Let's Talk Leadership with Banangkur

This week, I’m so pleased to be talking to the first woman leader I’ve had on my podcast who is from Bahrain.

Bahrain is a small country in the Arabian Gulf – and boy, does it ‘punch above it’s weight’. 

Small in size maybe but as you’ll hear in this podcast, amazing and exciting things are happening there.

 I’m so pleased to be talking to Sonya Janahi. 

Sonia had a very successful career in large organizations - until she decided to set out on her own. 

She’s the CEO of a number of companies, she’s on the Board of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce AND the International Labor Organization. Her reputation and her impact as a leader goes well beyond Bahrain and is having a positive effect globally.

 And she’s a mother.

Of course, my podcast is about leadership.

And we know that leadership is important.  We know leadership is needed in government, in organizations – large and small, in education, the military… and more, right ?

But what about art ?  

Yes, of course. 

My guest today is Alia Lootah. Alia is a prominent artist in the United Arab Emirates – and she is certainly a leader in the world of fine art - not only in the UAE but internationally. So much so, that the French Government recognized her contribution to the art scene by awarding her a French knighthood. 

Alia helped set up The Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi and she continues to make a difference not only with her art but in promoting art for others to enjoy and learn from.

I'm sure, like me, you'll be inspired by what she has achieved  and her commitment to her passion.

I am so pleased to introduce Alia Lootah.

This week is going to be a little different … well, perhaps a lot different.

On my podcast journey so far, I’ve had the pleasure to share with you conversations I’ve had with truly inspiring women.

This week, I thought I’d take a look back and share with you excerpts from some of those conversations. I know, in selecting them for this, I learned more from each of them – and I hope you will, too.

The guests I’ve chosen are five very different women, from five different parts of the world. 

First Kelly Ann  McKnight, from Canada was my very first guest and I'm pleased to introduce her again.

Then Annabel Harper.  Annabel is a very experienced leadership coach with so much experience in the Middle East that she authored the book Shujaa'ah - Bold Leadership for Women of the Middle East.

Next is Cheryl Gray, Certified Master of The Leadership Challenge. She has so much to share with women, with her corporate experience and now coaching and developing leaders.

Dr Harum Makhaya is an amazing woman from Sudan and now works with the World Bank in Washington.

Finally, Ittela  Ali. She's a dear friend who's also from Bangladesh. What a career she has had, having worked for the UN, the BBC and now is in Canada.

I'll introduce you to each one before we hear from them.

So let's get started.

This week we’re going to Saudi Arabia again.

I’m really pleased that inspiring woman leaders are now emerging from Saudi. My guest this week is the second woman I’ve talked to from Saudi – and I’m sure there will be many more.

Eman Alhajji was awarded her PhD from KAUST, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in 2022. She describes herself as a ‘child of KAUST’ as she was identified as a potential student when she was in high school.

 One of Eman’s passions – as well as leadership, of course - is sustainability. In 2021, she identified what she saw as the interest of young people in Saudi in sustainability.

She then set up the foundation she calls Saudi Youth for Sustainability.

 We usually associate Saudi with oil - as it’s one of the major exporters of oil to the world. 

 But now, driven by Eman and her foundation, the youth of the Kingdom are becoming advocates for sustainability. And I believe that is not only exciting but inspiring as she’s  potentially changing Saudi … and even the world.

We know that ‘titles’ and ‘positions’ don’t make a leader. 

My guest this week is certainly a leader.  And when it comes to titles and positions... well, there’s a list of them she can claim : she’s a university professor, she’s Chair of the Faculty, she has a PhD, she’s a Certified Master of The Leadership Challenge. 

And there’s one more – she’s a mother of nine children. Yes, nine !

I don't know which is more impressive. I’m a mother of a three and a half year old daughter and I know the pressure and demands on my time as a wife and working mother – and I can’t believe how my guest can do all this.

I’m so pleased to introduce this week’s guest you to - Jeanie McHugo.

Jeanie is truly inspiring … and yes, she’s a leader. I want to talk to her about leadership in healthcare, in academia … and being a woman and mother.

So much a part of my passion for talking to women leaders around the world, is how much these women are making a real difference in the lives of others.

 And, yes. leaders make a difference.

I’m so pleased to be talking to Sharmin Shams – or as her friends call her - Moonmoon.

 Moonmoon is focused on improving the lives of women in Bangladesh. Not only as she was growing, up but in her career as a journalist she was aware of the significant gender disparity and the difficulties that women face. She’s journalist, writer and a documentary filmmaker and her work is directed at helping change attitudes towards women – and then directly to help the lives of women - in Bangladesh. 

 Moonmoon is one of the co-founders of Shantibari, a pioneering and much needed organization providing for women's welfare in Bangladesh and is helping women improve their wellbeing and their lives overall.

Right now, two events are very much in the headlines. The first is one which we’ve discussed before on my podcast – the climate change and sustainability.

The second is the situation in Ukraine. My special guest today is directly dealing with both of those critical issues. So much so, that she chose to leave her home country not long after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Angelina Davydova is a journalist who is committed to writing and speaking about the important subject of climate change. She was born in the Russian city of St Petersburg and over the years of spreading the word about climate change, has travelled extensively in the West.  

 Because of her work, she was forced to decide where she should live so that she could continue to speak freely and continue her important work as a journalist. 

The decision she made meant she had to leave her Russian home earlier this year.

So on a sunny autumn day today in Berlin, she’s joining me to talk about her journey and the challenges she’s faced.

This week we’re going Washington State in the US to talk to Hannah Aoyagi.

Hannah is critically involved in a subject which is vital for all of us – ecology and sustainability.

This is a passion she developed as a girl when she did a school project related to sustainability. We never can tell where those school projects can lead.

Hannah has a Ph.D. in Environmental Health, Science, and Policy from the University of California Irvine. 

Now her leadership and her commitment to the environment are making a difference in 

Washington State’s Department of Ecology.

She has eight years of experience with The Leadership Challenge and is currently in the Certified-Master-in-Training program.

I’m pleased to say that this is number 20 in my podcast series. I’m looking forward to a long weekly journey and I really hope you come with me.

Again, as I’ve done before, this week I’m visiting the country of my heritage and my special guest is my niece Esrat Karim.

Esrat is truly making a significant difference to the lives of so many people in Bangladesh. So let me explain.

After completing her Master’s degree in the US, Esrat returned to Bangladesh to set up the Amal Foundation.

 Through her work with the Foundation, she and her staff of over thirty, are transforming the lives of Bangladeshi girls.

Transforming ? Yes ! Because of the poor conditions in which some families are in rural areas, parents have often had to marry-off their teenage daughters, many in their early teens. To reduce this forced marriage, Esrat set up a scheme which provides sustainable help to the family and guarantees the girls will not be married until they wish to marry.

I’m proud to introduce Esrat … let’s get started.

We all have challenges as leaders. That’s what leadership is about, isn’t it ?

But what if the challenge has the name ‘Pandemic’ and you have a senior position as a leader in a large hospital group ?

My guest today is Elise Sinha. After beginning her career as a respiratory clinician, more senior roles were offered to Elise, probably in recognition of her performance as a leader.

And yes, she was at the forefront of leading during the pandemic.

With her significant leadership experience, the pandemic, like for every healthcare worker, was a challenge, and one which was changing almost minute by minute – and I intend to find out about the challenges she faced and what she learned during that extremely difficult time.

Elise is passionate about developing other leaders, especially women leaders.