Book excerpt: Dr. Saad al Barrak is no ordinary businessman. His approach to business comes from the souks of his native Kuwait, but is also shaped by an American and British education, occupation and war, and his own warm and human leadership style. In just seven years (2002-2009), al Barrak transformed a moribund, ex-stateowned telecoms operator with a base of 500,000 customers in Kuwait, into the international giant Zain, a company with over 72 million customers across twenty-two countries. Over the same period, revenues leapt from $570 million to a staggering $8 billion. Saad al Barrak's respect for the human dimension in business dealings shines through this insightful and entertaining book. His call to 'be bold, be daring, be different', has revolutionised the business models of companies such as McKinsey.