A team at work: the Debbas International leadership team held a two-days meeting last week to discuss, align and take action on change in a time of regional crisis and uncertainty.
I was proud to coach the team over a two-days meeting on their key challenges. The result: team alignment and decisive actions.
How are you dealing with a regional crisis as a team?
Benefit from the experience of a room filled with experienced business owners who will support you in growing your business - this is the power of a peer-to-peer executive board.
Chérine Debbas is now a Regional Director at The Alpha Group to support business owners of SMEs to double the value of their business in 2 to 3 years. The Alpha Group is the fastest growing peer-to-peer executive board company with more than 9 years of experience and present in 25 countries. The Alpha Group has developed and tested a methodology to support business owners across industries. The key to success: the sharing of experience and holding each other accountable to deliver on business strategies.
To know more about The Alpha Group: https://the-alpha-group.biz/
Why would you hire a non family CEO? Why not a family member? What worked and what did not work? These are some of the questions the BBA ESA students asked when Chérine Debbas was sharing her experience of having a non family CEO in her family business. Thank you Anthony Boukather for giving us the opportunity to interact, discuss and exchange ideas in a lively atmosphere with a highly engaged group of students.
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Great discussion and exchanges on the important topic of "Family Business and the Role of the Next Generation" at ESA Business School on Tuesday 1st of October 2019.
Ms. Dalia Jubaili Mroue and Mr. Wissam El Khoury shared their experience and insights with FBN Levant members. The panel discussion was moderated by Chérine Debbas.
Sharing experiences and perspectives is at the heart of the creation of the Levant Family Business Podcast series.
On Monday 17 June 2019, AGW Family Business Advisory, in partnership with Tharawat Family Business Forum, held the first Levant Family Business Podcast Party at Beyt Mar Mikhael in Beirut.
We had the pleasure to host a group of 15 family business members for an open and frank discussion around the different governance practices in Lebanon.
Together, we listened to a 15-minute podcast before engaging in a lively and friendly conversation facilitated by Chérine Debbas.
For this first session, Mr. Hovig Kozobiokian, Managing Director of Dekerko, was present to answer questions and participate in the discussion after listening to the podcast he had been interviewed in: "Hovig Kozobiokian on governance practices in Lebanese family businesses".
The podcast is available in the podcast section of the AGW Advisory website.
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Chérine Debbas was a panelist at the "Continuity of family-owned businesses" conference at the The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon in her capacity as family business advisor and board member in a family business.
The panel was moderated by Dr. Heike Harmgart, Director, Regional Head of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, EBRD, and the other panellists were:
- Mr. Simon Bachawati, Director, North LEDA
- Mr. Nafez Al Morhabi, Chief Executive Officer, KPMG Beirut
- Mr. Zaher Hallab, Board member, Hallab 1881
Here are two articles related to the event:
- http://nabadashamal.com/?p=38025
- http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/401678/
We are delighted to announce the launch of the new audio series ‘The Levant Family Business Podcast’.
This podcast series is designed by Tharawat Family Business Forum and produced in collaboration with AGW family business advisory.
Through this new podcast, we aim to share insightful and relevant information to family businesses and entrepreneurs in the Levant and MENA region. The Levant Family Business Podcasts will cover a range of topics from Family Constitution to Governance and Succession and will include contributions from guest speakers as well as regular conversations between the General Manager of Tharawat Family Business Forum, Farida El Agamy and The Co-Founder of AGW Family Business Advisory, Cherine Debbas.
To find out more information about Tharawat Family Business Forum please visit: www.tharawat.org
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In partnership with Stand for Women, Ms. Cherine Debbas and Ms Caroline Fattal gave the first workshop of the 2019 Women in Leadership series at ESA business school on the 31st of January 2019. The topic of this first session was "Boost your leadership and communication skills". In a highly interactive session, the 10 participants explored their purpose, impact and values and practiced their communication skills in a safe and stimulating environment!
Read MoreCherine Debbas moderated a panel during the ESA conference on Corporate Governance practices. This event was held at ESA campus in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday 31 October 2017. The conference was organized by the Institute for Finance and Governance to launch Corporate Governance practices recommendations to the private sector. The six panelists, Mr. Raymond Abou Adal (Holdal), Mr. Joe Achkar (Sabis), Mr. Raphael Debbané (Debbane Saikali Group), Mr. Khalil Fattal (Fattal Group), Mr. Farid Lahoud (Bank Audi) and Mr. Pierre Simon (Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry), shared their experiences concerning the implementation of Corporate Governance practices. Cherine said:
"I am passionate about the successful implementation of Corporate Governance because it is a change process and change is a vital and challenging reality of our business lives."
"Every business adopts a different strategy to implement corporate governance practices based on their own specific needs and culture. The panelists demonstrated that a key ingredient to move forward is a strong commitment to corporate governance as a way to successfully transition from one generation to the next. "
Below are the links to the recommendations, reports and articles:
1. IFG Recommendations and Flagship Report
2. Al Mustaqbal article
3. National News Agency article
4. L’Orient Le Jour article
5. Econews article (numéro 75, page 9)
1. http://www.esa.edu.lb/en/ifg/events
2. http://www.almustaqbal.com/v4/article.aspx?Type=NP&ArticleID=752907
3. http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/311781/
4. https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1081425/les-entreprises-familiales-face-au-defi-de-la-bonne-gouvernance.html
5. https://www.ccib.org.lb/uploads/5a2677d4f07b7.pdf
Why do some family businesses seem to thrive while others struggle to survive? The answer is often found in the quality of their family relationships. This presentation empowered the participants to identify four toxic behaviors and their antidotes in order to generate more productivity and creativity within the family business.
Cherine and Arthur were delighted to give this one hour interactive presentation on the topic of "Toxic Behaviors in Family Businesses". This event was hosted on Thursday 6 July 2017 by the Lebanese American University's Family Business Network at the invitation of Dr. Josiane Fahed-Sreih.
On Thursday 23 March 2017, Chérine Debbas and Caroline Fattal joined forces with the ESA Business School & the MEREF to launch a one of a kind Women in Leadership Program.
During the filled to capacity breakfast conference entitled “Women in Business, the Next Economic Revolution”, Caroline Fattal posited: “Women not only represent one of the largest market opportunities in our lifetime, but their increased presence in the workforce is key in creating recovery and new prosperity. What is at stake is social and economical. Gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it is a business issue.”
Chérine Debbas added: “Women need to work on their personal leadership by knowing exactly what they want for themselves as well as the impact they want to have. They need to build their self-confidence and support each other through mentoring, sponsoring and networking.”
This event marked the beginning of a collaboration that aims to empower working women and on-ramping women (professional women wanting to re-enter the workforce after an interruption) to overcome the challenges of today’s ever changing business environment.
The first two modules of the Women in Leadership Program were on Leadership and Communications. They took place on April 27th and 28th, and were led by facilitators from the Rotterdam School of Management's Centre for Women and Organisations.
The other workshops are co-led by Chérine Debbas and Caroline Fattal, two certified coaches as well as experienced business leaders. One workshop already took place on Tuesday 16 May on the topic of “Boost your Self Confidence by Knocking Down your Inner Critic” and the next one, entitled “Boost your Relationship Skills and Learn how to Handle Toxic Behaviors”, were given on Tuesday 4 July 2017.
Participants have found the program “transformational” and an exciting base for building a network of women empowering other women.
Maintaining good relationships between family members is no easy task and yet it is one of the most important ingredients to the success of a family firm. Family members who are in business together have to assume multiple roles (family, ownership, and management), and therefore must pay close attention to the quality of their relationships.
Download AttachmentThe Debbas family business recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. For decades the family name has stood for providing quality lighting solutions in Lebanon and the Middle East and today the family works in the fields of energy, MEP contracting, lighting, integrated systems, manufacturing and trading.
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