During my first visit to Muscat, Oman this month, I was privileged to meet and talk to some of that country’s brightest business minds, people at the absolute top of their game. It was all for work; my company recently won a project for Ernst & Young to organise the awards ceremony for the Entrepreneur of the Year contest. But it was certainly a fascinating experience. Firstly, the setting was great. Muscat itself is a very attractive city compared to Doha. Surrounded by mountains and next to the blue waters of the Gulf of Oman, the city is blessed with plenty of greenery that transports one far away from the beige dustiness of other Gulf cities.
My boss and I were in town to organise every aspect of the upcoming event, the centrepiece of which would be a video showing the Entrepreneur of the Year finalists speaking about their business experiences amid footage of their workplaces. We visited the six finalists one by one to brief them about the video and the event in general. They were all CEOs and company directors, obviously very busy men. But they were delighted to see us and gave freely of their time and attention. They told us how they achieved their success; where they started and the challenges they faced along the way. Many of them came from humble beginnings; one joined the army aged 13 and, now in his 60s, the scale of his achievement since then is truly inspiring. Another finalist proudly showed us a video clip of his eight year old daughter competing in the world figure skating championships; and another insisted on giving us the full guided tour of his factories, riding around the factory floor on a specially adapted golf cart as we watched workers twirling large lengths of cable on new and shiny machines.
Notes on first impressions:
Great variety of landscapes compared to Qatar’s flat desert plains. Muscat is surrounded by mountains and there are plenty of green trees within the city.
The overall feel is that of a relaxed beach resort town, where people seem less focused on consumerism than most of their GCC neighbours.
Omanis have ‘normal’ jobs, e.g. as taxi drivers (in fact, taxi driving is a protected profession that employs only Omanis). I feel this makes the people more down to earth and approachable. Compared to Qatar, where the locals, a minority group in their own country, often seem distant, inaccessible and at times aloof. The expat:local ratio of Oman seems more balanced.
The Oman government takes an overall more liberal approach (compared to the rest of the GCC) to the thorny issues of alcohol and pork consumption. Alcohol is still controlled, but bars don’t require I.D, and locals are allowed in. We heard talk of more than one off-licence. And pork is served in hotel restaurants.
The office is empty today because my boss and one colleague are on a business trip to Muscat, Oman. I was meant to have accompanied them, but couldn’t because my passport is stuck in immigration awaiting the change of sponsor and visa renewal. So here in Doha I stay.
I took the opportunity to have a working breakfast at Coffee Bean, to clear my head and gather my thoughts properly for the day ahead - something that is often difficult to do when immersed in the chaotic environment of our office. Talk about multi-tasking - this job is the most multi-tasking I’ve had to handle in my entire life - period. It’s nuts, but am learning to cope. Today at last I have chance to settle down and focus on one thing, which is the creation of new content for a media company’s website. So today ought to be a chilled day…
"They say that the human smile is in fact one of those primordial things — that in fact it’s a showing of teeth, that it’s a warning. That when we smile, in a primeval way it has to do with fear."
— http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/christopher-walken-0609?hootPostID=a53c34fe39cc86637f5843bed833bf28 (via edwardsanders)
