Delegation vs. Empowerment: Lessons from Leaders in the Field

At the Visionary Leadership panel | The Hospitality Leadership and F&B Forum | The Hotel Show Dubai 2025, I had the pleasure of moderating a deeply relevant and energizing conversation with four exceptional leaders across real estate, hospitality, and innovation.

What made this panel different was its timing and grounding. Conferences like these are invaluable not just for networking or grand ideas—but for hearing the actual situation on the ground. These leaders are delivering real projects in the region right now. Their insights weren’t theoretical—they were hard-earned, practical, and shaped by the very same pressures and opportunities many of us face in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and beyond.

I opened the session with a personal provocation: What is the project within you that shapes how you lead?

The Inner Project: From Legacy to Relevance

Noelle Homsy of ENVI Lodges spoke about how her leadership philosophy is rooted in values-first delegation, especially crucial in remote or underserved destinations where micromanagement is neither feasible nor effective. She believes that brand integrity can only be preserved if the right people—those who live the values—are empowered to make decisions independently. Rather than controlling outcomes, she invests deeply in hiring for cultural and emotional fit, ensuring her teams are aligned not by instruction but by shared purpose. Her mantra, “decentralized but aligned,” reflects a leadership style that trusts, empowers, and cultivates local talent to deliver meaningful, dignified hospitality that benefits both guest and host community.

Tarun Arora of Huawei offered a compelling reflection on leadership shaped by his journey across engineering and sales. For him, effective leadership today is rooted less in control and more in clarity of purpose and trust in people’s potential. Rather than measuring success solely through performance, he focuses on cultivating environments where team members feel empowered to lead with their own insights—often uncovering unexpected value. He shared how a junior colleague’s fresh perspective unlocked a better solution simply because he was trusted to act on his intuition. Arora’s key takeaway: real impact comes not from telling people what to do, but from enabling them to think, own, and innovate.

Serena Lim of Ascott reframed transformation with rare honesty. Managing teams and assets across 1,000 properties in 230+ cities, she emphasized that strategy is not about perfect slides—it’s about moving from paper to people. Leadership, for her, requires presence, vulnerability, and authenticity. “Sometimes we don’t have all the answers,” she admitted, “but we must create spaces where people feel empowered to act anyway.” With flexible, localized execution and emotionally intelligent leadership, her teams drive relevance—not just for the brand, but for associates, guests, and investors alike. “The numbers will follow if we get the market, the people, and the mission right.”

And Pius Furlong of DAR Global reframed the conversation with a precise and practical lens. His approach to leadership starts with recruitment—not just for skill, but for emotional agility and cultural fluency. In his words, “You have to create a sense of place, and a sense of belonging.” Empowerment means stretching teams with support, and building deep connection to the project’s outcome.

My Takeaway: Empowerment Is a Culture of Ownership

This conversation brought me back to something I work on daily with teams and clients across the region: Projects are delivered by people. And people thrive when there is clarity, alignment, and a real sense of trust.

Delegation is about assigning tasks. Empowerment is about inviting ownership. It’s about cultivating judgment, sharing responsibility, and creating environments where leaders at every level feel invested in the outcome—not just compliant with the plan.

In fast-paced, high-pressure environments like Saudi Arabia and the broader Gulf, this distinction is critical. Empowered teams don’t just deliver faster. They navigate ambiguity, adapt to change, and stay motivated through complexity.

The insights shared at this panel were deeply relevant to what’s happening now in the market—across public and private sectors, across cities and cultures. And I left with a renewed conviction that visionary leadership is not about control—it’s about resonance.

We lead better when we build alignment between strategy and execution—and between our external goals and the internal projects we’re each carrying.