Doha HIA, Leading Self as a distinguishing factor for the human capital development of the world's No. 2 airport

For the third year in a row, SDA Bocconi is partnering with Hamad International Airport (HIA), part of Qatar Airways Group, to train and develop its staff. The airport was named "Best Airport In The World" by SKYTRAX World for the second year in a row in 2022 and No. 2 in the world in 2023.

To be among the best in the world requires excellent infrastructure and an impeccable workforce. With this in mind, HIA's successes come through its human resource management and development projects. Daniela Nazzaro, Head of Talent Development & Acquisition at Hamad International Airport, has spearheaded a partnership with SDA Bocconi to deliver training initiatives dedicated to the development of Hamad International Airport's human capital. Referring to leadership in particular, D. Nazzaro says" In order to maintain our prominent position in Aviation and the Middle East, we need a class of leaders who are committed to achieving a long-term vision, capable of promoting values of people care, continuous learning and organizational purpose. For this reason, we decided to invest in internal talent, and to this end we developed and launched a leadership development framework. As part of this initiative, in SDA Bocconi we found a partner that, in addition to the indispensable quality of content and teaching methods, is able to operate with cultural intelligence and stimulate engagement and motivation for real development. The added value of SDA Bocconi, as seen among other Italian excellences, is in personalization, attention to detail and the ability to create affinity with HIA."

The initiatives are mainly aimed at those of the highest potential, namely Discover (expatriates) and Enjaz Advanced (Qatari leaders), for the growth of the group of about 45,000 people committed to accommodating about 35 million passengers a year (in 2022), most of whom are in transit, and capable of serving more than 170 destinations worldwide.

The training initiative is led by Dino Ruta, Professor of Leadership Practice at SDA Bocconi. The third edition began on March 2, online, and continued with the delivery of four in-person training days in Doha on Self-Leadership topics. The topics covered delved into the themes of finding one's talent, skills and motivational drivers, setting one's goals within the relevant business context and, above all, training one's performance mindset, one's worldview geared toward constant improvement regardless of any obstacles.

According to D. Ruta, "The performance mindset is a model commonly used in sports to explain the top-level performance of an athlete who is able to develop their talent through a success-oriented competitive mindset. But it can also be applied to excellence in business contexts, because it represents the set of personal attitudes, behavioral predispositions, motivational factors and beliefs that determine superior performance."

A crucial aspect of the course is the ability to anchor one's choices to a specific meaning, identifying one's purpose in order to inspire oneself and especially others. The key message for all is that if you want to be a leader and lead others, you must first know how to lead yourself.

This collaboration represents another step forward in building a bridge between Milan and Doha, with a view to promoting more international and conscious human resources development. Leonardo Etro, Director of International Custom Executive Education, comments by saying, " For us, our Partner companies and their Executives are far-reaching ambassadors of excellence and channelers of ever-new stimuli, enabling us to provide content that is always up-to-date and constantly looking to the future of training."

SDA Bocconi School of Management