this is clear because some think this is a magic pill. They forget that it requires consistency, commitment, letting go of old habits making room for the new ones and building those muscles in our brains bit by bit for the change to take place.
For example, if you work out with a personal trainer once a week but neglect to control your food and not exercise for the rest of the week, will you see any change? People forget that we are switching a mindset that they have been conditioned to for many years and so yes there’s work involved, and it all goes back to how much you are committed towards your change? How important is it for you to live a life of fulfillment? How much do you want to achieve your goals?
Leadership feels like such a broad term, how do you define it? Can anyone become a great leader?
We often confuse rank and authority with leadership. Leadership has nothing to do with your position or status. It’s a decision, a choice, the best leaders see themselves in service of others and are actually great followers too, because they follow a cause bigger than themselves. That’s why there is no place for an ego when it comes to leadership, as it’s not about being in charge and making decisions, it’s about taking care of those you are leading.
Leaders challenge the status quo; they create a culture around their visions and goals and involve others in it. They hold a high level of curiosity about their people, organization and communities by engaging their followers in a way that is exciting and inspiring. They hold a great commitment to evoking the best for the collective, generating an experience of inclusion and connection, while at the same time articulating a clear direction and purpose. While they are willing to lead from the front and pinpoint the way, they also know when to sit down and make room for others creativity and talent.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a better leader?
We are designed to avoid pain at all costs. Our brain is gradually trying to lead us towards pain-free life, however constantly avoiding pain won’t do you any favors in the long run. In the modern age we have been conditioned to be more susceptible to being weak emotionally and even physically. If we don’t get enough likes on our Facebook or Instagram posts we feel down, discouraged, that we’re not good enough etc. if someone criticizes us, we dwell on it for days and feel lost and not at ease, as if we just left our phone at home.
Like the human body, the more you work at it and put it through challenges, pain and exhaustion, the stronger and more flexible it will become and vice versa. The human brain works in the exact same way; when we avoid pain, stress and chaos, we become fragile and our tolerance for the stressors and disappointments that life throws at us plunges, so we start rejecting great opportunities that come our way, just because we believe we don’t have the grit and determination to take them on. Finally, we end up feeling sorry for ourselves, blaming others and the world for not letting us achieve our dreams.
The only way to move forward is not by avoiding pain, but to embrace pain. We need to go straight towards that bumpy road, to make those tough choices and stick to them, to take risks and feel the discomfort. Athletes improve their results by working harder than last year, so, what we truly need is to stop running towards ultimate joy, because there’s no such thing, and instead embrace the pain and discomfort taking the rocky road to success.
Pain is part of us, so, what will you do? Will you choose fragility or resilience? Remember that everything you do and everything you are is the product of that choice.
Your level of success at work and in your relationships, your self-confidence, your health, etc. is a mere reflection of either embracing the pain for long-term goals & dreams, or avoiding them for short term pleasures, the choice is yours!
For the full interview with Ghida visit bazaar.town. Find out more about Ghida Barakat by visiting leapleadership-me.com and following her on Instagram @ghida_coach.
