John Iossifidis joined Al Ghurair as group CEO in July 2020. By then, the pandemic had overtaken the company’s plans for the year. He recalls two immediate obligations for the Dubai-based business. It had to protect its employees and keep critical operations running. In a reflection published by Al Ghurair six years later, he said he began by aligning the organisation around a shared purpose. He describes communication and consistency as part of the work of keeping people moving in the same direction under pressure. John Iossifidis’s account of joining Al Ghurair
The group’s leadership page names Abdul Aziz Abdulla Al Ghurair as chairman and Iossifidis as group CEO. It also names executives responsible for individual businesses. The structure gives an incoming executive three sets of relationships to understand. The family has a long history with the company. The board and group CEO have distinct jobs. Operating leaders need to know which decisions they can make on the ground. For a UAE family considering an external hire, or a candidate considering the role, the test is whether those relationships still work when a decision is urgent or unpopular. Al Ghurair’s leadership roster
Learn what the family wants the business to carry forward
Iossifidis describes joining an organisation with an identity and a long planning horizon already in place. In his account, a CEO needs to learn what the company depends on, decide what can evolve and make choices about where to invest and where to hold back. He links that task to the people making everyday decisions and to the way leaders communicate when circumstances change. These are his observations about the job. They give an incoming CEO a starting point for asking how the family’s priorities will affect the decisions the executive is expected to take. Iossifidis on stewardship and communication
Start with a recent decision that mattered to the owners. It might have been whether to renew a long supplier relationship or reinvest in a Dubai operation with volatile results. Ask what made the decision hard and what the business was willing to give up to preserve the relationship or capability. A family may say it values continuity. The example shows whether that means keeping a commitment to a partner, retaining specialist staff during a weak period or avoiding a kind of risk the owners feel would endanger the group. Each interpretation would lead a CEO to handle the next decision differently.
Speak to the managers who carried the decision out. They may remember why one option would have disrupted service or why the business needed a period to train staff. Then check your interpretation with the chair. A board discussion can turn the company’s history into a usable instruction for the incoming CEO. For example, a willingness to invest through a downturn may come with an expectation that the executive identify how much can be committed in stages and when the board will review the results.
Decide how the chair and CEO will handle a disagreement
A chair can make introductions and explain why the owners care about a particular commitment. An executive can bring operating evidence and lay out choices the board may need to consider. Those contributions are easiest to distinguish when there is agreement. Before accepting the role, walk through a case in which the CEO’s recommendation would be unwelcome. Imagine a long-running UAE business line repeatedly needs extra funding. The CEO wants to shrink the operation. A family director sees the line as central to the group’s reputation. The issue is how the company will take a decision and communicate it to the people who depend on the operation.
In that example, the CEO could show the result of continuing as planned, the cost of reducing the operation and the work required to offer customers a different route. The chair can ensure the wider board hears why the line matters to the owners. The parties can agree who will decide, what further evidence would change the choice and when the company must act. Once a decision is made, the managers implementing it need one clear instruction. They also need to know where to raise a concern if the plan has consequences the board did not anticipate.
An owner or CEO candidate can test the process with two questions. Where should a division head go when an instruction received from an owner conflicts with an agreed operating plan? Who informs the rest of the board when an urgent matter is discussed first with the chair? The answers should work even when the CEO or chair is away. If the process relies on each manager knowing which family member to call, work through how the company will handle the same issue when a new manager arrives.
Distinguish the group’s priorities from a division’s work
The launch of Wedyan on Dubai Canal offers a public example of the group and division speaking about the same project from different positions. Al Ghurair Development introduced Wedyan as the first project under Al Ghurair Collection, its high-end residential portfolio. In the launch release, Iossifidis spoke as group CEO about the development in relation to the group’s strategy. Sultan Al Ghurair spoke as CEO of Al Ghurair Development about the portfolio and what his business intended to build. The announcement identifies those roles and public responsibilities. Internal approvals for a project of that kind are a separate matter. Al Ghurair Development’s Wedyan launch release
Al Ghurair’s October 2025 Instagram post introduces Wedyan and shows two people shaking hands in front of the Al Ghurair Collection branding.
In a hypothetical UAE group with a similar division of roles, the group CEO might ask the operating CEO to prepare a case for expanding a division. The operating team would be best placed to explain how it could deliver, which skills it needs and where delays would hurt. The group team could assess how the commitment sits alongside the other businesses and what happens if several divisions need capital at the same time. Before either team takes the proposal forward, they can agree who has the authority to approve each stage and what information will come back if the assumptions change.
Test the reporting line with an ordinary decision, too. If a division’s supplier is late and the team needs to rearrange a schedule within budget, a group approval may add little. If the change jeopardises a promise shared across several businesses, the group needs to hear about it in time to respond. The two CEOs should agree on where that boundary falls and how to tell when the issue has crossed it. The goal is a decision the division can act on without sending the same request through several overlapping channels.
Set a cadence before the next crisis
Iossifidis says part of the CEO’s work is helping people make sense of uncertainty and keeping communication consistent. He also describes the need to deal with an urgent matter while holding a longer-term course. A new CEO can prepare for that by agreeing with the chair on which decisions need a scheduled review and which events require an earlier conversation. A supply interruption may need immediate coordination. A possible change in the group’s investment priorities may need time to check assumptions and hear from more than one division. Iossifidis on alignment and responding to pressure
Imagine one UAE unit loses a source of supply and another can spare stock for a short period. The group CEO might first ask the units to coordinate a response inside their existing authority. The board may need to know if there is a material commitment, a prolonged interruption or a broader change in supplier exposure. After the immediate problem has passed, someone should establish which contingency worked, what it cost the other unit and whether either business needs to revise its plans. The organisation can then go back to its regular operating priorities with a clearer understanding of the risk.
The format of the update affects the quality of the next discussion. An operating report can show which changes were expected, which actions management has already taken and which choices require the board’s attention. Keep a record of the decision and when it will be reviewed. In a later meeting, the chair and CEO can refer back to the assumptions they agreed at the time. That makes it easier to distinguish a plan that was executed poorly from a plan that became unsuitable when conditions changed.
When the chair receives an update informally, agree whether it is for awareness or calls for action. A short note after the discussion can specify what the CEO will do and whether anyone else needs to be told. The distinction matters for division managers. If they hear about an informal discussion, they need a way to check whether an existing instruction has changed before they change course.
What to settle before taking the role
Ask the owners to describe the work they want the executive to do in the first year. One answer might be to build a stronger operating team while keeping the portfolio stable. Another might be to consider where the group can redeploy capital. If both are expected, ask which takes priority when they compete for attention. Then ask what operating information will be available to assess progress and who will review it. This can reveal whether the board expects change at a pace the organisation can absorb.
Ask for examples of decisions the CEO can make, decisions the board expects to take and decisions a division head already owns. A real example can expose ambiguity that survives a review of titles. For instance, a candidate may be told that hiring is their responsibility but discover that several leadership appointments require consultation with directors. It is possible to work with that arrangement if the candidate knows when consultation is needed, how long it takes and who gives the final answer.
The owners can ask how the candidate would bring them unwelcome evidence. A useful response names the people who would verify it, the options the CEO would put to the board and the conversations the executive would have with staff afterward. The candidate can also ask the chair to describe a decision on which management’s recommendation changed the board’s view. Together the examples show what happens when advice moves in both directions and how much space the CEO will have to exercise judgement.
At Al Ghurair, the public record shows a family chair, a hired group CEO and operating leaders with named responsibilities. Iossifidis’s account adds what the organisation chart leaves out. The role requires learning which commitments matter, communicating through uncertainty and deciding where change belongs. The first working conversation between a UAE family and its new CEO can use a recent decision to make those expectations specific. The managers who carry out the next decision should be able to tell who made it, what they own and when to bring it back.
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