Akadimiyyat I'dad al-Qada, the Academy for Preparing Leaders (filmed training course)

أكاديمية إعداد القادة ⁦(دورة تدريبية مصوّرة)⁩

A filmed training course by Tareq al-Suwaidan at a residential leadership academy held in Turkey around 2007-2008, of which the Assabile archive keeps twenty-two lessons: life management, authorship and public speaking, analysing personalities and organisations, making the leader, creativity, strategic and operational planning, change, power and influence, and team exercises.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Contemporary Era
Region: Arab world · Global / Diaspora

Politics, governance and authority Education Ethics and character

Summary

"Akadimiyyat I'dad al-Qada" (the Academy for Preparing Leaders) is a filmed training course in which Tareq al-Suwaidan teaches the trainees of a residential leadership academy held in Turkey. The Assabile archive keeps twenty-two of its lessons. They run from about three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a half, and each opens and closes with the academy's song. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ These are training lessons, not lectures for the general public: the trainees work with paper, pen and printed forms, and in several lessons they fill in tests or play team exercises. ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ He also speaks to viewers at home. He tells them, for example, that the tests will be posted on the academy's website. ⁸

In the first lesson he says the academy lasts twenty-one days, but it is meant to prepare those who will lead the community fifteen years from now. He puts its aim in four words: "a trained, pioneering Islamic network". ⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹ He counts about 130 trainees, about fifty of them young women and eighty or so young men, plus about twenty staff, and he urges them to learn from the experience of the twenty countries they come from. ¹² ¹³ He sets out the difference between teaching and training. Teaching passes on information. Training adds skills and changed convictions, and then a change of behaviour. He quotes a principle he says he learned from an American trainer of trainers: if behaviour has not changed, training has not happened. ¹⁴ ¹⁵

Two clues date the lessons. In the tenth he calls a leadership theory "of 2007" one of the newest. In the eighteenth he takes 2008 as the year whose plan is being carried out. Together these suggest the recordings were made around 2007–2008. ¹⁶ ¹⁷ The course book is his own "Creative Training and Teaching" («التدريب والتدريس الإبداعي»): the personality test is on its pages, and so are the team exercises. ⁶ ¹⁸ The lesson on power and influence was given after the academy moved to a new town, Abant. ¹⁹

The modern management and leadership authors and models he draws on are his references, and he names them as such: Stephen Covey, Jack Welch, Michael Porter, Henry Mintzberg, Pfeiffer's planning model, SWOT, DISC and situational leadership. The figures and percentages he gives are his own statements, attributed to him at their anchors. The archive lists the lessons only as numbered episodes, so the topics below are taken from what each lesson contains.

The plan of the course

Opening (lesson 1): the "quartets" for getting the most from the academy.
Managing one's life (2–3): choosing a field of life and writing a life plan. See life management.
Writing and speaking (4–6): the art of authorship, then the art of public speaking.
Analysis (7–8): his "1442" model for analysing organisations, and DISC personality analysis.
Making the leader (9–10): the definition of leadership, the leader's six roles, situational leadership and sixteen leadership traits.
Creativity (11–12): creativity and innovative thinking.
Planning and change (13–18): strategic planning, change in organisations and operational planning.
Influence (19–20): power and influence.
Practice (21–22): team exercises on teamwork, conflict and communication.

The lessons

Lesson 1. "Quartets for investing the Leaders' Academy": the four parts of the academy's aim (network, Islamic, trained, pioneering), each with four branches, and his figures on how many trainees really change after a course. ⁵ ²⁰ ²¹ He says he has trained about sixty thousand people. ²² See: Tareq al-Suwaidan.

Lesson 2. Managing life and organising time (1): choosing a field of life by desire, opportunity and ability, scored on a worksheet, then five further criteria for projects. ²³ ²⁴ ²⁵ See: life management, Stephen Covey.

Lesson 3. Managing life (2): life projects, the "fifty per cent rule" for one's field, the roles of life, and the plan on one page. ²⁶ ²⁷ ²⁸ See: life management, al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.

Lesson 4. The art of authorship: writing a "knowledge book" step by step, from choosing the topic to the second edition. ⁴ ²⁹ ³⁰ See: the art of authorship.

Lesson 5. The art of public speaking (1): the qualities of the outstanding speaker and his "five Ps" model. ³¹ ³² See: the art of public speaking.

Lesson 6. Public speaking (2): slides, fear, the introduction and conclusion, voice, pauses, humour and body language. ³³ ³⁴ ³⁵ See: the art of public speaking.

Lesson 7. Analysing personalities and organisations (1): instructions for the DISC test, then his "1442" model for analysing any organisation. ³⁶ ⁶ ³⁷ See: analysing organisations, DISC.

Lesson 8. Analysing personalities (2): scoring the DISC test, the four types and their combinations, and their uses and limits. ³⁸ ³⁹ ⁴⁰ See: DISC.

Lesson 9. Making the leader (1): his definition of leadership, whether it is innate or acquired, the leader's six roles, and situational leadership. ⁴¹ ⁴² ⁴³ ⁴⁴ See: leadership, situational leadership, Amr ibn al-As, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari.

Lesson 10. Making the leader (2): the leader and shura, then the "quartets of useful and harmful leadership traits", sixteen traits in four fields, and four further traits of the Muslim leader. ⁴⁵ ⁴⁶ ⁴⁷ See: leadership, shura, al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin.

Lesson 11. Creativity and innovative thinking (1): his definition, the terms around it, lateral thinking, and the first sixteen of thirty traits of the creative person. ⁴⁸ ⁴⁹ ⁵⁰ See: creativity.

Lesson 12. Creativity (2): the remaining traits, paper exercises, where ideas come from, and the "creativity machine" in seven stages. ⁵¹ ⁵² ⁵³ See: creativity.

Lesson 13. Models and steps of strategic planning (1): the definition, four models, and Pfeiffer's steps from "planning to plan" to vision. ⁵⁴ ⁵⁵ ⁵⁶ See: strategic planning, vision and mission.

Lesson 14. Strategic planning (2): mission, lines of business, strategic business units, performance indicators, gap analysis and implementation. ⁵⁷ ⁵⁸ ⁵⁹ ⁶⁰ See: vision and mission, strategic business units, performance indicators.

Lesson 15. The methodology of change in organisations (1): the first ten questions of his twenty-one-question true-or-false test. ⁶¹ ⁸ ⁶² See: change in organisations.

Lesson 16. Change in organisations (2): questions eleven to twenty-one, then a second test, "Puzzling Decisions", on short-term change. ⁶³ ⁶⁴ ⁶⁵ See: change in organisations, family businesses.

Lesson 17. Operational planning (1): SWOT as he adapts it, turning it into goals, SMART goals, and means. ⁶⁶ ⁶⁷ ⁶⁸ See: operational planning.

Lesson 18. Operational planning (2): the means table, the timeline, agendas, coordination, revision, and criticisms of planning. ⁶⁹ ⁷⁰ ⁷¹ See: operational planning, Jack Welch.

Lesson 19. Power and influence (1): authority, responsibility and influence, five general laws, and long-term strategies. ¹⁹ ⁷² ⁷³ See: power and influence, Amr ibn al-As.

Lesson 20. Power and influence (2): the professionals' strategies, situations to refuse, what to do after a mistake, and how to recognise malicious tactics and resist them. ⁷⁴ ⁷⁵ ⁷⁶ See: power and influence, Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil, Aisha.

Lesson 21. Practical leadership exercises (1): a "committees competition" and the eight traits of an effective team. ⁷ ⁷⁷ ⁷⁸ See: teamwork.

Lesson 22. Practical exercises (2): a consensus exercise and the ninth trait, managing disagreement, with five styles of behaviour in conflict; then an oral-relay story and the elements of communication. ⁷⁹ ⁸⁰ ⁸¹ ⁸² See: teamwork.

What is not written here

Several things are left out of these pages. Asides on present-day rulers, parties and states are omitted, and so are remarks that amount to legal rulings. Polemical passages about other faiths and about Islamic groups are not reproduced either. The verses of the Qur'an and the hadith he recites are only referred to, never typed. The song at the start and end of each lesson, and the recap and preview clips spliced between lessons, are not counted as lesson content. A single-occurrence name or number that the recording does not render clearly has been dropped rather than guessed.

People and things also explored

Practical Management (course)· Asrar al-Qiyada al-Nabawiyya, Secrets of Prophetic Leadership (television programme)· Akadimiyyat I'dad al-Qada 2, the second Academy for Preparing Leaders (filmed training course)· Al-Munjiyat (programme)· Al-Din al-Qayyim (programme)· Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim (lecture series)· The early Muslim community· The Companions

Sources

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:01:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 18, at 00:44:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 8, at 01:31:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 4, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 7, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 21, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 15, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:11:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:32:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:33:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:36:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 10, at 00:06:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 18, at 00:35:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 22, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 19, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:05:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:06:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 1, at 00:07:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 2, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 2, at 00:16:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 2, at 00:41:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 3, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 3, at 00:07:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 3, at 00:48:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 4, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 4, at 00:21:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 5, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 5, at 00:17:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 6, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 6, at 00:11:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 6, at 00:37:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 7, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 7, at 00:14:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 8, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 8, at 00:09:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 8, at 01:08:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 9, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 9, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 9, at 00:19:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 9, at 00:36:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 10, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 10, at 00:06:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 10, at 00:49:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 11, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 11, at 00:26:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 11, at 00:39:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 12, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 12, at 00:24:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 12, at 00:38:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 13, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 13, at 00:09:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 13, at 00:26:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 14, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 14, at 00:36:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 14, at 00:53:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 14, at 01:05:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 15, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 15, at 00:10:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 16, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 16, at 00:41:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 16, at 00:45:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 17, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 17, at 00:12:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 17, at 00:27:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 18, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 18, at 00:12:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 18, at 00:36:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 19, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 19, at 00:12:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 20, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 20, at 00:09:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 20, at 00:23:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 21, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 21, at 00:11:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 22, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 22, at 00:14:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 22, at 00:29:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Leadership Development Academy 1, episode 22, at 00:55:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Akadimiyyat I'dad al-Qada, the Academy for Preparing Leaders (filmed training course)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/leadership-development-academy-1-program/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-07.

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