"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
<br/><span class="body-2 opacity-80" style="padding-top:0.75rem">~ African Proverb</span>
I lived in Tanzania for several months after undergrad and first heard the above Proverb in Kiswahili. It always stuck with me, and I was reminded of it recently…
I was talking to the CEO of a family enterprise who is incredibly accomplished. He built a highly profitable business, and it was something he was very proud of, as he should be. He spoke of his habit to follow his impulses and his ability to make decisions quickly, both of which had given him an edge. All this was true.
However, he didn’t have a team empowered to make decisions nor did he have any governance in place to support a transition to the next generation – and, to be clear, he did want to transition to the next generation. He could go fast, but if anything happened to him, he and his business were not going to go far.
Let’s be honest, the idea of building governance and doing deep planning work for the future is rarely invigorating nor does it get many people out of bed in the morning. Business leaders get out of bed to build, lead, create, sell, etc. However, if you want your legacy to outlive you, you need to put your head down and do what you may not want to do.
Building a business that will outlive you requires you to go together – go together with a strong team, a strong culture, and a strong family that is aligned on the vision of your enterprise.
Uwe na siku njema
