As part of its Capacity Building programme, the WCO organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) workshop from 9 until 20 January 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon. Sixteen senior managers of the Lebanese Customs Administration were inspired to strengthen their leadership and management capacities, as well as their personal effectiveness to drive reforms within their organisation.

During a meeting with the President of the High Council and the DG of Customs at the end of the LMD workshop, participants were invited to not only implement their newly acquired skills and insights in their own units, but to also contribute to the further development of Lebanese Customs as a whole. This invitation can be seen as a breakthrough for Lebanese Customs, where important efforts for modernization of the organisation itself as well as the customs systems and procedures, are starting to emerge. With personal testimonies at the end of the workshop participants demonstrated their motivation to use the workshop as a starting point for organisation-wide implementation of changes.

In the LMD workshop participants learned that knowing yourself and self-awareness, managing strategically, people management, outstanding communication skills and change management are very important to address the organisation’s future challenges. The participating senior managers were extremely participative and showed a strong motivation and commitment to know, improve and manage themselves, in order to have a great and positive impact on others, as well as on the organisation.

The participants expressed their motivation to lead, manage and change Lebanese Customs towards a modern and ethical organisation, with an important focus on modernizing HR methods and instruments. These three focal areas of the vision were further explored during the workshop and will function as beacon for the future of Lebanese Customs.

For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.