Publications
Partners
Ask the billionaires: Richard Branson (school dropout), Bill Gates (university dropout), Tokyo Sexwale (prisoner), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (college dropouts), Bill Venter (father took him out of school at 16 to become a Post Office technician).
Mark (36) and Brett (32) Levy's father died at the age of 33 and their mother brought them up in Delmas: they saved pocket money to begin selling car radios and now run their own R10bn empire, Blue Label Telecoms, which is active in 35 countries.
Jewellery designer Jenna Clifford never achieved her father's dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer, but as a single mother she started her own business and is now one of the most respected names in jewellery.
She and Ryk Neethling are pushing a 'dream big' philosophy to encourage job creation and positive thinking; they say that success is only attained with determination, responsibility, excellence, aspiration and motivation.
Unavoidable
No truly successful person has avoided failure or sometimes-dramatic setbacks.
"Fear of failure is what drives you," says Mark Levy. He and his brother Brett say they would rather hire someone who has failed, than someone who hasn't. "If he or she has never failed, they don't know what pitfalls to look out for, they're driving blind."
The Levy brothers, who have experienced their share of controversy, say there are essential pointers for success:
- People are lazy: if you offer them a service they will pay extra to avoid doing it themselves;
- The biggest market waiting to be explored is the unbanked people of the world;
- Morals are the boundaries that allow people to make decisions;
- Travel a lot, speak to people, make friends, follow up on promises
Tokyo Sexwale and Nelson Mandela share a gift of being able to connect with the most humble.
They are informal, loathe pomposity, are affectionate, respectful and encourage teamwork. They expect hard work, honesty and attention to detail.
When he is in town, Sexwale sits down to an informal lunch with his staff every Friday; he never sits at the head of the table.
Every truly successful person has long serving staff who often idolise them, while knowing that there are parameters that cannot be crossed.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu shows that greatness comes with humility, humour, courage, frankness, tolerance, a great big heart - who can forget him weeping at Truth Commission hearings? - and unshakeable faith.
Like every remarkably succesful person, Bill Venter's belief in his own abilities and destiny have never been shaken. He sold his wife's car to start Allied Electronics (Altron). It now employs 15 000 people and this year reported revenue of more than R21bn.
He, like the Levy's, takes pride that he has never used loans to get ahead. His business has a low staff turnover, especially at top levels.
Venter says Altron has performed exceptionally well "because we do things better, stick at it longer, have leading brands and good financial management - we get the results of the entire group within days of the end of the fiscal period, we know exactly where we stand and what action to take. We watch detail, we watch expenses, costs and are careful about going into new projects."
He gives executives laminated cards with Altron philosophies, like "the customer is always first" and "trust and respect one another".
In his pocket, Venter always has a small notebook on which he jots down new ideas.
Clifford's success lies not just in exceptional designs but in making clients feel they are special friends: jewellery is beautifully packaged and handwrapped with ribbons and a rose on top.
Lessons Venter, the Levy's, Sexwale, Mandela and Clifford agree on:
- Bring family and friends into the business: you can rely on them
- You are only as good as the people around you;
- Do not be afraid of hiring people cleverer than you;
- Experience counts;
- Give back to those less privileged;
- Be evangelical about success, mentor and guide those with promise;
- Focus - stick to what you are good at;
- Give people the ability to fail: in other words delegate and leave it up to your staff to activate and if they fail, allow them to remedy it - it is the only way they will learn;
- Create convenience and trust to get ahead;
- Do what everyone says can't be done;
- Be accountable;
- Innovate;
- Don't work for a company: work for the people of a company;
- Don't employ yes men or women;
- Give your people freedom to think, innovate and disagree;
- You have to know what is coming next.
What I've noticed about the truly successful? They listen, they focus on you as though you are the only person in the room. They're respectful.
They understand controversy is part of being in the public eye - they don't like it, they manage it. They show affection.
Glitz and ostentation belongs to the less successful. Risk, backed by research and instinct, are essential to get progress. Leaders are given that honour by those they have respected, coached and helped - leaders can't elect themselves.
US senator Ted Kennedy believes greatness comes from "moral courage, perseverance, a love of justice, a sprit of humanity, generosity and decency".
At this year's Altron results meeting for staff, Powertech CEO Norbert Claussen said: "You have to have a dream, to put the dream in place you have to have a plan, and you can only win when you know the odds."
My favourite assessment of greatness comes from US historian Barbara Tuchman who in The March of Folly wrote: "The power to command frequently causes failure to think. If the mind is open enough to perceive that a given policy is harming rather than serving self-interest, if we are self-confident enough to acknowledge it and wise enough to reverse it, we will have reached the summit in the art of government."
And of life. - Fin24.com
