E25 CEO During War & Crisis ft. Maher Harb
November 2024
54 minutes
E25 CEO During War & Crisis ft. Maher Harb
November 2024
54 minutes
Stream on:
How does a CEO lead their business through war and crisis?
In this episode featuring Maher Harb, CEO of Sept Winery, we explore how he leads his business during Lebanon's many crises and the current 2024 war.
Amidst devastation, Maher has built a high-performing team that focuses on quality, innovation and creativity. His leadership allows Sept Winery to leverage crisis to propel the success of his business forward.
In doing so, Maher's love for his heritage and strong vision make him a true ambassador for great leadership during the most difficult of challenges.
Key topics include:
0:00 - 2:43 Introduction To Maher Harb & Sept Winery 2:43 - 4:30 The Vision For Sept Winery 4:30 - 7:31 CEO Mastery & Passion 7:31 - 13:27 CEO Coping With Crisis 13:27 - 17:36 CEO Building A High-Performing Team 17:36 - 23:29 CEO Empathy During Crisis 23:29 - 29:31 CEO Living Through War 29:31 - 35:24 CEOs Must Create Safe Spaces 35:24 - 41:12 The Gift Of Crisis 41:12 - 45:31 Why CEOs Choose 3Peak Coaching & Solutions 45:31 - 50:41 Advice For CEOs In Crisis 50:41 - 54:03 The Future Of Sept Winery
3Peak Coaching & Solutions is a leadership consultancy dedicated to Elevating Executive Mastery.
We specialize in transforming businesses through leadership and team development during transitions and times of crisis.
We focus on the 3 critical areas where chaos and conflict are most likely to appear:
By addressing these flashpoints, we assist you in navigating change to build unity, create certainty, and establish clear direction.
Our approach empowers leaders to master complex challenges and transform their companies to thrive now and in the future.
Mino Vlachos: Hello and welcome to the 3Peak Master Leadership Experience. My name is Mino Vlachos and I'm the co founder of 3Peak Coaching & Solutions. 3Peak Coaching & Solutions is a leadership consultancy dedicated to elevating executive mastery. We specialize in transforming businesses through leadership and team development. During transitions and times of crisis. We focus on three critical areas where chaos and conflict are most likely to appear. Board, CEO and C Suite. Misalignment Transitions into executive leadership. Conflict between functional departments. By addressing these flashpoints, we assist you in navigating change to build unity, create certainty and establish clear direction. Our approach empowers leaders to master complex challenges and transform their companies to thrive now and in the future. Today's episode is really an ode to Lebanon leadership during crisis and the beauty of wine. We have a very special guest here today, the CEO of Sept Winery, Maher Harb. In the world right now, there's a lot of blah, blah about sustainability, but Maher is really walking the walk. Sept Winery is the first biodynamic vineyard in Lebanon. Completely chemical free. Set's vineyard near Batroun has worked according to the lunar calendar and biodynamic principles to guarantee the yielding of high quality fruit. Maher is among the first Lebanese wine producers to believe in the importance of championing indigenous grapes as mono varietals. He has truly taken his family's little village and put it on the international map of wine tourism, attracting visitors from across the globe. And I could say firsthand, the wine is absolutely delicious. But we must also talk about the context in which Sept is running. As we speak. In November of 2024, Lebanon is at war. Bombs are dropping across the country. People are displaced, injured, dying. And so we hope this episode gives an inside view on how to run a business during moments of crisis, how to live through difficult times. And like Sept Winery, still create beauty. And so with that, we're now going to speak with Maher and understand a little bit about how he runs his business as a CEO. And I want to start with sept, because SEPT is such an amazing business, produces such incredible wine. But one thing that's always fun for me is that actually, Maher, deep down, you're a mathematician. You have a double major in mathematics and econometry from France. So can you tell us a little bit about your vision for SEPT and how SEPT came to be?
Maher Harb: Hi Mino. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. This in Sept Winery, Set was a dream, was a passion during my years of studies in France and employment. First employment as a Data analyst. I started dreaming. I started dreaming to come back to Lebanon. And SEPT is an expression of all of that, of course. A lot of years, a lot of thinking, a lot of dreams and obstacles. But one day I found myself. I saw myself back to my mountain, back to the land of my father, and I saw myself becoming a winemaker. In those two things, I saw my future, I saw my destiny, and I did everything in my power to get there. This is how SEPT came to be. So without going further into details, it's most importantly a passion, a personal passion, and a choice of life that I think done when I was 29 years old in France, asking questions about life and how I want to continue my life. A big relation to the. To the spirit and the memory of my father, who was very important in my life, who died when I was young. And this project was like an homage to him, pay homage to his memory in his land. A second. How to say purpose or a second reason was to come back to family. I'm the oldest of my family, my brothers, and be with my mother. And the third one is to find happiness. So, yeah, literally to find happiness. I was looking for happiness through that.
Mino Vlachos: I think what really always astounds me about Sept, both the quality of the wine, but then having been to set physically and had the dining experience and being at the vineyard, is the love, care, the quality, the creativity. I always really think, I hope you'll take the compliment that you are a genius. Like, it's really incredible what you do and how you transform things from the earth. Where does that come from? And how do you emphasize that level of creativity and quality as a CEO of a company?
Maher Harb: Wow, big question. So first, thank you for the compliment. I'll take it because it's nice. I don't think of myself as a genius, not at all. But I like to listen. I think I always love to impact, to do something impactful. Okay. And I'm convinced that any impact we can do, a good, positive impact, should come from inspiration and should come from something we master. And what do I master today after long years of doing this project, not as a CEO, as a winemaker, and as a cook, is I mastered the I think. And I worked on mastering the value of what nature gives us and how it transforms it to just break it through from an ingredient to an emotion, to an energy, to other people. And I think ultimately, in the back of my mind, what I'm trying to do is to connect with people, connect at the level I know the most or I feel Comfortable the most with which is somehow a purer level that I might have. I might found difficulties in social life. I'm not saying I'm not a sociable person, but I don't go that deep. And maybe me know, this is the first time I think about it this way. So maybe it's the first time I express it this way. And I think. I think this is where it comes from, because two days ago I was. I had guests at the winery. And those guests were. I mean, there was an interesting exchange with them. I spent the afternoon drinking a glass of wines with them and listening to them and their feeling about the energy they feel at this place. It was the first time they come to my place and I. And, you know, it's been two months of heavy bombarding and heavy war. I think it relates to maybe other question you have during this episode. And that moment I realized, how is it possible? And why we are adapting and why we forget about war and why we continue and why. That's my purpose and I'm not gonna stray away from it.
Mino Vlachos: Yeah, I imagine that, you know, any starting any business is very difficult. And I also. Lebanon, one of the most beautiful countries I've been to, some of the most beautiful people I've ever met. But the conditions in Lebanon sometimes are very difficult to live and work during. So even throughout starting Sept, there's been a long list of crises that the country has gone into. Even putting aside the current war. So there was a gasoline shortage, there was a currency crisis, political crisis. COVID 19, the corona. There was a port explosion. There's so many things that happen that disrupt how we work and how we live. And somehow SEPT has been able to really thrive and create this safe haven through all of this crisis. I want to just start first with you, because often when crisis occurs, we look to our leaders to see how they react. So in some of those previous experiences in the past, what did you notice happen to you? Whether it's physically, emotionally, men, and how did you kind of get through instability when stuff happened on the outside in the country?
Maher Harb: Yeah. So I would go back to the creation of Sept, and that is directly related and deeply related to my life journey. I started SEPT with a lot of hardship when I was building Sept, and the hardship came from personal choices and from context. Personal context I was in. And I had to get over that. And I didn't start the company comfortably. I started it by resolving problems and crises, but they were personal. I'm convinced this prepared me to the later stage. Back then I was a dreamer. I'm dreaming. I was not a CEO. I was not a entrepreneur. I was not. I was trying to become a winemaker. I was an artist in his own chaos. And the first crisis we went through was in 2019. It was basically the beginning of SEPT becoming established. To the establishment of sept, people started knowing set. People started understanding the quality of service we do. From the wine to the. To the food, to the mission. And then came the crisis, which was the revolution, the financial crisis after it. I remember back then, SEPT was not financially solid. I personally was not financially solid and had also an accident. Like an accident. Someone stole my money, the money I made. So I had to think about how can I deal with this? I'm in a country that is financially bankrupt. I don't have money anymore. I have a company to sustain. Back then, I didn't have employees. I was. I was aiming to structure my company because it started to look like a company that needed structuring. And everything almost collapsed that moment for. In my. In my face. So I'm gonna go back to that moment and think of and tell you how I coped with that. I remember that I was very hurt. I was very afraid. I was very scared. For the first days. I took some time off to think about everything. Of course, the focus comes to your person. It's personal, it's your fault, it's your thing. You think that everyone is against you. And then I went back to my old reflexes, my old reflexes that I used to lean on to do stuff, even small stuff when I was young, which was my beliefs. My belief that no matter what, I'm not alone. No matter what, there's someone behind me, which was my father. Back then, in that moment, it was also that thing. But I also had faith in what I did. I felt I created a beautiful foundation to what I did. A lot of faith, a lot of belief that what you did is something good. What you did has a beautiful purpose. It's beyond what happens. And there is no way. It was always in my mind. There's no way. I cannot keep going. And I mean, obviously you wake up one day and there's only one way ahead, is keeping. Keep going. Right? And I do believe in that. So it took me a couple of days. Then I decided it's not revenge. It's more love. It's more belief in what I'm doing. And it's like, let's. Let's give it everything. And obviously this brings a lot of creativity because we go from somewhere where we think we had, we have everything, then we go down, then we realize we need to work a little bit more. And then we go deep into our emotions and then we decide to bring all that up to the world. So that brings a lot of creativity and creativity bring a lot of pleasure and displeasure, bring a lot of motive. Motive brings more purpose and continuity. So that was the first time and this is how I dealt with. And actually this took set from a place to another. It's exactly where it had to go. And the only way I realized that is by living this crisis. So if those crisis didn't come to me, each one of it in different ways, each one had its own influence, I would have taken another route and it would have not been the route I am on today. That's one part of it, because other crisis came in and. And I think every day, every moment in the future there would be other crisis. But basically that was one of the first I dealt with.
Mino Vlachos: And so how do you now you do have employees, you have a structure, you have a company. When something doesn't go according to quote unquote plan, the unexpected happens, whether it's a challenge or even a crisis. How do you go about navigating like the team, the employees, how do you support them when things go off?
Maher Harb: So basically. So basically that was the moment in 20. Actually a year later, another crisis happened which was the explosion of the port of Beirut. And after that explosion and after that crisis and the thing we went through because the financial crisis was still on. It's still on until today. But it went even more, more dangerous to became very dangerous. And I realized, I realized I need help. I remember I had two problems in my business back then. I used to feel that I'm professionally lonely. So I really put a name to it like professional loneliness. And the other problem which is created by the professional loneliness is that I cannot do any everything on my own anymore. So professional loneliness. I cannot take care of everything anymore emotionally is too much. I cannot hold all this abundance, all this creation anymore on my own. I need help. But then everything was under my capabilities. Logistically, creatively, financially, leadership. I was on my own doing my thing. And this is when I created, started structuring the company. And of course that was with the help of 3Peak. I mean that support started back then. I needed someone. I needed someone who know how to support such a case, which was my case moving forward. Obviously there's. For me there's only positive things about having a team. I always said I'm Not a big team player, I never was. I was always a kind of a loner. And I still, I still appreciate a lot my loan, my loan, my loner time. But I realized how important the team is. I realized how this exchange of energy is amazing. I also learned how to let go. I learned how to. How to, how do you say? To give tasks?
Mino Vlachos: To delegate.
Maher Harb: Delegate. Thank you. I was looking for that word. I learned how to delegate. I was afraid to delegate before that. I thought that I cannot delegate, that delegation can create problems and risk. Then I understood that the 10% of risk I'm talking about, I can manage it. And I can manage it or I can even accept it, which is even better. Because by accepting it, it means I'm trusting more then that would be dealt with from the other side. No need for me to control it. So losing this control, etc. So one thing very important to answer your question, is that I think I work with my team on trust. I think this is my forte today after being someone who doesn't know how to delegate, who's afraid of delegating. Because maybe there's trust issues, because maybe I only know myself and my capabilities because I always done more than what a usual person could do, not because I was comparing myself to another, because I knew it was draining me. And because it's. I'm completely linked in all my emotion and life's life choices to that project. So basically the motive is grand. Like big. No, I mean, you know, like an employee would not have that motive. So how can I push into that motive? Well, I understood that if you give trust, if you give love and you give support, you'll get something not far from it, very close. And yeah, I think this is how in general, maybe your question was more direct or precise. I can answer it later. But in general, this is how I see my team.
Mino Vlachos: Beautiful. Yeah. And I'm wondering, so once you have this team in place, you've given some trust, you've built the way you work with each other, and then you go into some kind of challenge or crisis. So what do you do to kind of. Because everyone has their own reaction, right? Some people might be okay, some people might get very afraid, some people might not be able to say they work as much. How do you keep things running when everyone has their own reaction to a national crisis in Lebanon?
Maher Harb: Well, listen, empathy, empathy is very important too. You need to see how people are reacting towards what's happening and try to understand their feelings and show more clarity. You know, as a team leader As a CEO, as leader and responsible. Because a leader is, in my case, a leader is not only leading people to do work, is also responsible, responsible for their financial life. You know, we need to pay those people. People are working. So basically the consequences of a crisis is directly related to the financial status of a company here in our context, in our example. So what I need to do is to make them feel comfortable. So for example, one thing I directly thought about is that those people, whatever happened, if they stop working for a while, if the company doesn't generate enough revenues, there would be no cuts on their salaries, no feelings, no energy towards making them feel that their money, their survival instruments, is at jeopardy. This is for instance, the first thing. The second thing is to show more trust to those people and tell them, okay, we are in a crisis today, but we still going on the crisis outside. I created enough plat, not platform, but channels in my work. So if the local market is not working, I can work on the export. If people are not coming towards set, we can create, we can go and cook again together for free for us and make people and show people that we, we are a place to come. So they will help me do that. You know, like always being inactive in act, being active in an active mode, not sleeping. And of course before that, a lot of clarity, a lot of, A lot of clarity towards our mission and that, I mean, I have to go back to the beginning of that team when was structured. So this team, at the beginning, when they first joined set and in the context of crisis back then, it was harder for me to hold them. It was harder because back then there was the feeling of a family, of a system, one system together was still not available, was still not there. So I needed to work on that. And in order to work on that, my way or the way I took was of course there's a family feeling, there's this loving love feeling towards those people, like I do care about you and about your life. So we try in the means we have to create for them a comfortable life around the work they are doing and also give them more responsibility and more trust in a way that whatever they own in their work becomes their own baby. So it's like what I think what I succeeded to create is that I created small passions in everyone's role in the company in a way that I don't really interfere because I trust you. You're the one now. You're the master in what you do. To do that, I had to show them everyone, step by step, how things Are done. Not by saying, this is what I do, I do it best. Learn from me. No, this is how I do it. Okay, Watch me note. Take notes. Now you know I can't do it right now. I'm busy. Can you do it for me? Remember what we said, okay? You're doing it great. But Tak Tik Tak Tak and Nike later, you're the master of this. I won't do it anymore, you're better than me, etc. So it created people who are passionate about what they do, and they're happy to show me that they're doing even better and bringing more and becoming more proactive and bringing more ideas. And this, I'll try to find the best way to express it in English, but I think, yeah, I'll say it this way. It created in each one of them a responsibility, a feeling of responsibility towards their role in life, which is their work in this institution. And this is, for me, the establishment. The establishment is not the customer base. Fans establishment is this. If I turn my head, if I travel, if something happens to me, then this operation would keep going in the right direction, which gives me time to be more creative at the end. So, basically, this is beautiful.
Mino Vlachos: Wow, I'm really touched by that. I know it's a bit of a hard turn, but I now want to talk a little bit about what's going on currently in Lebanon. And a lot of our listeners are in Europe, the United States, Australia. And when I talk to people and they know that we have a lot of clients, partners in Lebanon, they always ask me, like, how are people doing? How are people doing? And the sense I get is that they really don't understand what it's like to experience something like, Lebanon is right now a war. And when I say that, you know, people are, you know, working, they're still seeing family, there's almost this surprise, as if people are just sitting around and staring at the wall all day, that. As if life isn't happening while the war is going on. Even today I received, actually, right before our episode, a text from another CEO we coach in Lebanon. I wanted to read the text. He said, today was tough, lots of bombing. And we heard the ones hitting Beirut, southern suburban. The weird part is that the spared regions, it is business as usual, Restaurants and bars reopen, and people want to make a statement that they choose life. And so there's a bunch of different experiences happening at the same time, depending on where you are physically in the country and what you're experiencing. But I want to know from you Maher, what is it like living through this situation? Like, what do you experience? What do you feel? What do you see?
Maher Harb: Yeah. So, yeah, big question. I think I'm still in the process of understanding all of this and putting words to them, but I let myself talk freely and I'll say whatever comes to my mind. Going back to today, obviously was a. It was a heavy day, heavy bombardments. And I'm gonna give you my example of things. This morning, Kristal decided to go work out at the gym, at my brother's gym in the morning while I keep my eye on my kid. And while I was here playing with the baby and the dog, I heard the bombardments. And usually I'm in the northern part of Beirut. I don't hear all of them, but when I hear one, it means it's a very big one. Okay. I didn't even wink saying, oh, I should call Crystal to see if she's okay. I know she's gonna be okay. So that's the weird part of it. And the gym is literally five minutes from where they are bombarding, literally. But it's safe as for now, it's safe because those are the rules of the game today. But it's not my first war. I lived. I lived many wars in my life. I was born in a war. I. I lost my father during the war, the civil war. We had the 2016. We had the 1996 kind of invasion. We had the 2006 war. I don't know how it is possible to separate, even if it's business as usual. I think it's not possible to separate. Right. So let's say there is. Let's say we. No, it's. It's known there are 3,300 dead, like martyrs. Lebanese from this war. It's. It's what? It's 1% of the population. Half. 0.5 of the population. So basically, it's not that big. Right. But it. It affects us in every moment. I mean, people are dying and anyone could be in their position. Like, they're targeting sometimes people on the highway. So every time I take the road, I don't stop taking it. But I'm. But every time I take it, I always look around me. Maybe they're gonna target the car behind me or before or after me. Is this only me now? Everyone is thinking like that. So what happens? It's been a year now. Of course, the concentration of the fight was the last two months, but it's been a year. A year of a population living in a country that you know well that that will thrive for life. Every second, every breath they still have, they will do it. This effect, this is very heavy. It's like holding a lot of baggage on your. And sometimes it causes culpability, you know, like, how can I be safe where other people are dying? At the beginning of the bombardments, when I came to Beirut after two weeks, I had an urge inside of me. I was in my car. I wanted to get the closest I can be to the bombardment. Of course, the more awakened feeling in my mind said, no, you're not going there because you're taking risks. So I went up to the hills to be able to see it. Is this for your rhythm or is this a feeling that I need to be involved? I need to feel? Then that same week, I went back to set, and allure of hope was starting to come. Some reservation at the table at the restaurant. After long, long weeks, no business. And while we're working outside, trying to forget, an airplane comes. We see it from the garden of set, and it just hits and bombards a house just two miles away. And we see it. I see the rocket. So it's not easy, you know, like, you're drawn. You're drawn every time towards this reality. Yes, business as usual. But business is 90%, had dropped 90% everywhere in the whole country. So I don't think it's business as usual. It's just us trying to cope with the situation. Economy today is at its worst since five years. And you know that we have. We thought we touched bottom. Yeah.
Mino Vlachos: And so I know I was there one year ago on October 7th, and I was in Lebanon. And I remember that was the day that I visited sept, and it was a surreal, because I could tell that a big thing was unfolding and there was, like, jets flying overhead. But I went to set and I felt really safe. Like, it was a place where I saw beauty, I felt creativity, I felt safety. And it's one of the many reasons that I'm very grateful to what you've created. Because on that day, as a, like, very pampered, privileged American who was not feeling safe, I found safety and I found community. And it was a really beautiful experience for me. What. What do you feel is the role of sept in creating? Because you told me earlier, you. You help people kind of come out, they feel safe to have an experience. They have a glass of wine. So what do you feel is the role of set in creating experiences like that?
Maher Harb: Listen, the role of sept for me is very clear now. I mean, probably at the beginning, I was still looking for it, but it was emanating from my personal regarding nature, regarding creativity, regarding wine, regarding food. Today I know exactly what my role is. And at the company and with the team, we try every time to explore that and express it and also apply it in a way that has the impact we it should have on people. First of all, and first thing, the creation of Sept. When I created Sept, it was the mission behind it as a winemaker and through the wine, was to reconcile the Lebanese people with their own identity through wine. And I can say it loud and clear, and I assume every word of it. Yes, the identity. The Lebanese have a problem with their identity. They're looking for an identity. They're looking for an identity because there is trauma in our history. And sometimes we forget that we have a beautiful identity and try to belong somewhere else. And I want to say to people in this country, belong to you, Lebanon. Lebanon is beautiful. Lebanon has magnificent people and energies and history and flavors and terroirs, et cetera. My role as a winemaker was to create wine that is reconciled with Lebanese identity, created taste of Lebanon through the terroir, through the indigenous varieties. And my role was to be ambassador of Thad. So during the years that came after the creation of that and starting it until today, I was, how to say, like unintentionally, if you want, I was put in places where I was asked to talk about what I'm doing. And the only feeling I had inside was to say, how beautiful is my country, not how cool is my wine, how beautiful is my country. And I'm making a wine. I hope it can express this in the. In a bottle. So, yeah, this starts with the wine. But the place where you came to last year, that land, that small land in the big land, which is the country, the mountain and the world, because we are in this world, we're on this planet Earth. This, this place has high energy. I felt it when I was young. I was driven back to it and I created what I created in it. And I can assure you that every person that visited Set entered this land, this garden where you were, had felt this energy. And everyone had a way to express it. And some and a lot expressed it very openly by saying, Maher, there's a beautiful energy in this place. Am I the author of this energy? No, I am not. Am I the conductor of it? It passes through me? Yes, I think it is. And that's my role. Okay, why it's a beautiful energy because the history of that land that is related to some people from this mountain, which were my ancestors, and the energy of my father, who I wanted to, how to say, to pay homage to in that land and what I'm creating for the future. Because selflessly, I would say no, without being selfish. Yeah, selflessly I'm trying to create something that people can come back to in the future, people like my son or his cousin or other people, and say, now, I mean, we're happy we can continue what was created 300 years ago and reconstructed by this person, not for the sake of me, but for the sake of it being reconstructed and reshowed and retalked about and put in its right place. Because the value of it is so huge. It's not bigger than any other similar project anywhere else in the world. But as long as we're doing it for the sake of heritage and future, in order to keep us human, grounded in our land before we leave it, and create something that is positive, that has love, that has passion, well, it's worth the while, you know. And I think this is what set is from a humongous, very far point of view. But this is what I went in my ideas.
Mino Vlachos: And so this is one area where sometimes I struggle to communicate with people, where sometimes in crisis there can be a hidden gift, because crisis forces us to change and to adapt and to evolve. But a lot of times we see, of course, rightfully, the catastrophe, the negativity, the destruction that can happen in crisis. And that is true. And it's a real cost that we bear. And there's an opportunity for us to change in a way, to evolve with nature, with the way things are going now. I know that you're still in the middle of crisis. The war, like you said, with the financial crisis, political. These have become, some of them chronic crisis. And then the war is now very heavily felt after a year. Is there something you identify as the kind of gift of the crisis? Is there something that's helped you see or evolve or change within set in the last couple months? Again, it's tough, maybe because you're in the middle of it, but would love to hear if you see any kind of optimism or hope.
Maher Harb: Of course, of course. Do I see optimism? I think I do. I do. Every. Every day. I do. Not only in this time, but in every time. I think. I think optimism is like you wake up in the morning, you have two options. Either decide not to wake up or wake up. Wake up is optimism. Optimism, it's pragmatic, it's a decision you take to continue and not be depressed and not hold on something that is a burden. So, yeah, optimism, always a gift. What did you call it? A gift.
Mino Vlachos: The gift of crisis.
Maher Harb: The gift of crisis. We've heard a lot of words in the crisis of Lebanon and the people of Lebanon. There's resilience, resistance, whatever, hope for life. I don't believe in hope. I think we create our own hope. And hope as a. As a message on its own is just. It just. It could be also the opposite of it, which is planned. So. No, we create our own hope by struggle, by contin. The gift of crisis, obviously, is focus. Yeah. Why? Because during crisis, at the beginning, you start being stressed and being afraid, being scared first. The first thing you do, I'm talking in general, is that you follow some comfortable, you know, like the. Not. How do you say? The fake comfort being. The fake comfort. The fake comfort. The fake comfort is listening to everyone. Everyone's saying the same thing. You're trying to scare someone else because someone else is trying to scare you. So this is watching news or being on Instagram and social media or being in groups where people are saying, oh, my God. Oh, my God. And, you know, being afraid all the time. So at the beginning, it's like that. So the first thing you do is just to withdraw from that because it's kind of very blurry and it's like a kind of a pollution to your mind. So going back when you're grounded and you have a place like, I am very happy and lucky. Grateful. I don't believe in luck. I'm grateful to have this place where I can go back to the nature and focus again. So what we did not gonna use the fact that having a kid now is something that brings hope and brings all the. All the assets you need to get out of a crisis. I'm not gonna use that because it's just momentary. It's a case now. But going back to nature, doing more hikes, which we did with the boy as well, just disconnecting from the bad vibes, bad rhythms, all of this. And obviously something very important. The harvest season in September. So it was during the beginning of the crisis. That's full creativity for me. So the creative process also helps you focus. And honestly, this year, like 2024, and I'm saying it to all my partners in the foreign market, this is by far the best harvest I've done. This is the best wine I've created. Because from the crisis, I went deep into the creative mode because it was My escape. And in my escape, I dwelled entirely. Well, maybe in another time of no crisis, the restaurant would have taken a bit of my time. Abundance would have made my mind unclear. Uncleared my mind. So in crisis, you clear your mind if you can. And that's the gift. You focus, you get grounded, you create more. You go to the creativity. You keep creating. And this is the gift of crisis. The gift of crisis with that brings adaptability. You adapt because there's no way other around it. And you relativize. You put things in relativity. Like, if something is not working, then it's okay. Let's see what is working and where we can. So this year, for example, where I really, how do you say, like, yeah, like really created something new was during the harvest, as I said, we went into a real search of new terroirs and new places and new vineyards that we can really add on to our production and show more, even more of this beautiful work we're doing on terroir and showing people the beauty of Lebanon through it. So while bombardments and people are getting killed and war and threats, we were trying to show more of the beauty of our mission, which is showing the beauty of Lebanon. Yeah.
Mino Vlachos: And so now I'm going to be selfish and shameless. You are our first 3Peak client that we have on our podcast. And so we're very honored to have you on and I'd like to put you on the spot. And we've loved working with you, one of our favorite businesses leaders, teams. It fills us all with joy and passion. I'm wondering on your side, how do you feel working with 3Peak has supported you and Sept during the time that we've worked with each other?
Maher Harb: Thank you for bringing this up. I never had the chance to talk about it and I would say maybe because it feels so natural at the beginning, when this service was offered to me, I mean offered or talked about or expressed, the first thing I feel, and this is also, I mean, we go back to the guy, the loner, the not a big team player, etc, I was like, do I really need that? And basically, it's like. It's like everything in life, someone points out a problem that you already covered with some plays you've worked on during your life, and you say, no, no, I don't have this problem. Then when you see it, really, you understand that you have a lack, you have a problem that you need to deal with. And when you deal with it and when someone knows how to deal with it, it becomes. You become attached to that it becomes like a, like another, like another team player with you, like a team member. So for me, yeah, three peak since three years now or two years as a team player, that I don't consider it as a. An external entity. I consider it as part of my evolution on a personal level because it helped me on a personal level as a leader and the evolution of my team on an enterprise level. So it has helped my team to. For growth. To growth. To the growth. Yeah, like growth. The growth in French. It's an important word. Growing. It's growing in your mind, in your heart, growing in your experience, understanding what you're doing. So the growth of my team, the growth of myself, because we can always grow in many areas. I never been an entrepreneur before set. So even though I managed to do stuff, I realized that a lot of things were forgotten about, I didn't care about. And I also realized from 3peak that if I don't look at that, I would deal with that later and will be heavier than now. So I, yeah, for me that's, that's partnership. For me, that's support. For me, that's team playing team player. That's. And the approach, what's. What's important is the approach. Long time ago in my old career, I used to work in coaching and different kind of coaching and conduct changing change. You know, the conduct change in a company is very important. You come in, people don't want to hear and I, we used to apply or learn and apply enterprise methods which are heartless. Human less. I mean, I love math, but you cannot apply something like that in a mathematical way in an absolute value. Because when you work with human, you need empathy, you need understanding, you need sympathy, you need direction. You. You need also to be tough in your wordings. And that's what 3Peak do greatly know how to do greatly in a way that you really jump into that adventure because you feel and you are convinced and you see that is the best way to evolve and grow because you're not on your own. And being on your own in an enterprise is the most destructive thing because you lose yourself, you lose. You bring yourself into your company so you lose your sense of leadership.
Mino Vlachos: And so as we've mentioned throughout the podcast is you have been through a lot of challenge, you have been through crisis and life is relative. But I really see leaders in Lebanon as mastering something that a lot of leaders in the United States, in Europe, Australia, they just don't have to face. This level of external instability with the government, the money, war so I'm going to ask you if you could give a piece of advice to a CEO in crisis, whether it's from the inside of the company or it's from the outside. What would be your piece of advice to a fellow CEO?
Maher Harb: I think first thing, you. I mean, giving an advice to alumda and anyone like CEO. I mean, of course, of course it's going to be related to context, to the background of that person, etc. But to make it. Let's make it like. Yeah, like this magic formula. Well, first of all, when you're in a crisis, the best thing to do is look at your strength, okay, the strengths of the company and look at what's working and what's not working, and focus on keeping the thing that are working in motion and in growth and not waste time on things that are affected by the crisis that you can do nothing to solve right now. So this is like really to assess the problem and focus on what works. And again, go back, take a breath, Focus on yourself. Keep this. You have a vision. Keep the vision. Look at the future. Vision. Don't look at the moment and use your. Use empathy and compassion with the people that are working in the company, not the opposite. Don't react, don't fire people, don't cut. Don't use the weapon of money in the face of crisis. But because you lose what you've built. So you have to stay in a. Okay, if you used to do that before crisis and now you're doing this during crisis, well, keep on doing this until you go back to that by using all what you've created around your company, that was allowing you to do this. Be grateful for that, because now you're doing this. But if you attack what you did, what helped you do that, then you're gonna lose. So, yeah, but go back to basics. You know, like I used to say. And this is like, okay, man, it's not leaders in Lebanon. It's mostly. Mostly Benis people. I used to. When I. When I met my wife, before she became my wife, I was completely rock bottom financially. And she was like saying, mayer, how can you do that? How can you cope? I was used to tell her, listen, I'm trying to do whatever I can, and I'm using whatever in my possession to create what I'm creating, because I know one day it would work. And I will, but I'll be more comfortable. But I'm not afraid from what I am now, because I will never. I will never get hungry. You know, if this is a Problem being hungry. I mean, if I cannot buy a beer, it's okay. If I can still drink water and eat a piece of bread. This is how Lebanese people think. This is how Lebanese leader think. Because one day you're having a party and you have everything that you want in your life and one day it's bombarded. If you're still alive after that, then you're grateful, then you go back and continue. But you have to know that in order to find the peace, you need to continue in a more aware way, in a more selfless. In a more selfless way in order not to go back to where you were. I think I kind of went in a different direction in the answer, but just to weigh things. So basically we go back to the modern world and to the Western world. And if you have crisis during the Western world, you have still, you are still privileged and use that and understand that you can, you have to be grateful for what you have before trying to take bad decisions, especially towards others. I think this is the secret just being. Don't let any crisis push you towards doing bad decisions towards other people in your company. I think this is a key thing. That's what most of the European and Western economy suffers from. The employment and how they deal with the employees and you know, like basically how the leaders, how do, how, how do they work with the other people? Like they became. They like machines who, who should take orders and do whatever without. No, you should push them, you should give them more responsibility. You should put them at the same level of. As you. Hierarchy. Hierarchy is not that way. It shouldn't be that way.
Mino Vlachos: So my last question, so we end on a nice note, is as you look forward, what excites you about the future of Sept?
Maher Harb: Listen, it's always exciting. I mean, you know, Sept. Sept offered me, it opened the door for me, a beautiful door of, of me becoming a part of this human life on earth where people appreciate each other, appreciate the creation of each other. And SET gave me that. I mean, before Sept, I always asked myself, what am I gonna do one day? And today I'm very happy of what I am and who I am. Because really, it put me in places, it put me. It has put me in beautiful adventures with people. I mean, every sip of my wine that is sipped in any corner of the world, I can feel that. And if, I mean, at least it makes me happy to know that some people are spending good time drinking a product that I created. So the purpose today, I mean the future for me is to keep this to keep this up and to make sure that the message we're trying to portray through all this work and creativity, to show the beauty of my country through that wine and to show that this wine is a. Is a pre. Is a quality, qualitative product that is driven by passion, driven by know how, driven by love and trust. And yeah, keep up this. I mean, just continue and come and stay that reference as a CEO reference in the quality of the product and the wine as a winemaker and as a person from that country to see, keep this product as an ambassador to the beauty and the values of our country.
Mino Vlachos: Thank you. And so for anyone listening, try to find Sept Wine. It's international. Once the bombardments and the ceasefire is done, which I hope is very soon, I really hope and praise very soon, please visit Sept before they get their Michelin star and you can't book it. It's probably at some point, I would guess, going to be hard to get in the door. What they're doing is very special. I opened the podcast by saying the team at Sept is walking the walk. They are respecting their heritage, they're connecting with the land, they're creating experiences for people. Everything is. The quality is through the roof. It's a gorgeous country with so much history. So I really want to thank my heart for taking the time to be here with us today, to hear your personal experience across all these years and building a successful business and also navigating these challenging times of change and doing it with grace and passion and love, an honor and respect for your heritage, your ancestors, your family, your father. It's really one of the most touching places I've been in my life and I encourage everyone to visit as soon as possible. So thank you, Maher.
Maher Harb: Thank you, Mino. It was a pleasure talking to you about that.