Chapter 6
Harib Al Kitani
CEO, Oman LNG
The key to unlocking your massive potential is making the decision to be vulnerable.
—John Mattone
HARIB AL KITANI WAS BORN in 1962 on the fabled, uncommonly beautiful islands of Zanzibar. An archipelago off the coast of East Africa, Zanzibar is a dichotomy of winding lanes and ornate architecture and wide, white beaches set off from clear blue sea, the shoreline a near-perfect reflection of the azure sky dotted with pure white cumulus clouds. At the time the Al Kitanis were starting their family, Zanzibar was a colony of Oman, so there were many Omanis who made a life there—some remain today. This rich history has forged strong cultural and economic relationships, relationships that have been forged over centuries.
In January 1964, when a bloody revolution to remove the Omani rule from Zanzibar commenced, Omanis fled in droves to locations far and wide. But the Al Kitanis, a family of intense pride and ethical fortitude, held firm. Harib's parents had a steadfast commitment to education, and for mostly this reason they were determined to stay put. As a result, young Harib had what can only be characterized as a tough upbringing amidst the post-colonial period. Stripped of everything they owned, the family struggled in a myriad of ways.
In these post-revolutionary wilds, young Harib learned quickly that you have to be extremely tough and work incredibly hard to survive. Looking back today, Harib gives thanks to God that his parents upheld their commitment, worked extremely hard for their family, and did so with both an unwavering pride and inarguably elevated ethical ground. It wasn't easy.
There were 10 boys and two girls in the Al Kitani family, all well looked after by their parents in spite of such difficulties. This was a blessing: growing up in such a challenging environment, witnessing the steadfast example of strong parents being good role models was invaluable to his later success in the world of business.
But it was these tough times that Harib and his family had to endure before they would, at last, move to Oman. Harib learned early that working hard to survive was essential, and it's a lesson he took with him through all the phases of his life.
Holding fast to his parents' dedication to and veneration for education, Mr. Kitani earned his MBA from University of Warwick and his engineering degree in biochemical engineering from the University of Birmingham.
Today, Harib Al Kitani is the CEO and director of Oman Liquefied Natural Gas LLC. Starting out at Oman LNG in 1995 as the deputy manager of marketing, Harib quickly advanced to marketing and shipping manager. He was instrumental in strengthening Oman LNG's position in the key markets of Korea and Japan. He also began the company's cargo swapping and diversion with different parties in the global liquefied natural gas trade, creating better value for the company's shareholders in the process.
Later transferred to Shell International in London (where he worked for three years in various positions including LNG Global Business Adviser and Manager of Suape project in Brazil), Harib then served as the president and CEO of Qalhat LNG. Finally, he moved back to Oman LNG, to a plant in Qalhat near Sur, Oman. Established by the Royal Decree of Sultan Qaboos of Oman in 1994, the company is fast becoming a key regional player in the energy industry. With partly state-owned status and notable global backers like Shell, Total, Korea LNG, and Mitsubishi, success is imminent. The government of Oman is its main shareholder, with a 51 percent stake, followed by Royal Dutch Shell (30 percent), Total S.A. (5.54 percent), Korea LNG (5 percent), Mitsubishi Corporation (2.77 percent), Mitsui & Co. (2.77 percent), Partex Oil & Gas (2 percent), and Itochu Corporation (0.92 percent).
The LNG plant receives its exclusive supply from the gas-gathering plant at Saih Rowl in the central Oman gas field complex through a 224- mile-long 1,200 mm pipeline with a capacity of 12 billion cubic meters per annum of gas. It consists of two 3.3 million tons per annum (MTPA) liquefaction trains, which were constructed by Chiyoda-Foster Wheeler.
In October 2013, Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG were merged, making Oman LNG the only face of LNG supply from Oman to the world. As the country's only exporter of liquefied natural gas with 10.4 MTPA capacity, Oman LNG plays a significant role in the sector.
Just as the Zanzibar beaches mirror the Zanzibar skies, Harib Al Kitani's meteoric rise in the world of business mirrors the long struggle and ultimate triumph of his family's story. Holding fast to ideals, conducting one's life with the highest ethical standards, and always striving with an eye to the future served not only the Al Kitani family, but Harib Al Kitani as well. He applied these principles, learned at an early age, to a storied career. I sat down to talk to him about the journey to get where he is today.
JM:
Your family history is incredibly fascinating. What were the lessons you internalized from living such a life?
HAK:
I learned that respecting people and being persistent in whatever you do is at the utmost importance. Again, from our parents who have never lost respect to anybody, who worked hard and brought us up to be honest, to respect people, and to appreciate life, we had an excellent starting point to shape the character needed to succeed in life.
JM:
Without those it would be tough.
HAK:
Indeed—hard work, respect, and honesty are three important core values for the family living through these very, very difficult times.
JM:
At what age were you when the family moved to Oman?
HAK:
I moved to Oman with some of my siblings in 1979, at the age of 17 years. Having finished high school in Zanzibar, it was time to go home, to Oman. Oman was rebuilding after the Renaissance, which started in 1970. Indeed, some of my brothers had already moved and working in Oman.
JM:
It sounds like the time was right.
HAK:
Absolutely. Schools were opened to help the rebuilding of Oman, and work was abundant. So we returned upon the call of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, as a march toward building Oman. The call implored all Omanis living abroad to come back and rebuild our great country. So when we came back, the natural development was to start seeking out a new job. My plan was to find a job to contribute to the building of the new nation, to help the family, and then move on. I started my first job toward end of 1979 at Petroleum Development Oman [PDO], an oil and gas company. I joined in a refinery operation training program—as the government at that time was looking at building the first oil refinery in the country.
JM:
Absolutely. And then what happened?
HAK:
What happened was that from that moment on, my career began taking shape.
JM:
When you were in high school, did you have an idea about your future? As one of 12 in your family, did your brothers and sisters have an impact on you in terms of direction?
HAK:
Yes, absolutely. Truly, we were all working hard to survive when back in Zanzibar—by survival, John, I mean true struggle. Finding food, finding a uniform to wear to school, finding books to read—that was our struggle. A struggle for the basics. There was absolutely no luxury, just the necessities needed to grow and thrive.
JM:
Yes. It sounds difficult, but you were determined. How did your siblings play a role in that?
HAK:
My senior brothers were all like parents to us—protecting us, guiding us, and providing whatever they could to ensure we received a good education to lay the foundation for a strong career. However, neither they nor I had any idea what career I was going to pursue. When I came to Oman, my thinking was to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. Like many young men, I had that dream to grow up and be a doctor and serve people; however, when I came to Oman the quickest opportunity and priority was for work instead of study. At that time, again, we have to start a new life and thus earning some money was important for the family to build a new life.
JM:
Absolutely.
HAK:
Then again, in terms of career, the clearest and quickest path for me to work was to join this oil and gas sector—plenty of opportunities and directly contributing to the economic backbone of our new nation. So I joined PDO as a trainee in the refinery operations.
JM:
Amazing, yes.
HAK:
That was a new start. The whole family was encouraging all of us to find work. My brothers and I, we all spread out across the country, finding work in banks, in the military, in oil and gas, and in other sectors. Meanwhile, the younger siblings went straight back to school to complete their education. It was an interesting start of new life and a shift of priorities from surviving to thriving.
JM:
Fascinating. No easy road, but the lessons of life are learned through the difficulties correct?
HAK:
Yes, indeed. Struggles provide an opportunity that only few people get. Out of struggle, opportunity arises.
JM:
So with this great foundation from your parents and family, with exceptional values, you come to Oman to work at PDO. Let's fast forward: Where do you go from there? A return to education?
HAK:
Yes, it's a winding road. I started working at PDO, where I learned about refining operations. I was trained there, and later in Bahrain, in theory. When the refinery company was formed, the government decided to create a new company called Oman Refinery Company, which would be 100 percent owned by the government. We built the refinery, started it up, and I assumed my function as a process operator. I started as an outside operator, then became a panel man. Quickly I realized it was not enough for me. I knew I wanted to do something better: I wanted to earn a degree. The bad news was there was no scheme to pursue further education.
JM:
So what did you do? I know you found a way to make it happen.
HAK:
Yes, I did. I worked my way up and paid part of the cost to go to the U.K. to take A levels courses (diploma) so I could get into university to have a degree course in chemical engineering.
JM:
Excellent. Always focused toward the future, it seems.
HAK:
Exactly. So I went to the U.K. and I did the high school to qualify for the university, and then progressed on to University of Birmingham, where I earned a combined degree of chemical and biochemical engineering. Coming back to Oman in 1988, I moved from operations to become a process engineer. I thought I was a good engineer, but engineering didn't take me long and so I again thought that there is something else there I can do. The fact was, I did not want to end up being “just” an engineer. So, I started to do an MBA course by distance learning from University of Warwick in the U.K. It was important that I continue to work so I can earn some money, so I completed the MBA in my spare time at home.
That is when I introduced myself into the leadership world of business. While doing my MBA, with a keen interest in the nonengineering world, I managed to move from being an engineer to become a planning and economics engineer.
JM:
Wow, that's great.
HAK:
I thrived in the new assignment and achieved some innovative—at that time—changes like third-party crude processing, operational optimization, and the like. I had a chance to train at Ashland Oil in Kentucky and Caltex Oil in Texas. Then LNG business came to Oman, very, very early on in 1995—just as an idea. The competition was either to build an LNG plant in Oman or transport gas by pipeline to India, all dependent on if LNG will find a market for its products and what economic benefit will the country achieve.
The opportunity was to join the LNG group led by Shell, find market for LNG, and build a company or fail to find a market and look for another job! I joined Oman LNG as VP marketing in April 1995. In 1997, when we closed deals and signed contracts with Japanese and Korean companies, the government decided there would be an LNG company in Oman. I was also asked to market the new company. I did that successfully and then left Oman LNG in 2004 when Qalhat LNG was formed to be CEO of Qalhat LNG and build the company. In between the two, Shell gave me an opportunity to work with them and, thus, I moved to London to work with them in their gas and power business. I started as business adviser for Southeast Asia where I was advising Shell on developing and monetizing gas in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. Then I was promoted to be the LNG manager for Suape project in Brazil. Shell was thinking of building an LNG receiving terminal together with Petrobras of Brazil in Suape in the Recife area in northeastern Brazil. So I had the opportunity to be LNG manager for that project.
I returned home to Oman in 2000 to lead the marketing for Oman LNG, until Qalhat LNG was formed in 2004.
JM:
How long were you CEO there?
HAK:
I was CEO from 2004 to 2012.
JM:
And then CEO at Oman LNG—
HAK:
From July 2012.
JM:
Unbelievable success. You're not only successful in the business world but obviously family and adding value to the world is important, no? What are the three most important things that have led to your success?
HAK:
When people inquire about whom do I follow [as leadership guru] or what leadership theory I follow, I have no answer.
JM:
No?
HAK:
I am a humble person and don't have a particular guide in my work. But my humbleness goes beyond people's expectation of a CEO. I'm humbled by what I have achieved and what others have achieved. I think of a team following this down-to-earth person who is genuine in whatever he does. I respect everybody. This is very powerful in our achievement of the same goal. My respect for people will never diminish, because I can swear on the results.
Sometimes I have these gut feelings that guide me through what I do. You follow your instinct. You get some sense of this by being close to people, listening to them, and following your instincts.
JM:
I agree.
HAK:
My belief is that when we treat people well and with respect they will all fall behind you, support, and go with you anywhere to reach the set goal.
JM:
Yes, they will.
HAK:
For me this is all what we need in life. We have a lot of challenges in Oman, inside or outside the Arab world—we cannot outsmart people, be arrogant or dictatorial in our approach. We need to respect people and hold them and sell to them our dreams, give them our vision to move on!
JM:
Amazing insight and humility.
HAK:
For me, success is not just meeting your target: Success is going beyond what is expected of you. You cannot do that alone. Having people marching behind you with enthusiasm and trust, you will achieve what you want. However, you need to show you care for them, provide them with good care, and extend it to your shareholders and customers to see the results unfold.
JM:
There's no question—I saw that in the limited time that I spent with you. It was evident you cared for your team and they in turn trust you. Talk to me about failure and setbacks. We all have them. Many CEOs I interview talk about the life-changing setbacks and failures that, while difficult, set them on a path to the inevitable future. Did you experience a crucial setback?
HAK:
You experience failures and then immediately stand up and move forward. They build your character. For me, it's more than the failure but instead what opportunities you would have left behind. I feel as if I could contribute more toward business, toward human kind, toward our country, but I'm not able to do it all.
I have a job to run, but I always want to do more. I told you about my childhood challenges—I couldn't do anything about them. I wish I went to university earlier than I did. I was a mature student but could I do anything about it? I will not consider it as a failure but as an opportunity missed.
JM:
Absolutely. Let me ask you this: What are your strongest leadership strengths?
HAK:
Care and respect for people is primary.
It's the people who contribute to all this march of success so we must care about them and respect their contribution.
JM:
And second?
HAK:
Second is leading by instinct. Even when your gut feeling is out of the norm, it will often lead to success.
Spontaneously doing something that people may never think but it ultimately addresses the issues at hand. I'm lucky to have such good instincts.
JM:
And third in your leadership skills?
HAK:
Following through. A true leader should have a follow-through, all the way to the end. Without follow-through, nothing can be achieved. Sometimes there will be initiatives in the company or with the government, and they end up in studies or half-done and people lose interest—the follow-through is essential. Following through also leads to new horizons and more opportunity.
JM:
Without question those are strong leadership strengths and gifts. A strong mind and heart, combined with well-honed instincts is an undeniable formula for leadership success.
HAK:
It's not something you read from a book—you have to practice it and apply it and so forth. Over time, it becomes natural. Without that gut feeling, you will not feel the heartbeat of the organization.
JM:
Are there things you're working on about yourself to improve your leadership skills?
HAK:
Absolutely there is. At the moment I am working toward increasing my ability to touch people's hearts.
I strive, for example, to, instead of a swift “no” to an employee's request, to sacrifice a bit and please the person.
JM:
It's an interesting example of a strength that can also become a weakness.
HAK:
Yes, we never stop learning—especially from people like you.
JM:
That's ultimately the point. We have a massive gap in leadership and culture all over the world. What was your greatest professional accomplishment, Harib?
HAK:
Because I never planned or dreamed of it, becoming a CEO at relatively young age for our culture is a great achievement. Perhaps not in the United States, but to reach the level of CEO in an oil and gas company at a youngish age is an enormous accomplishment. I was the CEO of Qalhat LNG at 42 years of age.
JM:
Very impressive. What other accomplishment pleases you?
HAK:
I've accomplished a lot in the LNG industry and by marketing our LNG volume. Both companies (Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG) contribute toward our national economy, supplying 10 percent of the GDP of the whole nation. Once you realize the contribution on this, you feel a great sense of achievement!
The final achievement about which I'm very proud is the integration of Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG.
JM:
Yes, that an enormous accomplishment, because integration is neither simple nor often successful.
Most integration efforts, as you know, fail. I want to ask you about the culture you've created. Talk to me a little bit about the road map you used to integrate two so different company cultures.
HAK:
They companies had not only different cultures, they're of different sizes. Oman LNG was somewhat rigid and double the size of Qalhat LNG. I led Qalhat LNG in a very practical, flexible, and friendly culture. I moved to Oman LNG a few months before the integration to prepare the platform. I planned what we should have as a final product: what to mix, how to revise, where we wanted to arrive—that was the road map.
JM:
I imagine communication was key.
HAK:
Yes, open communication between all parties was essential in getting buy-in from both sides instead of forcing integration from outside by a consultant or by management in isolation.
We communicated endlessly to both organizations every step of the way. We even opened a help desk for anybody who had questions. And I traveled between both companies and communicated about how proud we should be, how we need to work together, and how the struggles of today will shape the success of our integrated company in the future.
At my first joint meeting I showed people the inverted pyramid where the leadership is the slave of the company and the staff are at the top. They remember that pyramid today, because I sat in the lowest, most humble position as CEO. The management serves the workforce. And as a result, everybody's happy. We are now reaping the benefits. We're counting how many millions we gained out of this synergy and it's great.
JM:
That's really powerful because most companies are struggling with integration efforts. But cultural transformation is an ongoing process.
HAK:
So often people do not recognize that they have to be agile to continue the path forward. However, essential in this map is that you cannot sustain transformation without also showing the results of that transformation.
JM:
That's a very good point.
HAK:
The celebration of success and celebration of achievement is very important to push the transformation and cultural transformation forward. If it's just lip service without showing the results, you will lose your team's trust. It must be concrete and sincere—you cannot continue talking forever without substance.
JM:
Indeed! What is the one thing that you would recommend to other companies to break down siloes?
HAK:
The way is to have projects where you put people from different functions together. You need to put people from disparate functions together to form a stronger whole.
I may want finance, marketing, and other people from different units to work together and deliver a good product; this is very helpful. They're then required to cooperate and work together.
Breaking siloes could also be achieved by transferring people from different functions so they can go and see what others are doing and what their challenges are. It creates relationships, building more capacity for people to work collaboratively and help one another.
JM:
And you did all that.
HAK:
Yes, and as important as it is for people to move around in departments and gain an understanding of their coworkers' struggles, it is equally important as CEO to be visible both to your own staff and to the wider business world. I try my best on this and it consumes a lot of time, but it's important. You cannot favor a certain department, either. This can easily make departments feel isolated and you can lose them.
JM:
You can, and keeping them connected to you is not easy, so congratulations. Was there a misstep along the way and do you feel like you managed this effort well?
HAK:
I think we've relatively done a good job. There is always more that can be done. For example, now we are struggling a bit with “total alignment.” When we align from top to bottom, we don't know whether there's something misaligned unless and until something goes wrong. Then you find out that although you are mostly aligned, there are still weak points in the balance. Perhaps alignment is off because out of 10 people that have to push the agenda, 2 people sit back with the assumption they're not part of it. They may not throw resistance into the process, but they will just sit out as a silence audience while the train keeps moving forward. In that case, you have to go back and try to convince people to move with the plan. To hop on the train, as it were.
So when we integrated, we did not have total alignment. We had alignment, but it was imperfect and needed strengthening along the way. Culture transforms not at once, but over time.
JM:
And that's never going to end, it's never going to be perfect. It's an endless and worthy pursuit. I believe that the culture starts with the CEO and the senior team, what are your comments to that?
HAK:
I agree with that. The senior team has to be an important and paramount part of the push in the culture.
You do the best you can. You have to revolutionize the way we work.
JM:
Absolutely.
HAK:
Now, some people would have some doubt on what you do because they accept that status quo is the best way forward. They are relaxed and are scared to change—this is the type you don't want to have around. When you try to change—pulling people out of their comfort zone—some will resist.
But as a CEO, you must move forward with determination and instinct. You listen to your gut feeling and you will find that this is the way to move. You absolutely cannot and should not wait until you have that 100 percent of the staff convinced.
JM:
Tell me more about that.
HAK:
If I have 60 percent or 70 percent convinced, I move on. Because when I produce good results, the remaining percentage will follow—they'll have no choice except to follow when they see the right way forward.
JM:
That is an excellent point. You have to establish momentum.
HAK:
Indeed—it's momentum. A process cannot be hijacked by anybody. If you believe in it, you move forward. Today, I try not to create a lot of debate on the things that I believe and the majority of people believe this is the way forward, so that these peripheral noises that come around it and try to kill it all fade in time, because you eventually show them that your vision led to this result.
JM:
Absolutely.
HAK:
When we are all together, we produce more and more results. Unfortunately Oman is not like the U.S.—it is very difficult to let people go.
JM:
Yes, here in the United States, if you have somebody on the senior team who is out of alignment you get rid of them, you really can't do that there right?
HAK:
No you cannot—it's very difficult. As a result, we are really enthusiastic about cultural transformation and moving forward and getting your staff on board is even more essential. The challenge inspires even more communication for ultimate success.
JM:
Amazing. That's fantastic. Finally Harib, what is the message you want to deliver to the young people regarding what they need to do to become stronger people and stronger leaders, so that they can give more to companies and society?
HAK:
There's no one pill to solve all the problems, but the number one issue is don't accept that the status quo is a solution to the world's problems. We need to hold fast to the mind-set that there are better ways of doing things, better ways of leading organizations. We need to recognize these new ways and follow through to produce results. We need to trust our gut feelings as much as we do any theory or book or advice.
JM:
Absolutely.
HAK:
We need to go to somewhere undiscovered for these hidden gems in your gut feelings and your heart. We sometimes get too relaxed in our success and forget to strive at a higher level. If we could create what we call “chronic unease” in everything we do, we would achieve better results. When we build this into our mind and into the way we work, we can achieve a lot. No complacency! Live and thrive within this chronic unease to achieve more than you are supposed to be achieving because you don't leave any stone unturned! That would be my statement to future and growing leaders.
JM:
Excellent.
HAK:
If you move on and continue to show the results even in a drip method—a little bit gain here and there—it will encourage people to follow your dream.
JM:
This has been unbelievable. I can see why you're so centered, and I can see why you are the person that you are.
HAK:
Thank you, I continue to learn and grow every day—that is perhaps the biggest secret to my success. As a child I struggled to obtain life's most basic needs, as a CEO I continue the struggle, not because I have to, but because I want to. Success comes on the shore of struggle.
