The Indians say that “It is not how much you have, but what you can give” that makes all the difference. Many times, people appear to be rich and living in abundance, yet they live a life as prisoners of their success. A prisoner of success is a person who spends a lot of their time minding about their businesses and how to keep growing it and lacks discretionary time to do other things that are important for a happy and integrated life like travel, family time, and peace of mind. Discretionary time is doing what you want to do…
Understanding the board’s oversight and going-concern roles
The two critical roles of the board of directors are (1) oversight and (2) going-concern. The oversight role entails effective risk management and compliance enterprise-wide. While the going-concern role is about organizational sustainability through effective strategy formulation, business model, and execution. What is going-concern? It is the primary role of the board to sustainably grow the business. The board must make sure their business they preside over can never go burst or collapse, otherwise, that is a sign of a poor board of directors. The first duty of the Board is to ensure sustainable growth. This is achieved by discussing…
The best of WhatsApp: The Winston Churchhill speech
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, once said: “I took a taxi one day to the BBC office for an interview. When I arrived, I asked the driver to wait for me for forty minutes until I got back, but the driver apologized and said, “I can’t, because I have to go home to listen to Winston Churchill’s speech.” I was amazed and delighted with the man’s desire to listen to my speech! So I took out ten pounds and gave it to the taxi driver without telling him who I was. When the driver collected the…
The ultimate question by CEOs: what is my business today?
If you are the CEO, you must constantly ask yourself and your executive team the relevant question: what is our business today? Is it still relevant? What needs to be changed or improved and what needs to be stopped altogether. Consider television for example. What is the best way to monetize your content so that your re-invest more in original and local productions to make even more money and attract more eye-balls? Where are potential growth opportunities? What are you missing which competitors could leverage on instantly and win? Instead of holding routine agenda meetings that make people sleep,…
Inspire your followers to win
The job of the most senior executive is to inspire people, not to issue commands. To foster commitment, not to enforce compliance. To instill a drive for efficiency and optimal performance in the team, regardless of the position or title, and not demand it. Working with executives and CEOs, I have noted that exceptional leaders take the blame while average ones place the blame. When something is not right, an average leader will find an excuse. Now with the #COVID-19 pandemic, most executive briefing reports start with the words “due to COVID19, we did not…” As early as March 2020,…
The villages have moved on. So have the people. have you?
Rural areas have moved on. Once places for substance and commercial farming, today, villages or rural areas have slowly metamorphosed into pre-mature urban areas. Many young boys and girls operate a bodaboda or a saloon or a chapati kiosk or just meet up to play cards at the trading centre. Going to the farm or school is no longer their thing, thanks to the Coronavirus induced lockdown. In the past, we looked to visit the village for fresh foods and free fruits. Not anymore. Now you have to travel to the village with fresh fruits. Being the centre of commerce,…
