[Whitepaper] A Great Leadership Experience: Dr. Rachid Yazami, Inventor of the Lithium Battery

2/10/2021 A Great Leadership Experience: Dr. Rachid Yazami, Inventor of the Lithium Battery | by Mark Bridges | Jan, 2021 | Medium
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A Great Leadership Experience: Dr. Rachid
Yazami, Inventor of the Lithium Battery
Mark Bridges Jan 21 · 10 min read
Note: This article is authored by Hanane Anoua, originally published on the Flevy Blog. You
can read all of Hanane’s articles here.
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Leadership has become a usual term often misunderstood by many people even those
holding the status of a leader. There is no doubt that everyone can be a leader, but not
everyone can be a genius leader. Leadership is far limited to prestige, a high status, or to
financial abundance; it is neither about authority nor power. Leadership starts when you
go beyond the self to serve and empower others.
This article is not for a purpose to redefine leadership with its different aspects, but it is
simply about a great example of leadership that mirrors outstanding performance and
remarkable human qualities. Dr. Rachid Yazami is an eminent scientist and best known
for his research on lithium ion batteries. This technology is used by billions of people
worldwide for their cell phones, cameras, tablets, laptops, power tools, and many other
devices. Dr. Yazami started his career from scratch to build an empire based on the
battery technology. My main interest is not to make a compilation of his achievements
and honors, but to tap into his personality traits and characteristics; to discuss the
main qualities that enabled him to succeed as a scientist, a researcher, and a leader of his
field. My purpose is to understand also the sources of his inspirations and the secret
behind his motivations and limitless resilience. His unique path is a textbook of
insightful lessons that I aim to summarize and share with you based on a set of
interviews with him.

Let me first introduce Dr. Rachid Razami, who is a native of Fez, Morocco. He began his
career at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, where
he later became the research director in 1998. He also served as a visiting associate at
the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in collaboration with JPL/NASA, for 10
years. Currently, he is working as a researcher and visiting professor at the Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He is also listed as an inventor of more
than 140 patents in relation to battery technology. He is the co-author of more than 250
papers on batteries and their related fields and systems. He has received many scientific
awards from NASA, NATO, IBA, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and
IEEE, and many among others. In recognition to his outstanding work in regards to
rechargeable lithium batteries, he was awarded in Washington, at the prestigious
Charles Stark Draper 2014 prize by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). This
price is the equivalence of a Nobel Prize of engineering. During the same year, he was
appointed by MH the King of Morocco as a Corresponding Member of the Hassan II
Academy of Sciences and Technologies of Morocco.
His inventions and researches revolutionized the daily life of billions, and have reshaped
many technological aspects. Most and not least, his batteries are also used in many types
of equipment regarding disabled people, and enhanced the life of many humans using
lithium for their medical tools. “Despite the risks of explosion, lithium-ion batteries
remain the best on the market. “Without them, there would be no Smartphone or
electric vehicle,” Dr. Yazami.
It was not easy to summarize his journey in few paragraphs. This part was really the
most challenging to me as the list of his achievements, and awards cannot be wrapped
up in one article. His answers to my questions were always full of anecdotes and life

lessons that were of great value. Most important, his sense of humor, his engaging and
positive personality made this experience a unique learning lesson.
What is the main thing that characterizes you?
“I have always relied on my instincts to take decisions. In my field, taking good decisions
is crucial to understand the next right move. Generally, I can say that I made more right
choices than wrong ones during my entire professional path. Mistakes and failures are
not my concerns as I know how to fit in different situations. I like comparing this aspect
to the Brownian movement as, in my context, it allows me a constant renewal and
adaptation. This is what enables me to spring back quickly and develop resilience to
keep moving forward.”
What is the secret behind your great determination?
“I was born in a family where hard work was a daily habit. I participated as a small child
in helping both my mother and father in accomplishing their own tasks. At a very early
age, I made a promise towards myself, a commitment to work hard on my dreams. Since
then I never stopped working on these dreams. Nothing about my life was luck. I
believed only in hard work. Hunger of new achievements and enhanced ones have been
my daily concern for many years. I often don’t consider what has been done as I am
always eager to go for what should be done to enhance it. Sometimes it is unconscious as
my mind is in a constant search of what can better serve people and humanity.”
What are your sources of your inspirations?
“I am much known for being sociable as I enjoy talking to people and like sharing
experiences. But I often need solitude and some distance to think, meditate to be able to
recover and nurture my inner resources. Many important aspects of batteries remain to
be improved or solved. My unsatisfaction, great desire for continuous improvement

coupled with my curiosity are enough elements that trigger my inspiration and keep me
self-motivated. I still have many dreams that I want to accomplish. One of them is to be
able to explore this technology and apply it for cars and motorcycles, which will create a
clean environment and impact the economy.”
What are the things people don’t know about you?
“Despite my scientific background, I am a great consumer and have a great passion of
literature and poetry. I have always been a great adept of the romantic school of poetry
since I was 13 years old. I used to read books and pieces of the Lebanese writer, Gibran
Khalil Gibran, Moustapha Lutfi al-Manfaluti, the Egyptian poet; and other pieces of
Victor Hugo, Baudelaire and many others. I also have a great interest of football, which
remains my favorite sport despite my advanced age. I have many other hobbies like
playing music, cooking and eating.” A statement that ended up with a great laughter.
What are the key rules behind your success?
Creativity:
“As a scientist and researcher, creativity has been the essence of all my activity that
enables be to serve people across the globe. Creative ideas often percolate after
confusions in my mind. But these confusions often have a sense as it reveals great results
after many tests and experiments. The preliminary work is often unconscious as in a
dream but with a certain rationality. Condensation of ideas occurs naturally; it
sometimes takes time, but eventually emerges and turns the confusion into a meaningful
insight.”
“I believe that the disorder is a fundamental state of the universe because it contributes to its
harmony.” — Dr. Rachid Yazami

Hard Work:
“It took me a lot of hard work, determination and persistence to get where I am today.
My honors and achievements are just the apparent part of the iceberg. Since 1978, I
have been completely immersed in research on the battery technology. Hard work was
crucial to my success, but it has not been the most determinant aspect in my path. In
many occasions I had to think outside the box, try new experiments and go beyond the
norms to attain distinguished achievements. I had also to say no to certain people and
missions that were not aligned with my values and vision. My first challenge was when I
was offered to go for applied mathematics. I said no as I wanted to choose chemistry
because in Morocco there were phosphates. I said no when I was in California and the
president Bush cut off all the investments on lithium basic research, then I decided to
come back to France. I also said no when the CEO of my own company started to
perform beyond the vision that I set up, and so other examples where I had to stay firm
on my position.
Commitment and Passion:
“I could not be able to persevere in my field if I did not have a great passion for what I
was doing. Passion is the fuel that still keeps me moving even in the absence of tangible
results. My commitment and great passion enabled me to go beyond all obstacles and
hurdles to carry on the battery technology, which impacts today billions of people
worldwide.”
“If the statue of liberty was a prominent symbol of freedom since the 19th century, the
lithium battery becomes the one of the 21st century.” — Dr. Rachid Yazami
Tolerance:
“To succeed in one’s career, we also need to be tolerant towards others. Tolerance was
something nurtured at a very early age. My best examples of tolerance have always been
my parents. Their acceptance of people’s differences is outstanding. Today, tolerance is a
key element in my career as I have to handle great relations from different cultures on a
daily basis. After Morocco, I studied and worked for many years in Europe, then the US,
Japan, and now I am settled at Singapore. This cultural wealth that I developed

throughout my career is a great blessing and valuable attribute that enabled me to look
at things from different cultural perspectives, build trust and great relations.
Confidence:
“I was a shy person when I was young. I reached a high level of confidence not with age
but through hard work and mastery. I believe confidence is not something we are born
with but an inner skill that we need to develop and nurture. My discovery was made in
late 1979, early 1980. It was a determinant moment in my career but unfortunately at
that time, no one believed in it, neither the CNRS nor the French industry, but I never
gave up.”
Positive Attitude:
“Sometimes, it takes courage to stay positive when things go wrong but this is the only
way I managed to persevere in my field. It is crucial to nurture a positive attitude on a
daily basis to overcome people’s bad misconceptions, and many other challenges.”
Can you describe your style of leadership?
I cannot deny the fact that sometimes I can be strict and even tough with my team. In my
field, there is nothing left to coincidence as it has to do with the security of billions of
people. This does not imply an authoritative style of leadership. My goal is not to build a
team that is limited to execute a vision, but to encourage and empower them to become
inventors in their own fields; it is already the case.
In a nutshell, my daily concern is the team’s involvement as I always valued their inputs.
Building trust through clear communication is very important in my field to overcome
biases.”

It is true that Dr. Rachid Yazami showcased many great achievements after many years
of hard work and persistence, but the best ones have to do with his humility, and
generosity. His simplicity is a striking fact about his personality; his positive attitude and
sense of humor are commendable and even contagious. Most and not least, his
motivation to succeed and outperform have never been financially driven, but guided by
an inner willingness to better serve people and humanity.
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[Whitepaper] A Great Leadership Experience: Dr. Rachid Yazami, Inventor of the Lithium Battery