Leadership with Manliness

Administrative leadership, with its various dimensions and diverse schools throughout its ancient and modern history, has undergone many phases and updates. Consequently, its definitions have evolved along several paths, as noted by numerous experts and specialists in the fields of management and leadership. However, certain words or terms can resonate in the mind due to their simplicity, depth, and connection to local culture and content. This is precisely what I experienced personally in 2002 while studying at King Saud University in the College of Administrative Sciences, during a course on strategic management. In his first lecture, the professor guided us through the world of strategic management from a scientific perspective. Amid the multitude of academic definitions, he invited us to share our thoughts and provide definitions of strategy based on our knowledge in the field. In a simplified manner and with brief phrases, the students contributed a number of definitions for strategic management until the professor presented another definition that was both simple and profound, deeply rooted in Saudi culture, when he stated that strategy is "e;??????"e; (al-dabra), meaning the cleverness or strategy of navigating challenges.