2024 will be the year of the Phoenix. Diving further into the science of longevity and connecting deeper with a diverse ecosystem of fabulous people by being a broker of trust, maintaining very clear boundaries.
I feel that I have to start journaling about 25 years of entrepreneurship, thanking the people who connected with me on my journey.
Who knows, it might become a “hilarious non-fiction thriller with dramatic turns about the good, the ugly and everything in between”.
To be continued…
UAE and the Middle East are the places we call home now
Exactly three years ago, we moved to Dubai with the two youngest kids while the eldest was about to travel the world. She’s now living the dream in Peru for a year, and the two youngest are thriving in their new environment.
The UAE had us at “hello.” It was love at first sight, with years of planning and making the right move at the right time.
We have been active here since 2009, with the first Hercules Trophy in 2011. From day one, I was inspired by the leadership style of the UAE. The book Monsoon triggered my interest in the region even more, describing how the centre of the world would move from the West to the Indian Ocean, with the UAE being strategically positioned. I can experience it now live. Expo, the Worldcup, and recently COP28 are just a few highlights. Did you know the UAE is joining BRICS in 2024? Talk about making moves!
Do you want to understand more about the region and the leadership? I recommend reading the latest book of HRH Sheikh MD Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
In 2009, my half-French partner Inge was ready to leave Belgium immediately, chanting “Dubai” daily. She was prepared from the first day I met her in 2004, with a poster of Burj al Arab in her room. But we held off because we believed our kids needed Belgian roots, close to our families. The business plan was ready and updated yearly, as I needed to act fast when the day would come.
The tipping point
What was my tipping point for making the move? The global leadership crisis at the start of the pandemic. In the first two weeks of the pandemic, I told our team they would experience the worst crisis ever. They didn’t believe me, and in the meanwhile, I saw 20 years of legacy almost going down the drain because of bad leadership.
In September 2020, I flew to Dubai to assess the situation here. Dubai was empty. About 1mil people left the country. It felt like 2009 when we first came here during the financial crisis. The wise leaders of the UAE imposed one very strict lockdown and said, “Never again”! They planned for a super fast vaccination for the people who wanted it; the rules were unambiguous as they were gearing up for the Expo as a mechanism to rebound the economy faster than the rest of the world.
I returned to Belgium and walked around the block with my youngest daughter, who was 12. Mini-me was feeling the same about the whole situation. Disgusted, overwhelmed and powerless. We decided that now was the perfect time to move to Dubai. Fun fact: at a very young age, she told her teacher she was planning to move here by the time she was 16. We went home, we had a passionate two-hour discussion at the family table, and that was it. The plan was set in motion the same night.
The hardest part
It was a tough call for our boy, who had to leave many dear friends behind. Still, he’s happier than ever studying at Zayed University now, learning Arabic, and working with me on AI and software development, all while making friends from all over the world.
The hardest part? Going to my parents and telling them about our decision. I’m an only child; I have a strong bond with them; they mean the world to me; they are super active, healthy, and very close to our kids. I still vividly remember the conversation and am so proud of how they handled it! One year later, they visited us during the Expo, and I spent almost three months with them in Belgium this year. As promised.
The opinions were countless, as expected. And I have a habit of listening to all criticism. We got a mix of lovers and haters, but the majority was surprisingly positive. Oh, and did you know that the act of defamation is punished severely in the UAE, with imprisonment of up to 2 years and/or a fine?
I have no regrets; you feel, think, decide, go for it, adjust, and carry the consequences. Today, I experience the leadership crisis from a distance as a social experiment, and I experience my kind of leadership from close by. Your vibe attracts your tribe.
The future of humanity
The journey convinced me even more that “connection” is the factor that will differentiate us as human beings in these rapidly changing, decentralised AI times. The quality of your connections determines the quality of your life. In the coming years, I will become even more obsessed with everything we can learn about leadership, culture, and relationships in this diverse context. Leaders have to transform from chess players into gardeners. Creating sustainable ecosystems. With fluid organisational structures and leaders becoming brokers of trust.
Be the change
If you want to connect with others, you must first connect with yourself. I started reconnecting with my body and mind. Due to existential stress and undereating, I lost too much weight and muscle mass, and my pH and inflammation levels were worrying. My stats are improving through an active lifestyle, competitive sports, healthy nutrition, stretching, hydration, sleeping, a strong bond with my kids, staying away from media, opinions and negativity, lots of laughter through diverse social contact and combining these with hard work. But I can still do better. I should add weight lifting, for example.
Our Belgian business is about to recover, inshallah, and I wish to celebrate 25 years of Hercules Trophy in style with my crowd in Belgium and Dubai. I look forward to connecting with many new judges and candidates for the 5th edition of the Employee Engagement Awards in Belgium and want to launch this much-needed format in the GCC. I can’t wait to see hundreds of active women rocking the Pink Ladies Games in Belgium and maybe Dubai.
I look forward to helping companies as a wingman for culture, leadership and engagement initiatives.