The Keys of A Personal Journey: Moataz Darwish Brightens Middle Management Mentalities

Deputy Chairman of Shell Egypt Moataz Darwish introduced a session titled “The Forgotten Keys in Your Personal Journey”. The session aims to support the capacity building strategy by showcasing eight significant keys in this regard. Darwish started his session with a piece of advice saying, “always think big, even if you are not in a big position.” He said the first key is to have a lifestyle and strategy before criticizing the strategies of the company and the managers.

Darwish stated that the second key is to know that you are different and biased. He denied the assumptions that “people are rational, objective, and perfect” and advised people to know him/herself well. The third key is to have a vision, which people can get by asking the question “why?”. Darwish said that a vision is made of layers and it should not be represented in quantifiable key performance indicators (KPI’s). He mentioned that the fourth key is that people have to think about everything around them in a process called environmental scanning.

Additionally, Darwish said that sixth key is about selecting the best tool by mastering questioning as a skill. The seventh key is the action which enables you to form a vision. Finally, eighth and last key is to have a learning mindset and make it the best catalyst for success.

Rick Hicks’ Philosophy On HSE

Rick Hicks, Executive Consultant, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, gave a virtual presentation titled “Coaching in HSE”, in which he explained the role of coaching in promoting a culture of safety at worksites.

Hicks explained that actions taken by staff members that might put them at risk come from their beliefs. Therefore, in order to reduce risks, operators should start with coaching. Not only does coaching prevent risky behavior, but it also helps change people’s way of thinking and convinces them to take safety precautions, not only as a requirement but as a conviction.

When it comes to safety, it has to be a culture that is adopted in the oil and gas sector. According to Hicks, cultures develop from thinking, behaviors, and beliefs that are passed down through generations. In order to change the culture, operators need to change individuals and group thinking.

Through effective coaching, encouragement, and feedback, the oil and gas sector can reduce risky behavior and spread safety as a culture among its people.

Mentorship & Coaching

On the third day of the conversion, a panel was moderated by Sara Badr, Senior Engineer at Schlumberger. The panel discussed the value of mentorship and coaching.

At the beginning of the panel, Alaa El Dabaa, Head of Corporate Relations at Shell Egypt, explained the difference between coaching and mentorship. “Coaching is a type of short term, immediate kind of support that you might need when you are delivering assignments, completing projects, etc,” he stated, adding that mentorship is there to help a person understand things and to support this person throughout his/her journey from one point to the other.

During the panel, Alaa Hagar from the Ministry of Petroleum, reviewed the ministry’s efforts to train, develop, and help young professionals throughout their career paths, within the framework of the Modernization project. “We aim to attract and develop a broad base of young professional leaders capable of leading and supporting the oil and gas sector,” Hagar noted.

Meanwhile, Badria Khalfan, Chief HR Officer at Dragon Oil highlighted the importance of training and mentoring middle management and future leaders to bridge the gap between management and youth. She further talked about training staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges they had to face to keep business as usual. “Many training organizations were shutdown [due to the pandemic] and it was very difficult to bring experts from outside due to travel ban. So, what I decided [is] to have our own mentors from Dragon Oil,” Khalfan said.

The panel also offered one of the young professionals an opportunity to talk about his experience with coaching and mentorship. Islam Gaafar, Senior Geoscientist at BP Egypt, advised every youth in the oil and gas sector to “never be shy to ask [mentors or coaches] any questions. Always seek to learn and benefit from the experience [that you’ve had].”

Gaafar stated that it is important to always keep learning and to benefit from every experience that comes your way. He further advised the attendees to recognize their goals and aspirations in order to seek the right mentors throughout their career paths.

Additionally, Al Dabaa highlighted the significance of having a learning mentality, saying that every person should never seek a mentor if this person is not ready to learn.

The coaching and mentorship panel was rich with experience and encouraged future leaders to realize the value of having a learner’s mentality, having an experienced mentor, and being well-trained for the future.

Shell NXplorers Programme 2021

Shell Egypt delivered an informative and inspiring presentation about the NXplorers Programme.

Presented by Shell Egypt’s Social Investment Manager Nashwa El Saleh, the session mostly discussed how through the NXplorers Programme, young professionals can use their critical thinking skills to find an innovative solution to tackle a problem or discover new approaches to resolve an issue.

Those who participated in the program received training to develop the skills and assets they need to excel in the oil and gas industry. As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, training took place on Zoom and some took place physically at Petrojet’s office. Participants were divided into several competing teams, where one team won the prize for their innovative idea.

At the end, the Innovators team was announced as the winner and the victorious team members were called on to the stage to showcase their ideas.

Awards Ceremony

The Convention was topped off with the awards ceremony and the Innovators team emerged as the grand winner of Shell NXplorers Programme 2021.

The team members were offered appreciation awards in recognition of their insightful project, which tackled a deep-rooted problem of water scarcity in the petrochemicals industry. The Innovators team dug deeper into the problem and came up with transformative solutions.

Additionally, there is something to be said about the team; it brought together industry professionals from across the country and unified their efforts. The team members are Lamia Abo Shahba from EGAS, Ahmed Magdy from EPROM, Ahmed Ghanem from Red Sea Egypt, Osama Yousef from Enppi, Nouran Ahmed and Sherif Tarek from ECHEM.