I have discussed this subject before, but given that the business environment remains tough I feel the urge to emphasise this advice in the run in to year end. Even the most optimistic about the Nigerian economy would have been jolted by the Q2 GDP out-turn revealing a slow down to 1.5 per cent, implying the lowest per cent growth in the last 3 quarters (2.0 per cent Q1 2018 and 2.1 per cent Q4 2017).
In this clime, it is a no-brainer that businessmen must be at their creative edge to survive, let alone thrive. Reality is that much as we have celebrated the reversal of the recession of a couple of years ago, our macro-economic position is still fragile. I was speaking to a foreign investor a few days ago, who expressed the disappointment that five months to elections, the investor community hasn’t seen the typical uplift in consumer spending and demand, unlike in the past.
Clearly, gone are the days of “easy money” — at least it seems. This is thus only escalating an already punitive competitive business environment. Therefore, any company bidding to win this “war” must be adept at new thinking, creating a new world and delivering breakthrough interventions.
Too many things have happened in the last couple of decades that affirm the well-documented view that not only are we operating in a new world, but that we don’t even know what we don’t know about the future. I still remember vividly how I used to go in the queue at NITEL, Lagos, for several hours in the 70’s — just to make a 3-minute call to my uncle who was in the UK compared to today where mobile phone penetration is said to be over 150million units.
I have said it in this column before that when we were growing up, the companies we knew and praised to high heavens were the likes of UAC, UTC, John Holt, Lever Brothers, etc. It is instructive to observe that today the top five most capitalized companies are all in the Tech industry — Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. The world has been transformed commercially in the last 3 decades. We are currently in the territory of unknown unknowns.
Someone said 80% to 90% of the jobs that kids in primary school today will do when they grow up, probably don’t exist yet. In encouraging our team, I remember we used to advise that “change is inevitable”, but perhaps we should be more direct and change that to “change is mandatory”. Everyone needs to think ahead of his generation now, to stand a chance to be the next Dangote of Nigeria. Obviously, accelerating the creation of breakthroughs in business is easier said than done, but I will offer my perspective of the leadership attributes required:
(1). Have a possibility mindset: Most times, people create what they believe in. If you believe so much in gloom and doom – then no surprises — possibilities can’t show up. You cannot be emotionally inspired to create a legacy if you are the pessimistic type that sees nothing good in everything. I once had a Philippino boss that, even an innocent morning could offend. When you said to him “good morning boss”, his response was always: “what’s good about the morning?” Imagine! As a leader, you must keep an open-mind. You can’t pigeon-hole yourself. That you are the leader doesn’t mean you have all the answers, and it is possible to have a subordinate that is smarter than you.
(2) Have an ability to take risk: You can’t live in your comfort zone all the time. Comfort zone by definition is a place of no growth because “comfort” and “aspiration” hardly stay in the same space. The most successful businessmen have this innate appetite for trying new things. Some of the innovations we have witnessed in our lifetime are the results of an “insatiable” desire for new, better things. You must take risks and make mistakes. No one would know how many mistakes were made behind the scenes before the “birth” of MPESA Orijin, Uber, Cryptocurrency, etc.
(3) Create an artificial crisis: In the past, it was said that “necessity is the mother of invention”. In other words, when you have your back against the wall, no one would tell you to shift gear. But it really needs not be. If you wait till you have a crisis, then your creation or innovation could be painful and costly. Current thinking is, as a business leader, it is wisdom to create an imaginary crisis, like one of your core revenue streams goes to the dogs, and simulate your reaction to that crisis, with special focus on possibilities that would pull you out of the woods. It seems that as Nigerians, we are particularly at our best fire-fighting. We leave everything to the last minute and end up shorts changing ourselves. The best innovations, I believe, are based on identified opportunities not necessarily forced on by challenges and genuinely, if you shine your eyes and not wait for real crisis, you would probably see more opportunities than others (as the Apples and Amazons and Facebooks of this world).
(4) Persistence is key: Finally, there will be times that things don’t just stack up, where you are scared stiff by the (realistic) fear of failure, when you think the matter is closer to impossibility than possibility. In those situations, a leader must keep going. Neither his words nor his body language must suggest a lack of belief or self-confidence. I remember when we first declared we were going to sell 1million crates of Coca-Cola products at one of the bottling plants outside Lagos in one month, several years ago. Given that @ about 800,000 crates we thought we “had arrived”, 1 million was more than a stretch. A few days to the end of the month, it remained impossible to see the 1million, but it happened. Each time I watch the video of Liverpool vs. AC Milan UEFA Champions League Final of 2005, I develop goose pimples around “staying the course.” Liverpool conceded in the 1st minute of the match and were down 0 –3 at half time. They didn’t give up the ghost, kept their self-belief until they equalized and won. For how long have we been talking about a cashless economy in Nigeria. We always thought it was impossible until recently that you would see even the so-called “village people” using ATM’s and POS for their transactions. In the world of creating possibilities, the role of persistence cannot be overstated.
Have a great September!
Punch
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