This week, on Wednesday 24th April 2019, SolBridge International School of Business was pleased to host Dr. Hamid Bouchikhi, Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center and Co-Head of the Department of Management at ESSEC Business School, France.

Dr. Bouchikhi delivered a special lecture to SolBridge students on “The Essence of Management”, and shared his practical experience on management spanning from his 30-year-long teaching career in a leading European business school.

With examples of prominent managers in different fields such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Pope Francis and French football national team coach Didier Deschamps, he defined the discipline of management and the common traits of successful managers.

While their initial background lied in being a programmer, a priest or a professional football player respectively, all three leaders have had to develop the leadership and discipline of managing global or national teams with diverse skill sets as well as behaviors. In all instances, the essence of management according to Dr Bouchikhi lies in the nurturing of essential skills in getting people to align their individual goals with organisational vision and mission.

Addressing the various management approaches and their challenges in motivating people to achieve a common objective, Dr Bouchikhi insisted on the importance to ignite one’s inner engine as the most effective component for organisational success.

“If you want to manage people, start with managing yourself”- Dr. Bouchikhi encouraged the audience. Students should be mindful of every situation around them while paying attention to the motives and drive behind people’s behavior. Such awareness and understanding will prepare them to shape their identity as an executive and become better managers in the future. Besides hard skills taught in the classroom, Dr Bouchikhi emphasised the need for students to significantly develop their soft skills before they transition from doing to managing people.

Dr. Bouchikhi authored over 100 academic publications, including books, book chapters and working papers on entrepreneurship, management, and organisation design. He also co-authored with Wharton Professor John Kimberly The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity in Your Company (Pearson Education, 2007).