Two friends of mine were grappling with the same issue. How to motivate and retain employees during a period of rising inflation and subsequent declines in real income. Their offices had become a revolving door of employees trying to motivate for raises. There weren’t any easy solutions for this. With no corresponding revenue or productivity increase it is difficult for any business owner to justify any increase in costs. Me being me, I decided to share with them some motivational sentences from one of my favourite leadership gurus. I received a terse response “Has this guy ever actually run a business?”. It really made me think.
1. Your guru has probably never been to your country
Given the reach of social media many Western leadership guru’s and consultants have increasingly international audiences. This means someone running an abattoir in Bulilamangwe (yes this is a real place) who is interested in learning more about leadership can access this content. Does this mean that because the so-called guru has not heard of Bulilamangwe that their counsel is irrelevant? There are some principles that are universal that can be applied to any context and improve business performance. As an example, revenue has to exceed costs in order to make a profit. In any language or context. Therefore, I believe even through these Western leadership gurus don’t understand our African context they can still add value in this way.
2. The concept or idea of business is different to operating a business
Many of the leadership gurus that I am exposed to come out of academia or out of religious ministry. In many cases they have advised the CEO’s of major corporations with great success. This is because they are able to simplify the problem a CEO is encountering into a digestible and often repeatable model. As an example, think of Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why”. An easily repeatable and understand model. Despite this advice, however, the current management of the business still have to run the business. Even though you understand these concepts when you run a mine in South Africa, when 5000 staff threaten to go on strike you still have to show up. Starting with Why is a valuable tool in the toolbox but will not do the job for you.
3. Our problems are not that unique
There is also a tendency for people to think that their experiences in the world are very unique. My perspective on this is that while no two markets are identical, there is learning that is transferable across geographical boundaries. Struggling to service the low income part of the market in Africa? Guaranteed there is someone in Asia or South America who has experienced the same of something similar. Struggling to access an ultra-premium markets in Africa? Guaranteed there is someone in Singapore or Hong Kong who has done it before. While Africa is not a homogenous there is definitely some advice from the so-called gurus will add a lot of value.
4. The summary of the summary
The Western leadership guru will never be able to understand your business the same way you do. Guaranteed they have probably never walked in your shoes. Have never had to deal with the local receiver of revenue and or the local municipality to restore water supply to your business during unscheduled interruptions. Ultimately, we must decide the extent that what they are saying is valuable to us, or rather is pie in the sky. What keeps us honest is just to remember that their hustle is to get corporations and CEO’s to pay them for advice. Therefore, they need to package their content in a way that will make a CEO want to pay them. The content may help you, but it is not ultimately designed to do so. Its guru’s P&L vs yours and no prizes for guessing which one will take priority.
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