Friday, August 26, 2011

Melly: Sound leadership key in business success



By JAMES ANYANZWA
Sound leadership and management practices have been singled out as key factors in creating synergies required to enhance performance of businesses .
Standard Group Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Paul Melly, said the style of leadership in an organisation determines its capacity to grow and embrace technological advancement and innovation.
Melly said good performance in organisations require leaders who are passionate, dynamic and ready to adapt quickly to the changing market trends.
"In whatever we speak whether we are talking about synergies or innovations, the key thing is leadership," said Melly adding that, "leadership must be at the core of everything we do in our organisations."
He said business synergies are likely to flourish better in environments where firms focus mainly on their core activities. He pointed out that distrust, suspicion and conflict of interest have hindered players in the same industry from sharing resources and outsourcing some of their non-core activities to each other.
"The reason why companies keep on investing in functions that they can outsource is because they can’t trust competitors," he said.
He said leadership, which goes hand-in-hand with vision, is an indispensable pillar for creating synergies.
"We need leaders who have the passion to make a difference in whatever they do. We need transformative leaders," he said. "As far as Standard Group is concerned, we seek to do what we do best and that is informing and serving public interest."
Melly noted that integrity was also another critical element in determining whether efforts towards building synergies could be a success or failure.
Melly spoke yesterday during the Second African International Business and Management conference in Nairobi.
The annual conference organised by the University of Nairobi School of Business provides a forum for sharing ideas and knowledge on how performances of businesses and public organisations could be enhanced sustainably.
"The world, fortunately for us, is changing in a manner that is bringing efficiency. The challenge for us is how fast we adapt to that changing trend. This is what would impact on us as leaders," said Melly.
Melly emphasised the cooperation between institutions of higher learning and industries saying such linkage would help young graduates acquire skills and knowledge, which are relevant to the dynamic labour market.
"The nature of human capital that we create and build from our institutions of learning must be prepared for the changing environment. I’m concerned that we are churning out young graduates but we are not appropriately preparing them to embrace the new culture of entrepreneurship," he said.

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