Your internal letter to staff on keepingoptimism alive has become something of a celebrity in its own right. What roledo you think business leaders have to play in generating the kind of optimismyou talked about?
I think that sometimes it’s the only roleof the business leader. I believe as a leader you are supposed to be seeing thebig picture and giving your staff perspective all the time, whether it’s inyour fight against the competition or in a difficult economic climate. Theletter was not supposed to be denialist (although some people took it as such)– it was simply a message to those who were stuck in the moment to snap out ofit.
You mention that the challenges remind youwhy you can beat the competition – a very entrepreneurial sentiment. Is entrepreneurship something you try toinstil at iBurst?
I think that most businesses in South Africaare very entrepreneurial and I think it’s difficult to get ahead in thiscountry without a ‘can do’ attitude. You have to continue innovating andallowing your people to think out the box. One of the nicest things aboutiBurst’s culture is that we do feel like a small company, even though we’vegrown substantially. We’ve just finalised our passion statement for staff whichis based on the principle of ‘this is my business’.
What were the hardest lessons you learnedduring the early days?
I underestimated the importance ofprocesses and systems, in spite of the fact that I’m a CA! In a small companythose things are not as important but they become vital as you grow. Inimplementing them the trick is to avoid the trap of bureaucracy. With growth,the other lesson I learned was about the importance of hiring the right peoplewith the right skills. In our desperation for staff we sometimes hired rottenapples and it’s very difficult to get rid of them. Finally the other lesson isthat it’s easy to work on the basis that the customer is stupid. But if you do,you risk losing the trust of customers, something which is very difficult toregain.
You are often described as the ‘turnaroundguy’ but there’s life after the turnaround. How would you define your role nowat iBurst?
Whether you are conscious of it or not,when you’re the turnaround guy, there is always some kind of legacy excuse youcan fall back on. Everybody measures you based on the past which, because aturnaround was required, has a low base, so you’re inevitably going to end uplooking good. The difference for me is that the business has settled and nowit’s up to me to take it forward, so I look at it very much as an owner. I thinka turnaround guy looks at the business as a manager would.
What is the biggest challenge you face inyour position today and how do you plan to overcome it?
A shortage of specialised skills,particularly in the ICT sector. The first solution lies in becoming an employerof choice – you have to look after your people. So we’ve focused on creating agood culture that keeps people loyal. The environment you create not only makespeople want to stay but it means they tell their friends about it as well. Weheap recognition and rewards on our stars and try to make sure that everyonecan have fun during the 18 hour days. We are also trying to spend more money onupskilling staff and support several NPOs that mentor previously disadvantagedkids.
