A Year in the Life
By Owen Kelly
Now in my eleventh year with Quest Worldwide, one year seems to blend into the next with a familiar rhythm of activity as I regularly travel backwards and forward between the Middle East region and my home in Sydney.
Most of my friends think it is a very exciting and glamorous lifestyle but, as we all know, the joy of long haul flying quickly wears off and it is just another check-in, wait at the airport, frantic late boardings, ubiquitous airline meals, lost baggage, hassles with customs and continuous jet lag. Notwithstanding, I find it’s a small price to pay for the excitement of working in the Middle East and sampling the rich cultural diversity of the region in an increasingly challenging environment.
In the last year I have been lucky enough to work with clients and develop business in Dubai, Iran, Morocco, Turkey, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. I have also had the opportunity to visit the UK, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Some people think they are lucky to go to Disneyland!
I was also asked to do some interviews on CNN Business Traveler about frequent flying – they asked me why I did it and was I sick of it? My answer was simple; yes, I was a bit sick of it! But, I do it for the enjoyment of seeing new places, meeting a wide variety of people and working with clients across a wide geographical area. The work is very challenging, the external political environment is becoming more and more risky, but the opportunities are growing every day in this dynamic area. Dubai is just going crazy – the biggest this, the tallest that – just goes to show what you can do with a single focused vision that everyone shares, charismatic (and greatly respected) leadership, rigor, discipline in implementation and lastly, seemingly endless resources (or money anyway!).
The past year has seen the Middle East Team grow from one Lone Ranger with the occasional Tonto to the “Three Amigos” as Andrew Hurford and Jon Davis Wilton-Reynolds have joined the team, adding their vast experience and individual styles to Quest ME. Together with the other members of the Quest team we have worked on a variety of assignments ranging from a continuation of Strategy into Action (SIA) with a large government body to a privately-owned FMCG business where we are assisting with SIA. Garry and Roger have done great work in Operational Excellence in a local supply chain and Jon especially has helped a top team with leadership and identifying and articulating corporate values and behaviours.
The thing about all this which gives me the biggest buzz is the client feedback which has been very good and we can confidently say they all think we have added some value. A High Excellency has said that SIA “is the single most important thing they have done” and that it “gives him a great competitive advantage”, not a bad bouquet from the leader of an organization with individual projects in the tens of billions of dollars!
But it’s not all beer and skittles. The Middle East can be a very frustrating place to work. There is often long decision making, CEOs and MDs are often unreachable and delegate to people lower down who don’t have any authority. We have a great piece of equipment in QWiP, the polling tool, but have you ever tried to take it across several borders in a few days, all in an environment of terrorist alerts and beefed up airline security? Try, as we have all have regularly had to do, explaining why you have a big steel suitcase, with 25 suspicious looking electronic handsets inside to six or seven nasty looking Iranian customs guards who don’t speak English!
Despite these logistical hardships though, it is great working in the Middle East region. The vast majority of our work is extension work with existing clients who are clearly very happy and the bulk of the remainder is through referrals. This is due to great operating by my colleagues in Dubai and Sydney and the great support we receive from the extended global Quest team including our office-based design and service team.
I am looking forward to next year - new movies on the flights, meeting new people and helping to contribute and help the Quest team grow the business in the ME!