Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker delivers inspiring leadership speech at CMUQ

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker yesterday delivered an inspiring speech on leadership and the airline’s success story during a lecture at Carnegie Mellon University in Doha.

Al Baker’s address, attended by over 500 people, was part of the Dean’s Lecture Series and on the topic Reaching the Top: A Passion for Success. His speech highlighted Qatar Airways’ business and leadership strategy and how the country’s national carrier will ultimately contribute to the implementation of Qatar’s National Vision 2030.

The audience included senior management of Qatar Foundation, deans, professors, students and staff of the Education City universities, as well as local officials. Al Baker stressed on the importance of embracing change and the ability to rise above challenges that help organisations become bigger and better than their competition.

“Fifteen years in the business and we are one of the fastest growing airlines in the world simply because of the dedication, determination and sheer hard work of our management and staff,” he said.

“Always believe in what you do and settle for nothing but the best. Seize opportunities and never lose faith. This I believe has helped me guide Qatar Airways and reach the remarkable achievement of being named the World’s Best Airline for the second consecutive year.”

Al Baker spoke in his signature dynamic style reinforcing the key characteristics that form great leadership, traits which he has over the years in shaping Qatar Airways to what it is today. “Leadership is all about being disciplined, humble, compassionate, dedicated, being loyal and of service to your country, and having respect for elders,” he added.

“Overcome all challenges by having the courage to follow one’s heart and intuition and never let others opinions drown out one’s own inner voice. In our quest to be bigger, better and more profitable than our competition, I ask you to take a step back in your pursuit of material things to treat all the people you come in contact with, with the same respect and compassion as you do with your superiors.”

“It is more important to respect your subordinates than only your superiors, regardless of who they are. Business and relationships begin and end with this simple principle. It is important not to measure personal success and sense of well being through material possessions. To me, success is not about what you create for yourself. It is what you leave for others to appreciate and admire.”

Al Baker ended his inspirational speech wishing the students success in excelling in their respective fields. Carnegie Mellon University is a leader in education and is consistently top ranked for academic excellence. The University has more than 12,000 students, 90,000 alumni and 5,000 faculty and staff globally. 

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 15 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 111 aircraft to 118 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Since the beginning of 2012, Qatar Airways has launched flights to Baku (Azerbaijan); Tbilisi (Georgia); Kigali (Rwanda); Zagreb (Croatia), Erbil (Iraq), Baghdad (Iraq), Perth (Australia) and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).

Over the next few months, Qatar Airways will launch services to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including and Yangon, Myanmar (October 3); Maputo, Mozambique (October 31); Belgrade, Serbia (November 20); Warsaw, Poland (December 5), Gassim, Saudi Arabia (7 January 2013); Najaf, Iraq (January 23); and Chicago, USA (April 10).

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