The story is told of how the executives of one big company’s executive committee convened a retreat to assess how their business was doing. During the retreat, it emerged that because of the sheer size of the firm, top management did not seem to have clarity about what business they were in. Some of the top executives thought the company was in exploration, others thought it was in logistics and others thought it was in marketing! After a lot of soul searching, the executive retreat agreed that the company was in the business of energy. That company is Shell™. Once…
The Power of Integrity
When you give your word to yourself or to others, keep it. Do not break it, period. That is the secret of success. Keep Your Word From as far back as the mid 1980’s, Ugandan businessmen and women have been traversing the globe looking for the ‘deal’ of their lives. From Kenya to Dubai, to India to China, to London and onto Tokyo, many a hopeful Ugandan businessperson has traveled to fix that deal. Many have cast their lot but very few have been chosen. The irony is that very few business people know why they have not been chosen.…
The Power of Networks
There is a proverb in some of the East African cultures to the effect that ‘show me your friends, and I will tell you your character’. Others say ‘birds of the same feathers flock together’. So the rich flock with the rich, corporate types flock with corporate types and well, laggards flock with laggards. People tend to identify with those with whom they share the same economic status or better. What is true for folklore is also true for business. The story of many business successes is filled with amazing coincidences and opportunities that entrepreneurs chanced upon and made good.…
The Power of Knowledge
Businesses often fail because founders and investors neglect to look before they leap, surging forward with plans without taking the time to realize that the base assumptions of the business plan are wrong. Most successful businesses are the result of more business knowledge than anything else. In the Graham Hancock’s classic, Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business, Hancock vividly recounts how “experts” in charge of a World Bank project attempted in vain to set up a fish farming project in the remote rural areas of the Egyptian Sahara. Despite their best efforts and…
Board member effectiveness and reflection
The primary role of the board of directors is value addition. Every board member must take self-reflection and, ask “which value do I bring on this company’s board?” At the end of every board meeting, the board chair must always ask his board: which value did we add today? Did members just waste the time and money in sitting allowances or the meeting added value? Which value? Read: Is your board empowering you? Each board member must answer the following: Why do I deserve a sit on this table? What are your specific roles and responsibilities? If you are a…
Tool 50 of 104 is to plan for the future
“The village firm is my savior. When you are in Kampala, enjoying the spoils of the job, it is easy to forget about your life after the job. Do not be blinded.” In May 1989, Jane received an invitation letter for an aptitude test for a public service job. The testing venue was a familiar one, a hall at Makerere University in the Faculty of ICT, a place she had spent four years in undergraduate study. A week later, She sat the aptitude test with over 800 others and was glad to be among the top 120 applicants who made…
