Dubai: More than 195 nationalities live within Dubai’s borders – and every single person has a different perspective on the same thing.Belgian national Inge Van Belle, 51, who is co-founder of Herculean Alliance, an employee engagement and corporate team-building company based in Belgium and Dubai, has seen this reality at play, both at work and in her private life.Different cultures approach punctuality differently. Some prefer eating with their hands, others with forks and knives. Some are comfortable openly disagreeing and debating in office meetings, while others prefer to discuss issues privately at their manager’s desk.No matter how it plays out, living in Dubai is a daily masterclass in how differently people see the same thing, according to Van Belle.The most remarkable realisation, however, is that the city doesn’t try to get people to conform to one standard. Everyone brings their own thoughts and cultural flair – and together, they Dubai-it by achieving shared goals with excellence, speed and mutual respect.Van Belle said: “A local population. Expats who originally only planned to stay a few years. A multicultural middle layer. A huge blue-collar workforce. On paper, that looks like an almost impossible mix to manage, let alone to build performance, efficiency and service on top of. And somehow, it works. What I find inspiring is that Dubai took that complexity and, instead of flattening it, built an identity out of the mix.”The identity that is forming is fascinating to watch. It’s built with both individualistic and collectivistic cultures bringing their unique perspectives. It has its own tongue-in-cheek humour, and its melting-pot phrases. It’s full of ideas that you’d only truly appreciate if you experienced life in the city.Van Belle has seen it for herself. She and her husband Yves Vekemans, who is also co-founder of Herculean Alliance, first began visiting Dubai in 2009. Impressed by the scope and scale of development here, they formally established their business in the emirate in 2011, and travelled between Dubai and Belgium for years before they made their permanent move here, with their two children, in 2020.Inge Van Belle and her husband Yves Vekemans are co-founders of Herculean Alliance, an employee engagement and corporate team-building company based in Belgium and Dubai. Picture credit: SuppliedOver the past two decades, she has seen how the city has evolved, and how its identity is shaping up.She explained: “We have our own lingo here that outsiders half understand at best: ‘Khalli walli’ (leave it be) and ‘shway shway’ (little by little, or take it easy). Memes like ‘Tell me you live in Dubai without telling me you live in Dubai.’ That is not a superficial detail. It is a sign of a culture that is forming and continuously evolving, rather than one that got flattened trying to please everyone.”There’s also a strong sense of unity underscoring everything, and it’s born from what the community has gone through together: “Both proud moments as much as the hard ones. Expo 2020. The tension the whole region has felt at different points. The particular rhythm of Ramadan every year. We call these ‘moments that matter’, and I truly believe they are what continues to shape the identity of this nation.”At the core of its identity, are Dubai residents naturally reaching for a human connection beneath all the differences, and finding a balance. According to Van Belle, that inclination comes from living among so many nationalities, and reframing your own thought process with a single question: “What am I not seeing?”It’s a question that most people struggle with, because it requires you to stay calm and curious when dealing with people from other ethnicities and facing situations that can be baffling or frustrating.Van Belle said: “Even the most open-minded people fall into the trap of treating their own value system as the neutral, default one, simply ‘normal’, without realising it… Cultivating openness of mind, that appetite to keep learning, is not a soft skill. It is the whole point.”A history of toleranceThe skill of open-mindedness goes hand-in-hand with tolerance, a culture that the UAE is historically known for.Van Belle authored and published the international bestselling book ‘Employee Engagement. What Else?’ last year, by drawing from leadership lessons and ground-breaking practices in the UAE. When pondering over the best example of an engaged organisation, for her book, she realised it wasn’t a business – it was an emirate. Dubai.She said: “Dubai didn't ask people to leave their culture at the door to belong. That openness has deep roots. As early as the 1960s, late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum was known for engaging with ideas and people far beyond his own circle, forging real ties with the foreign merchant communities who were settling here. In 1966, he donated land in the heart of Dubai for the construction of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Openness, yes, but never at the cost of pulling the fabric of the place apart.”That balance is crucial, and it’s why other countries are now looking at Dubai as a model city. While some countries and businesses struggle with diversity, the UAE is home to close to 200 nationalities living and working peacefully, side by side. Van Belle added: “Dubai has found a formula that works, and the research backs it up: diverse organisations, managed well, consistently show higher engagement.”Why people stayInge Van Belle with her daughter Julietta at the Belgian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, where Van Belle holds a position as economic diplomacy advisor. Picture credit: SuppliedThe fact that it does this so organically and effectively is unique to the emirate. She explained: “Taking something the rest of the world sees as pure complexity and turning it into something exceptional, that’s about as Dubai-it as it gets.”It's why there is a quiet shift happening in the city, according to Van Belle. The population is becoming less transient. Generational families are being raised here. People are putting down roots.She said: “More and more young people are choosing to study in the UAE and then build their careers, and eventually their whole lives, here. That is a real building block of a society.”Her own kids, Amaury, 21, and Julietta, 19, are “strong students”, who chose to go to university in the UAE.She said: “They’re also growing up inside the family business itself, picking up more about culture, negotiation and leadership from working alongside people from 30 different backgrounds than any MBA could ever teach them. To me, that says more about our commitment to this place than anything [else].”While Amaury is studying computer science at Zayed University, he is also behind the entire redesign of their business’s gamification app. Julietta is studying business at the School of Knowledge Economy and Management (SKEMA), and is head of Pink Ladies Games, “our corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative for active women who care”. Van Belle herself is still learning something new every day, through her interactions with the vibrant Dubai community. She said living here has made her much slower to judge and much quicker to ask.
