Youtook up the reins as CEO almost two years ago. What have you found mostchallenging about being in a leadership role?
A role like this revolves so much aroundworking with people and I have learned a lot in that respect. Ours is acompetitive industry that is full of strong-minded people who have firm ideasabout what they think should be done. This is supported by the culture of theThebe Group, which is very entrepreneurial and encourages people to takeinitiative.
For me as a leader, the challenge has beento strike a balance between providing talented people with freedom and a degreeof autonomy, and making sure that they are all going in the same direction. Themeans can be different so long as the end is the same. My role is to point tothe destination, and to make sure that everyone is going there, even if theyget there in different ways.
Isthere a particular person or event in your life that has inspired or influencedthe way you do things today?
When it comes to people, there are so manywho have inspired me but I think if I was to pick one it would have to be ReuelKhoza, with whom I have worked for a long time. I have learned so much from himabout leadership, especially how to be patient with people. It’s from him thatI learned that listening is far more important than speaking when you’re a CEO.He taught me to listen to people – whether they are employees or clients – andto only speak when necessary.
Then if I look back on my life, I think wasalso influenced by my father, who wanted me to become business-minded from anearly age. When I was a schoolboy he’d try and keep me as busy as possibleduring school holidays to keep me out of mischief. He’d buy me a bag of orangesto sell and I’d get to keep the profit. So I guess I’ve really been tradingsince I was a young boy.
Whatdo you believe are the hallmarks of a good leader?
To my mind, the success of a good leaderdepends on three things: having a very good idea of what you want to achieve,having good people to be able to execute that idea and having a bit of luckalong the way.
Whatwould your advice be to business owners about getting through tough times?
Getting through tough times often relies onbeing able to keep good people so as a leader you need to calm the waters andremind people not to panic. Then you also need to make sure that you canidentify your business’ risks and manage them as closely as possible.
Remaining close to the coal-face is not,however, only relevant to difficult times. As a business owner or leader, yousimply can’t run things by remote control. You have to be hands on and knowbetter than anyone else what’s going on in your company.
Yourtake on the current market conditions?
I think opportunities abound at the moment.Wealthy people make money during such times because they focus not on thedifficulties that the market presents, but on such opportunities. If you have alittle bit of cash, now is the time to invest. There will definitely be arecovery. The equity market has always recovered – it’s just a matter of time.