The British School of Coaching’s offices in Dubai are considerably hotter than those in St Helens in the UK. But temperature is not the only difference to be considered when coaching in the Middle East.
Having established a track record of providing high-quality executive coaching and accredited training programmes in the UK and United Arab Emirates (UAE), we are still very aware of what a fascinating and exciting culture Dubai has. Despite massive business and commercial development over the past 20 years, this level of growth is set to continue.
Dubai has a population of around 1.35 million. About 80 per cent are expatriates and 20 per cent Emirati nationals. Coaching the latter or other Middle Eastern or Asian individuals is a different experience from coaching western expatriate executives, as the process has to take into account a mixture of cultures and rapid development. This makes it a fruitful arena for coaching, given its focus on empowering and enabling executives and employees to improve performance in a context of change and uncertainty.
There are very few major players – a small number of families own most of the companies and employ a large percentage of the population. This has implications for coaching confidentiality – it is more difficult to maintain when family ties link businesses. For example, it is common for individuals to run four or five businesses as well as being employed.
Religion can make a difference – Islam emphasises ‘Inshallah’ or ‘God Willing’ and this can produce a perceived fatalism working against a presumption that a client should take responsibility for determining his or her future. Coaches cannot assume that the client will share their assumptions and may need to adapt techniques. Western notions of success do not always translate – social status, career success and family honour may be seen as more important than financial profit.
There can also be very different body language. In western culture and coaching, establishing eye contact and mirroring body language is part of the process of establishing trust and rapport but in Islam, it is a sign of respect to lower one’s gaze – establishing eye contact is seen as a sign of disrespect, particularly when there is a disparity in social status or gender between individuals.
With Emirati nationals, trust is only built up over several meetings and is initially promoted by reputation and word of mouth. Once reputation is established and trust developed, the opportunity is there for a long-term relationship – unless and until the coach does something perceived as bringing dishonour to the individual or business, at which point the relationship will be terminated. Given the interlinked nature of business and Arab society, losing reputation with one individual or company is likely to lead to rapid loss of reputation (and business) more generally.
Effort is also required to ‘market’ coaching and its business potential as it is often seen as a remedial activity, often used to help school pupils pass exams.
The British School of Coaching is building its coaching business in the UAE. The approach to doing business here is based on a reflective style which is congruent with the fundamentals of coaching. The culture is brand-focused, so we have established our brand in the region.
Accreditation is important too, so our association with the Dubai-based Institute of Leadership and Management is a definite plus.