The historic Abraham Accords were signed in August this year, which normalized relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel. It is the first time for decades that Arab nations have entered into such an agreement with Israel. As a UAE resident, but also a citizen of the world, this news gave me a lot of hope in a difficult year.

With this agreement comes a tremendous opportunity to create and grow relationships, businesses and initiatives across divides that have traditionally been very difficult to bridge, and between opposing sides frequently entrenched in their views about each other. Despite geographical proximity, the divides between these nations of culture, religion, language, history and tradition are significant and have existed for many years.

Last night I attended a virtual event hosted by the UAE and Israel chapters of Startup Grind, a global community now numbering 3.5 million people, made up of entrepreneurs and investors keen to grow business opportunities across the world. What struck me was the excitement and appetite for collaboration between these two chapters. It was heart warming to see that there are people on both sides of this traditionally opposing ‘wall’ who are eager to forgive, put the past behind us, and move forward to an exciting and positive future.

In my book ‘Getting Teamwork Right’ which I published just before the Abraham Accords were signed, I talked about the many challenges the human race is going to face in the next 100 years, and that the only way we are going to overcome them as a global community is to work well together in cohesive, collaborative and highly functional teams. Initiatives like the Abraham Accords are exactly what we need if we are going to get through these challenges.

But this is not going to be easy. We all have different cultural views, ways of doing things, expectations and standards. When any team comes together, they go through Bruce Tuckman’s ‘forming, storming, norming and performing’ journey. It can be messy at first, with plenty of misunderstanding and conflict occurring before your team starts to really fire on all cylinders. It is undoubtedly an easier ride if the team members are already similar in their beliefs, outlook, culture and experience.

Trying to grow teams made up of very different people will always be harder. For al the various teams that are going to be created as part of the new activity that the accords allow, it will be very easy for the differences to be more noticeable and more powerful drivers than the similarities. These differences could become wedges that prevent these teams from succeeding, especially when the going gets tough and the fragile relationships are in their infancy.

I really, really want the thinking behind the accords to succeed. The world right now needs this, god knows we’ve had a hard enough time of it this year! But above and beyond the COVID experience, the world needs to heal its long-standing divides through forgiveness and tolerance, and become more cooperative and collaborative in outlook and intent.

In my work coaching teams, I help them to focus on building better relationships so that they can reach the results they have come together to achieve. Teams need to develop understanding, trust and respect if they have any chance of succeeding. And the ones that will succeed are the ones that will take the necessary time to consciously work on their teamwork, rather than leaving it up to chance, which is a dangerous policy considering how costly poor teamwork is.

I hope I can help in some way to help make the Abraham Accords succeed. I don’t yet know exactly how I can do this, but I will find a way to advise or coach teams that are coming together as a result of this initiative. I know the world needs things like this to succeed. It’s a step in the right direction, but action will need to be taken to make it work. I am here if people need me, and I wish luck to all the endeavours I am sure are being born as I type as a result of this historic agreement.