INTRAPRENEURS: THE ENTREPRENEURS WITHIN
INTRODUCTION
Telecel Ghana, formerly Vodafone Ghana, has an amazing annual practice of bringing together its 1,300-strong frontliners to appreciate them—not just with words but in awards—and ginger them up to do even better for their clientele. This Frontline Engagement Conference, as they call it, typically happens during the global Customer Service Week in October, which they’ve extended to the whole month to appreciate their customers.
This year, as the principal coach/speaker/trainer at Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELÉ), Telecel extended to yours truly the humbling opportunity to address their army of frontliners and frontline support staff. Frontliners mean everything to any business! They are essential workers whose jobs depend on in-person interactions and often involve some form of risk, even if it’s verbal abuse. If this were soccer, frontliners would be our strikers! No scoring on this front, no bottomline success. Period. I was particularly impressed that the CEO of Telecel, Ing. Patricia Obo-Nai, prioritised this event such that not only was she in attendance from start to finish, she was fully present and participatory to the max.
This article aims to summarise the keynote I delivered on behalf of PELÉ entitled, “WANTED: INTRAPRENEURS!” This burning message to the rank and file of a top-tier provider of digital and telecommunications solutions across the African continent is one which, quite frankly, every company and organisation needs to hear.
FUNNY BUT NOT FUNNY
Several years ago, I had an appointment in downtown Accra but needed to pass through the bank to make a transaction first. I waited and waited and waited… and it was becoming evident that I might miss my appointment altogether. So, I got up and approached one of the bankers to express both my frustration and concern that I needed to make it for an appointment and here I was stuck in the bank.
Here was her response (I kid you not; and I remember as though it were yesterday): “Nti wonni time na w’aba bank no?” she said in Twi. To wit, “So you don’t have time and you came to the bank?” Needless to say, I was stupefied; or rather, mortified. If there ever was the opposite of a staff being intrapreneurial, it is that!
DEFINING INTRAPRENEUR(SHIP)
Everyone knows about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. But what in the world is an intrapreneur—and then intrapreneurship? To cover our bases, Investopedia defines an entrepreneur as “an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The process of setting up a business is known as entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures” (emphases mine).
With that at the back of our minds, the simplest definition of an intrapreneur would be an employee who behaves like an entrepreneur. Rather than going out to create a new business/organisation, they stay within it and use their innate entrepreneurial aptitudes and attitudes to significantly grow it. Gifford Pinchot III (1985) defined intrapreneurs as, “Dreamers who do. Those who take responsibility for creating an innovation of any kind within an organisation.” He is credited with inventing the concept of intrapreneurship in a paper that he and his wife, Elizabeth Pinchot, wrote in 1978 titled “Intra-Corporate Entrepreneurship.” Intrapreneurs then, are entrepreneurs within–within themselves and within their organisations/businesses.
DIGGING DEEPER
Intrapreneurs have an attitude and style that integrates Responsibility, Risk-taking, Ownership, Innovation (ROI). I like that these basic characteristics spell ROI, literally portraying how it’s entrepreneurs who bring a company its best Return on Investment (ROI). Roi, the French word for king, is also apt, for intrapreneurs are royalty in establishments, they are the kings and queens of any business. In 2014, Forbes declared that intrapreneurs are the most valuable employees from here on out. “Social intrapreneurs are quickly becoming the most valuable employees at many companies because they are good for the bottom line, good for the brand, and good for staff morale.” [1]
At the core of ROI is ownership, owning the opportunities and challenges at the workplace, assessing situations and taking responsibility (the R again) for one’s attitude, behaviour and outcomes. Here is where I challenge Management about ensuring they provide the legal and logistical framework—as well as whatever enabling environment—that empowers employees to take initiative and risk to innovatively solve problems boldly. A great example is the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain which has for many years given staff $2,000 of discretion to be used to solve any customer complaint in the manner the employee feels is appropriate. And this is daily! I recall hearing the author of The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company tease out how this incentive works in practice and that the training is that if a customer/guest/client reports an issue to you, you own it 100% up to $2,000 worth, and until it is resolved, irrespective of your job description at the hotel chain. If as a gardener, you are approached with a television problem you intrapreneurially solve it, even if it means buying a new $1,000 television for the client. You don’t say, “Oh sorry, I’m just a gardener;” and you definitely do not go pointing fingers at your colleagues in another department, much less diss them. You own it!
REAL VALUE, REAL STORIES
Apparently, “Over 70% of transformative innovations are conceived, developed and commercialised by employees working within large companies. This finding stands in stark contrast to how contemporary society currently celebrates entrepreneurs as heroes.” [2] The most world-famous intrapreneur story must be that of Art Fry and how he made his company 3M billions of dollars by discovering a great use of a unique adhesive another 3M scientist had developed five years earlier but had found no practical use for it yet. That is a short version of the success story of Post-It Notes. [3] Did you know that the 3M company, with 2023 revenue of $33 billion, and with a recurring spot on the enviable Fortune 500 list, owed a great part of its success to intrapreneurship? Adhesive paper of all things, for a company originally named Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (later 3M).
In Africa, the phenomenal success of FinTech, is another triumph of intrapreneurship. A couple of years before Momo (MTN’s version of Mobile Money) would take Ghana by storm, two middle managers from Vodafone and Safaricom in Kenya launched the mobile payment product from within their established companies in 2007. [4] Calling it M-Pesa, last year it boasted 51 million customers, with Kenya as its largest market, accounting for over 30 million users, many of whom previously did not have bank accounts. The service notably handled 26 billion transactions in the financial year ending March 31, 2023. SMEs in Kenya hugely depend on M-Pesa to receive payments from customers to the extent that in the last financial year to March 2023, more than 606,000 businesses were receiving payments through Lipa Na M-PESA. [5] That too, is a triumph of intrapreneurship.
[Mr. Kwame Pianim being interviewed by Dr. Yaw Perbi at Live2Lead Ghana on October 4, 2024]
I am in the throes of properly documenting the various contributions to nation building of the Ghanaian Economist and statesman Kwame Pianim, arguably the most unsung intrapreneur in Ghana’s history. Working within government circles and later in an investment company he co-founded, he re-engineered Ghana’s pension scheme to provide long-term investment capital and carefully christened it Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to calm touchy nerves. He also is the originator of the Teachers’ Fund (which but for the recent precipitous decline of the Ghanaian currency should be worth over a billion dollars now) and the SpinTex (spinning textiles) industrial company (now area), among others. Cheers to intrapreneurship!
A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING
It is the software (mindsets) that each employee runs that makes them produce different outputs: low performers, performers and high performers. Jason Jaggard, CEO of Novus Global, says “People at the different levels of performance tend to ask different types of questions of themselves.” [6] Low-performers ask the question, “What’s the least amount of work I can do and not get fired?” Performers ask themselves, “How can I do a good job?” These people don’t want to be horrible but they don’t want to be great either. High-performers ask the question, “How can I be the best?” But the best intrapreneurs actually go beyond high performance, they attain what Jaggard calls “Meta-performance” because instead of comparing themselves to others (to be best) they rather compare themselves to their potential and ask, “What am I capable of.” The best intrapreneurs are meta-performers!
At PELÉ trainings and keynotes, we motivate potential intrapreneurs to remember that they are already champions by virtue of being born, outwitting anything from 40 million to 1.2 billion sperms to take the prize, surviving nine months of pregnancy and bursting forth, some into very untoward circumstances. They outwitted the childhood killer diseases, survived school (even if they did not thrive) and have landed an enviable job at a place that is forward-looking enough to invite PELÉ to interface with them. People are born geniuses and winners; then see what nonsense life tells them and what wimps it makes them into! May no eagle die like a barnyard chicken because that is what they thought they were!
NO RISK, NO REWARD
In quite an elaborate manner, Jordan Daykin in Forbes describes intrapreneurs as, “A team of competitive, confident individuals who are committed to innovation, passionate about work and producing higher value for their employer [I would say stakeholders]. They will need to have an entrepreneurial spirit, be activators of ideas and have a willingness to take calculated risks. In return for their desire to help the growth of the company over financial reward, they will receive support and resources to help make their ideas a reality.” [7]
Daykin’s description gives the impression that there are no rewards for intrapreneurs per se apart from support and resources, but the rewards are many, even financial. At Telecel, for example, the whole Frontline Engagement Conference was a ‘speech and prize-giving day.’ From cash amounts to household equipment, staff were awarded for their dedicated intrapreneurship, connecting to clients with care. Besides, Telecel as a case study rewards intrapreneurs with citations, shopping vouchers, and Thank You publications on their internal platforms for all colleagues to see. According to the General Manager of Commercial Operations at Telecel Ghana who leads 1,000 staff, Mercy Dawn Akude, in addition to the above are quarterly and biannual award ceremonies for frontliners. “The Business now has the Most Valuable Player Awards which celebrates stories which go above and beyond quarterly recognitions, and not only for frontliners. This is new, and yet to be celebrated,” she adds. Even in the past, when Telecel was Vodafone, they celebrated local and global heroes with a focus on the customer. The global heroes were flown to the United Kingdom to be celebrated with other heroes.
General Manager of Commercial Operations at Telecel Ghana, Mercy Dawn Akude, with the Intrapreneurship keynote speaker, Dr. Yaw Perbi, at the Frontline Engagement Conference in Accra.
How about the societal impact and becoming a life of significance as a result? Whether Post-It Notes or M-PESA, the socioeconomic impact intrapreneurs make on communities, businesses and indeed the world cannot be overemphasised. But really, first of all, as an old saying goes, “if you do good, you do it for yourself.” It’s for an intrapreneur’s own good that they are fulfilling their potential, sharpening their skills, ramping up their reputation, and feeling accomplished. Besides, these are transferable benefits that inure to their person and can be used for their own enterprise somewhere else simultaneously or someday. How about being able to count on referrals and recommendations from one’s supervisors? Indeed, “if you do good, you do it for yourself.”
Besides, as long as the laws of the universe operate, others will treat you the same way you treat your employers and employment. And for people of faith, ultimately if you do good, you do it for yourself not only on earth but also for eternity; plus you do it for your God! Here’s what I mean: “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” [8] In the same way, if you let your light shine as an intrapreneur, people “may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” [9] There is an eternal reward for being a bad, good, better, best, meta intrapreneur.
CONCLUSION
If folks in companies and organisations would choose to be the best version of themselves, their combined compassion, competitiveness, confidence, commitment (not just involvement), plus great attitude, and responsible, risk-taking, and reward-deserving actions as entrepreneurial employees who take ownership and innovatively tackle opportunities and challenges will make them be the change they want to see where they work. And beyond. Desperately Wanted: Meta-performing Intrapreneurs!
References
[3] https://yawperbi.com/wanted-intrapreneurs/
[5] https://cioafrica.co/mpesa-experiences-outage/
[6] https://novus.global/can-you-go-beyond
-high-performance/
[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/
jordandaykin/2019/
01/08/intrapreneurship/
[8] 2 Corinthians 5:10, NIV
[9] Matthew 5:16
Samsung and the Like: Can We Too Make Such and Not Just Use Them (and Show Them Off)?
During my first time in South Korea a few years ago, it immediately struck me that they use what they make. The hotel bus I got on from the Incheon airport in Seoul to my destination was a Hyundai (a South Korean product). The burly driver had strung beside him a Samsung phone (also South Korean made) for his operations. Samsung (founded in 1938), Hyundai (1947), SK (1953), and LG (1958) are just four big examples of the point I’m making.
Not just in Ghana but across several African countries I’ve experienced myself, so many people proudly drive Hyundais (even if they are second-hard imports) and brag about their latest Samsung releases year on year. There’s no shame that they are only consumers of what others sweat to produce. It doesn’t even cross their minds that real human beings make these things for themselves—and for export to fuel their bragging rights and feed their sensual pleasures.
Later this week (DV), I will have the joy of travelling to South Korea with two of my Ghanaian interns. They both will come along probably armed with Samsung phones they are very proud of. For both the male graduate intern in Kumasi and the young female undergrad intern based in Accra, my hope is that they will be first angered and then inspired by a country whose economic indicators were just about the same as their motherland’s sixty years ago but has since created a deep development gulf between the two.
At Saturday morning big breakfast in my own home in Accra, I asked my children how many things on our dining table were made in Ghana? It turned out that apart from the locally-manufactured table and eggs, everything else was made somewhere else in the world including the sausage! Ah!
South Korea’s top four conglomerates – Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG and SK – represent nearly half of entire sales in the country. Hyundai Motor has some 170,000 employees on its payroll while LG has some 160,000. SK isn’t too far behind with about 110,000. Korean youth have jobs and use cars and phones from the jobs that hire them to make them. Ghanaian youth largely have phones they don’t make from money they don’t make because of jobs they don’t have.
Did you know Africa has more cell phones than people? Now find out how many of those people make cell phones! And by the way, Africa is replete with the stuff cell phones and home appliances are made of. Most of the electronics we use today are based on a number of minerals – from aluminium to zinc. More than half of a mobile phone’s components – including its electronics, display, battery and speakers (see photo above) – are made from mined and semi-processed materials. For example, Lithium and cobalt are some of the key metals used to produce batteries. In 2019, about 63 percent of the world’s cobalt production came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tantalum is another metal used in electronic equipment. Tantalum capacitors are found in mobile phones, laptops and in a variety of automotive electronics. The DRC and Rwanda are the world’s largest producers of tantalum. Together they produce half of the world’s tantalum.
It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee! In Korea, Samsung is made and used by those who make it. In Ghana, Samsung is shown off and used by those who don’t make them. There is something more noble than showing off what you don’t make. This trip may be the best part of this internship for the fortunate two.
Our visit to Korea is not an industrialisation tour; it is to attend the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. With the worldview of living an integrated life, however, I hope these emerging leaders see a direct correlation between industry and generosity, the product of hard-smart work and the power to do good and share the good news. I pray Michael and Namawu will return to Ghana from Korea and instead of brandishing phones, coveting cars and showing of home appliances others make, rather ask themselves, “Where is what we proudly make that we can proudly use.” It’s time to use what we make and make what we use. And export some.
Photo credit: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea
“Can You Go Beyond High Performance”?
“Can you go beyond high performance?” That’s a penetrating question Jason Jaggard, founder and CEO of the executive coaching firm Novus Global, asks in his powerful and popular article that bears that title. My good friend and StrengthsFinder coach, Dan Leffelaar, who is COO and partner at Novus Global, had exposed me to the company after he joined. Later he would introduce me to one of their very competent coaches, Joseph Thompson. It was Joseph who then drew my attention to this article even before we would have our first formal coaching session. By the way, I’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating, never hire a coach who doesn’t have a coach!
DIFFERENTIATION–OR WHATEVER YOU CALL IT
It is not uncommon for managers to categorize workers in the marketplace into three: low performers, performers and high performers. Over a decade ago, I remember reading about this idea from long time General Electric CEO Jack Welch’s book Winning. He called it differentiation, separating the sheep from the goats. According to Jack, differentiation is a process that requires managers to assess their employees and separate them into three categories in terms of top performance: top 20 percent, middle 70, and bottom 10. Then—and this is key—it requires managers to act on that distinction.
This three-level categorization is common in management practice
Whatever different percentages one uses to divide the three levels (and some just use the Pareto principle to divide the top 20% from the remaining 80%), the questions the people in each band ask themselves that result in their kind of performance are intriguing:
- Low Performers–“What is the least we can do to get by–and not get caught?”
- Performers–“How can we be good at our job?”
- High Performers–“How can we be the best?”
Often the morale of the story is “be the best,” be a high performer. Or, in the precious words of my dad’s alma mater (in Latin), Vel primus vel cum primis. To wit: either the first or with the first. But that is precisely the problem. High performers typically stop growing because they feel (or are made to feel) they are the best, or among the best, and have hit their peak when that is far from the truth! That’s the challenge of comparing ourselves to others instead of to our own potential. Don’t forget the saying that “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” What is high performance about one eye just because everyone else you’re compared with is blind?
In fact, not only does Jason point out two common mistakes of high performers here but Novus Global as a practice firmly believes “attracting and retaining high-performers is a mistake and doing so creates a predictable set of problems.” You probably have met a lot of high performers who are still unhappy. Barring greed and envy, could Abraham Maslow’s observation be the cause? “If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”
META-PERFORMANCE
So “can one go beyond high performance?” remains the question. “What comes after high performance?” I’m glad you asked. “If your team doesn’t have a clear and compelling answer to the question “What comes after high performance?” then you absolutely have an unnecessary cap on the possibilities of your leadership and the impact of your organization,” says Jason. The answer lies in a word he’s coined: meta-performance. And this is “meta” is not like “meta-data” but “meta” as in “metamorphosis,” like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. A meta-performer isn’t committed to being the best (“how dull,” Jason says)… a meta-performer is committed to constantly exploring capabilities.
An introduction to Meta-Performance
Unlike “What is the least we can do to get by–and not get caught?” (Low Performers), “How can we be good at our job?” (Performers) or “How can we be the best?” (High Performers), Meta-Performers ask themselves, “What are we capable of?” That is a potent question in and of itself, but to process that with a competent and caring coach is even more powerful!
I often say to people, I may not have been the best of medical students (I was a low performer) but I was a very good doctor (high performer). But as good a doctor as I was, the question of what I was capable of sent me on a totally different trajectory from my peers, from authoring books and motivational speaking through military experience and peacekeeping with the United Nations, to pastoring, restarting life as a Canadian immigrant and becoming CEO of a number of non-medicine related ventures, some with a budget of a few million dollars.
Meta-performance is akin to what my mentor John C. Maxwell calls The Law of the Rubber Band: Growth Stops When You Lose the Tension Between Where You are and Where You Could Be. The meta-performance life happens somewhere between feeling ‘just right,’ taut enough to be best at tying things up, to tearing up because we fail to embrace our God-given limits. Often times, we are poor judgers of thse book ends, and having a discerning coach to assist on this journey is vital.
“IMPOSSIBLE” ACCORDING TO WHO?
In what area(s) of your life have you lost your stretch and settled? Create some specific means for stretching in these areas of your life. Go back to your 2021 goals and ensure they’re not only S.M.A.R.T. but that they also STRETCH. Remember, “Only a mediocre person is always at his best,” saysW. Somerset Maugham, putting things in a way that hits home, hard. “Ouch,” says the best performers.
Walt Disney used to say, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” I know the feeling, a little bit. Nelson Mandela was right: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” I find it not only a powerful meta-performance question to ask “What am I capable of?” but also in line with that to inquire, “What sort of person must I become to be capable of that?” Then with Almighty God’s help, “just do it,” do the “impossible.”
MAN ENOUGH: Fatherhood as a Sacred Responsibility Every Man is Armed For | By Rev. Fr. George Ehusani & Dr. Yaw Perbi
Introduction
Father’s Day is marked annually on the third Sunday of June in many countries across the world. It is a fitting day not only to celebrate the gift of our fathers (and husbands), but also to highlight some of the elements of the unique and sacred vocation of fatherhood. As responsible fathers ourselves (by God’s grace), we take this opportunity to celebrate fatherhood and to encourage all and sundry that what we have been called for, we have been simultaneously designed for and divinely equipped enough to accomplish.
The Source of Fatherhood
In many religious traditions, God the Almighty Creator is recognised as the Pre-eminent Father. God is the One to whom the title of Father truly belongs in an original and primary sense, because God is the Source, the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe. Human beings are only called fathers in a derivative, participatory, imitative and secondary sense, since in some way through procreation, human agents do partake in the generative process. From this point of view, the fatherhood vocation is a profound and an inestimable privilege for the adult male species. But this privilege of sharing in the human generative process and being addressed as father, like the Almighty Father, comes with critical responsibilities that cannot be shirked on a wide scale without significant deleterious consequences for the entire society and for multiple generations.
For the purposes of this article, by fatherhood we refer to all men, fathers and fathers-to-be, biological and functional alike. Fatherhood is a profound phenomenon that calls for a great measure of accountability on those who knowingly assume the task, or those who have the task foisted upon them by circumstances. We can describe fatherhood as a function, and not simply a title or a name. The father plays critical, irreplaceable roles that shape the lives of the children. He is the progenitor, the source of identity, and the one who enables the children to have a definite sense of self. He lays the foundation for the children that leaves a long lasting impact on future generations. The father is the primary provider, the sustainer, the protector, the guardian, the teacher, and the role model of those who call him father. He is the emotional anchor and the wellspring of stability for not only the children, but also the wife and others who live with them. The father inspires the children, nurturing their dreams and aspirations, encouraging them to reach for the stars and pursue their passions and God-given purpose. He instils confidence and builds self-esteem, paving the way for his children’s success in life.
The State of Fatherhood
Fatherhood is characterised by love and tenderness, but also discipline, decisiveness, courage and sacrifice. Fathers ideally possess an innate instinct to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of the members of their families over their own, ensuring that the wife and the children are shielded from the vagaries of life. With their effort to provide for the family, fathers teach their children the value of hard work, responsibility, diligence, integrity and perseverance; and in this way, equipping the children with the required tools to navigate life’s inevitable challenges and disruptive circumstances. The father is the source of stability and the rock-solid shoulder to lean on, amid the chaos, the insecurity, the instability and the uncertainties of life. He is the source of encouragement, reassurance, and hope, at the most difficult times in the life of the family members. Indeed, fatherhood is a godly enterprise. The fatherhood vocation is an invitation to live out in the concrete circumstances of family life, the human potential for responsibility, commitment, deferred gratification, courage, and sacrificial (selfless) love.
Yet, the number one crisis of the Twenty First Century appears to be the absence of the fatherhood role model. Many young people today are “fatherless,” not because they have no male parent alive, but because their male parent has either been completely absent from their lives, or they have been a source of scandal and trauma, and they are remembered only with pain, regret, and resentment. Thus, often lacking in models of positive masculinity to emulate in their growing years, many young men are today struggling with a variety of character defects that amount to negative masculinity, including the psycho-emotional abuse of their wives, actual physical battering, and remorseless infidelity. Many young men have little or no sense of commitment to their families or responsibility for the children they have brought into the world.
Many children have indeed had their innocent minds defiled and their delicate sensibilities assaulted, as they watched their fathers beat their mothers or heard them vomit venomous invectives on the ones they called their wives. While many young men struggle with what they saw in their formative years, and sometimes they have ended up exhibiting the same traits of negative masculinity in their own marital relationships, many young women on the other hand, have grown up with deep-seated resentment and hateful feelings against the male species in general, on account of what they saw as gross injustices and inequities, or glaring imbalance in power relations between their fathers and their mothers. In many cases what they witnessed as children is the callous and blatant abuse of power and privilege by the menfolk. And it doesn’t help that in the effort to emancipate and affirm women and girls over the last half-a-century, positive masculinity has suffered both direct and collateral damage.
The global celebration of Father’s Day this year is a most fitting occasion to remind the men—the fathers, the would-be fathers and the father-figures in our society—to spare a moment to reflect on the enormous privilege and the sacred responsibility that come with fatherhood, and to work in concert with other individuals and groups, towards overcoming the gross anomaly of toxic masculinity that contradicts all the lofty ideals of fatherhood outlined above. Far from being a bully, the husband who often doubles as father, is ideally “one who cultivates, nourishes, tills, and tends” the wife and the children. The male headship of families in our society is not something to be achieved through domination and coercion, but through a high sense of responsibility, commitment, and sacrifice. Today, experts in the Christian Scriptures hold that even the allegedly controversial statement of St. Paul in Ephesians Chapter 5, that wives should be submissive to their husbands, is (in the context of the entire passage and in the context of the teachings and practical examples of Christ), not an endorsement of any form of misogyny, to be expressed in psychological abuse, wife battering or domestic terrorism. Instead, the husband is admonished to love, cherish, and honour his wife.
The Supply of Fatherhood
While gender-based violence (and such) tends to be associated with males’ abuse of power, perceived or real, a concomitant but often missed cause of such negative masculinity actually comes from a place of inadequacy. Hurting people hurt people, insecure people make others insecure too. Men who abuse others often do so from a place of feeling inferior or being too small in the head or heart to handle perceived or real threats to their person or towards what they care about. On this Fathers’ Day, we call on all men—fathers and fathers-to-be alike, both biological and functional fathers—to know that they have all that is needed and have all that it takes for positive masculinity. You are enough, man enough. Abusing others doesn’t make you a man; it actually makes you less of a man. Even less of a human.
In encouraging men to rise up to life’s challenges and to live out their God-given identity and purpose, the expression used in many contexts is “man up.” However, inherent in ‘manning up’ is the danger that one has to harness some ethereal resources and put forward a personality that is neither them nor theirs. On this Father’s Day, again, we sound a clarion call and offer an alternative paradigm to ‘manning up’: man enough! You are man enough. Where you feel or fear a lack of wisdom, courage or strength, call to the ultimate source and intricate designer of fatherhood Himself: Father God. Author and apostle James concurs: If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5, Amplified Bible) Being a good man isn’t just good for others, it is good for you. One has such a sense of fulfillment and happiness having accomplished the purpose of one’s being.
Conclusion
Finally, recognising that many young men today have not had the good fortune of being raised or mentored by exemplary fatherhood role models, perhaps individuals and organisations, and especially religious groups, who are sufficiently invested in the promotion of positive masculinity for the wholesome development of our society, must begin to take on the project of healing our youths of their traumatic experiences with toxic masculinity while growing up, and forming the boys particularly in the above outlined principles and practices, values and virtues of ideal fatherhood. Men, you are man enough. Happy Father’s Day.
This op-ed is an initiative of the Ford Foundation Office of West Africa towards ending Gender Based Violence.
The writers:
Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, Executive Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, Abuja Nigeria.
Dr. Yaw Perbi, Founder and Global CEO of The HuD Group, an international human development NGO (www.thehudgroupglobal.org).
Resilient Leadership
Introduction
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
This popular Churchillian quote emphasises the importance of resilience for leadership success. In a globalised world that is often characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), resilient leadership is required to overcome hardships and setbacks. Leaders, business and political leaders alike, are required to equip themselves with the qualities and skills necessary to navigate themselves and those they lead through adversity.[1]
The Resilient Leader
Resilience is explained as the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. In the context of leadership, resilience refers to the ability to bounce back, and lead effectively in the face of change, adversity and environments characterised by VUCA.
The true grit of a leader is how they perform during trying times. The quality in leaders that enables them to maintain composure – transmit such composure to those they lead – and make sound decisions during challenging times is resilience[2]. Resilient leaders are focused on the continued pursuit of goals despite adversity and as referenced in the Sir Winston Churchill quote above, have the courage to continue in times of success and in times of failure. They have a high tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty and importantly, inspire confidence in themselves and those they lead during adversity.
Building Resilience
Resilient leaders possess certain skills and characteristics that enable them to thrive under harsh conditions – some are discussed below. Any leader or organisation aiming to building resilience must cultivate these attributes and skills.[3]
Positive outlook
It is the case of a half-glass full mindset. Resilient leaders are both realistic and optimistic. Realistic in the sense that they are well-grounded and do not have their heads in the clouds and optimistic to keep their sights set above the average person’s. Their optimism stems from the belief in their ability and the ability of their teams to overcome the current adversity and to create a positive future. Their focus quickly switches from adversity to solutions. Maintaining a positive outlook promotes emotional and mental well-being, which is required to overcome adversity. In the words of the accomplished military leader Colin Powell, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”.
Adaptability and Flexibility
Resilient leaders have the willingness to adapt or modify strategies to address adversity and view change as an opportunity to grow and innovate. They encourage those they lead to cultivate a similar adaptive mindset. This requires flexibility in the ways challenges are evaluated and responded to. There must be the willingness to compromise and be receptive to different perspectives and possibilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations had to adapt and introduced strategies like remote working and moving services online. This required flexibility in work schedules – with a corresponding flexibility on the part of both business leaders and employees. The World Economic Forum’s “Future Jobs Survey 2023” listed flexibility among the top five most important skills for workers in 2023.[4]
Strong Emotional Intelligence
During periods of adversity and in VUCA environments, individuals become emotionally strained and resilient leaders must have the ability to manage their own emotions and those around them. Resilient leaders interpret and respond to the emotions and needs of themselves and those they manage. A high level of self-awareness and self-regulation is needed to build strong emotional intelligence. Resilient leaders are socially aware and manage relationships during adverse times. They read and make an effort to regulate the ‘temperature’ of the room. [5]
Problem-solving skills
At the heart of resilience leadership is problem-solving and a resilient leader is required to be skilled at identifying problems, critically analysing the problems and developing possible solutions to the problems. The resilient leader engages his team or followers to chart the appropriate course of action for implementing the solutions. Problem-solving is on LinkedIn’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Skills for 2024.[6]
Strong Support Network
Resilient leaders build and maintain a strong support system around themselves and know when to reach out for assistance. The support network includes persons with expertise in areas that the leader lacks expertise and includes individuals that the resilient leader is comfortable sharing personal and professional problems with. The support network provides emotional support necessary to maintain a healthy state of mind. Maintaining a healthy mental disposition is crucial for making sound and long-term oriented decisions during turbulent times. The support structure provides alternative perspectives and valuable insights.
In addition to the above skills and attributes, resilient leaders develop effective communication skills, healthy stress management techniques and trust in the teams or groups they lead. They learn from failure and continuously learn and improve – innovation is paramount. Resilient leaders adopt a behavioural model known as VUCA Prime to overcome the challenges posed by VUCA. VUCA prime refers to Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility. Leaders adopting VUCA prime present those they lead with compelling vision to overcome volatility; explore and experiment to provide understanding to reduce uncertainty; simplify complexity to provide clarity and lead organisational agility to adapt approaches to overcome ambiguity.[7]
Conclusion
In the midst of growing uncertainty and adversity, resilient leaders come to the fore to steer their organisations to calmer waters and organisational sustainability. While it is important for leaders to be resilient, it is all the more important for them to foster resilient structures, systems and organisations. This ensures that in their absence, their enduring legacy is a resilient organisation that thrives in the face of adversity.
“More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. That’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and it’s true in the boardroom.” . . . Dean Becker (Founder, Adaptive Learning Systems) [8]
[1] Leading Through Change: Building Resilience in Leadership Skills. October 25 2023. The Economic Times. Retrieved 15th April 2024
[2] Amy Modglin (2017-07-11) Why Resilience Is Necessary As A Leader. Forbes.com. Retrieved 15th April 2024
[3] Matt Gavin (2019-12-17) How To Become A More Resilient Leader. Harvard Business School Online. Retrieved 16th April 2024
[4] World Economic Forum (2023). The Future of Jobs Report 2023.
[5] Lauren Landry (2019-04-03) Why Emotional Intelligence Is Important in Leadership. Harvard Business School Online. Retrieved 15th April 2024
[6] Dan Brodnitz (2024-02-8) The Most In-Demand Skills for 2024. LinkedIn. Retrieved 15th April 2024
[7] Carol Mase (2023-09-18) VUCA Prime – A Leader’s Response. Management Library. Retrieved 15th April 2024
[8] Coutu, D. L. (2002). How Resilience Works. Harvard Business Review, 80(5), 46–55 Retrieved 15th April 2024
AKINWUMI ADESINA – Fostering, Feeding & Financing the Africa We Want
INTRODUCTION
The Nigerian economist Dr. Akinwumi “Akin” Adesina had barely cut his teeth in his new role as President of the African Development Bank (ADB) when he was named among the Top 100 most influential Africans in 2015.[1] And for good reason. This former Nigerian Minister of State and C-suite leader par excellence is often described as “Africa’s Optimist-in-Chief”. The now two-term ADB Group President (elected 2015 and 2020) is a visionary and passionate speerheader of Africa’s transformation into a prosperous, green and hi-tech continent.
AGENDA 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.[2] It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to “deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.”[3] If that is Africa’s agenda for its 2063 mission, then Akinwumi Adesina is the man at the forefront, fostering, feeding and financing it.
GROWTH
He was born to an Ibadan farmer in the southwestern Nigeria state of Oyo on 6th of February, 1960.[4] This child was given the powerful name “Akinwumi” which means “Bringer of pleasure, delight.” And that he would prophetically accomplish, from delighting his village school teachers to thrilling technocrats in the global halls of power.
All About Agric
‘A’ for Akinwumi. ‘A’ for Adesina. ‘A’ for Agriculture! From being born as the son of a tiller of the soil to studying Agricultural Economics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels all the way to serving as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and holding senior positions in agricultural bodies around the world, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s life has all been about agric.
From his village primary school, he also attended Baptist High School Ejigbo, Osun State,[5] excelling enough to gain a much-eyed place at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he earned First Class Honors in his B.Sc. Agricultural Economics degree in 1981. And that was a first. Akin was the pioneer student to be awarded this distinction by the university,[6] in its then 21-year history.[7] Then the wonderful opportunity came to take full advantage of global education as an African international student in the United States of America’s midwest.
Thus, Akin pursued further studies at Purdue University, Indiana and briefly returned to Nigeria, in 1984, to get married.[8] The year after, he obtained his Master’s in Agricultural Economics [9] and bagged a Ph.D. in the same field in 1988, also from Purdue, where he won the outstanding Ph.D. thesis for his research work.[10] Dr Adesina won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Fellowship in 1988,[11] which launched him into his illustrious international career. He worked at the Rockefeller Foundation since winning the fellowship from the foundation as a senior scientist.
Idiosyncrasies
Akin is the bowtie man. There is hardly a public photo of him without his characteristic jacket and bowtie. Legend has it that his professor of Development Economics and Vice-Chancellor of his Nigerian alma mater during his undergraduate days, Prof Ojetunji Aboyade, “was always seen, moving from one class to the other, teaching, in his impeccable suit and bow tie”[12] and that “Akin must have, probably, borrowed his dress sense from Ojetunji Aboyade.”[13]
SUCCESS
Converting Books to Boots
There is an African saying of the Akan people of Ghana that translated says, “the real game of life is played on the ground.” And for Agriculture in particular, there’s no other way to play the game but on the ground. So having researched and theorised, how would the distinguished pursuits in the Ivory Tower roll out on the field? Dr. Adesina held senior leadership positions in some of the foremost agricultural institutions and bodies in the world.[14]
He was Principal Economist and Coordinator of the West Africa Rice Economics Task Force at the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, from 1990 to 1995.[15] Dr. Adesina was also Assistant Principal Economist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. Then he took up the reins as Principal Economist and Social Science Coordinator for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (1995-1998). Akin was Associate Director (Food Security) at the Rockefeller Foundation where he worked for a decade (1998-2008) in senior leadership positions, including as Regional Office Director and Representative for Southern Africa (199-2003) and Associate Director for Food Security (2003-2008).[16]
Until his appointment as the Honourable Minister of Agriculture in 2010, he was the Vice President for Policy and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).[17] Established nearly two decades ago, AGRA is an African-led, Africa-based institution “transforming smallholder agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives.”[18]. AGRA’s vision is to contribute to a food system-inspired inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa, to reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and adapt to climate change.[19]
Politics
In 2010, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina dared to dive into the convoluted world of Nigerian politics at the invitation of President Goodluck Jonathan, taking on the bread basket portfolio as Nigeria‘s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.[20] Aptly described as “a bold reformer,”[21] there is ample evidence for that assertion since as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria from 2010 to 2015 “Dr Adesina turned the agriculture sector of Nigeria around within four years.”[22] Under his tenure, Nigeria ended 40 years of corruption in the fertiliser sector by developing and implementing an innovative electronic wallet system, which directly provides farmers with subsidised farm inputs at scale using their mobile phones. Within the first four years of its launch, this electronic wallet system reached 15 million farmers, dramatically transforming their lives.[23] In other words, he introduced unrivalled transparency into the fertiliser supply chain.[24]
President of ADB
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina is the African Development Bank Group’s first ever Nigerian CEO [25] and twice-elected. He was first elected President of the ADB Group on 28th May 2015 and unanimously re-elected for a second five-year term on 27th August 2020.[26] The ADB, one of the world’s five biggest multilateral lenders, has been described as “an important but often unseen player in economic development.”[27]
With Dr Adesina at the helm, the African Development Bank Group achieved the highest capital increase since its establishment in 1964 when on 31st October 2019, shareholders from 80 member countries raised the general capital from $93 billion to a historic $208 billion.[28] The African Development Bank Group responded boldly and swiftly to the Covid-19 pandemic.[29] On 3rd April 2020, the premier development finance institution launched a landmark $3 billion Covid-19 Social Bond followed by a Crisis Response Facility of $10 billion.[30]
Fly in the Ointment
Success isn’t without struggle. While umpteen challenges could be cited in the illustrious career of Akin, perhaps the pinnacle of pain would be how his re-election as ADB President almost suffered a setback after some staff of the bank accused him of breaching twenty of the bank’s code of conduct, including “unethical conduct, private gain, an impediment to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities.” He denied the allegations and an investigation panel cleared him of all the allegations.[31]
SIGNIFICANCE
Family and Faith
As earlier intimated, in 1984, during his international education at Purdue, Akin had returned briefly to Nigeria to get married to Grace Oluyemisi Adesina. He and his wife, Grace, have three children, Rotimi, Emmanuel and Segun.[32] While at Purdue University, Adesina and his wife, along with another couple, started a Christian group called the African Student Fellowship.[33]
Recognition, Awards and Boards
From his PhD days till date, Dr Adesina has been decorated with numerous awards, recognizing not only his personal successes but his societal significance. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious YARA Prize in Oslo, Norway for his leadership in pioneering innovative approaches for improving access of farmers in Africa to agricultural inputs.[34] Adesina was the President of the African Association of Agricultural Economists from 2008 to 2010. He was awarded the Borlaug CAST Award in 2010 by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology,[35] USA, for his global leadership on agricultural science and technology. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from both of his alma maters in America and Africa: Purdue University in 2008, and from the Obafemi Awolowo University in 2009.[36] He has published extensively and served on the editorial boards of several leading journals.[37]
In 2013, he was named as Forbes Africa Person of the Year.[38] In 2019, he was again named as the Forbes Africa Person of the Year.[39] The year before, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree by Afe Babalola University,[40] to be followed by a barrage of other honorific doctorates, literally every other year (and thrice in 2022 alone!): Honorary Doctor of Science by the Federal University Of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria (January 28, 2020),[41] Honorary Doctorate by the Federal University of Technology in Nigeria in recognition of his global leadership in agriculture, food security, development finance, and good governance (February 2, 2022),[42] Honorary Doctorate by Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, acknowledging his career achievements in agriculture, and the innovative High 5 development priorities for Africa, which he conceived shortly after his election as President of the African Development Bank Group in 2015 (May 8, 2022),[43] Honorary Doctorate by Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, for his contributions to the field of economics (May 14, 2022),[44] Doctor of Science by Veritas University Abuja (2023),[45] and Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration by Bayero University, Kano (March 2024).[46] Nearly a decade before this string of seven began, Dr. Adesina was first awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Franklin and Marshall College, USA, in 2010, for his global leadership on agriculture and improving the lives and livelihoods of the poor.[47]
In November 2012, Dr. Adesina was named as one of the 100 most influential Africans by The New African Magazine.[48] Barely a couple of years into his political appointment as Minister of Agriculture, The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, conferred on him the second highest National Honor (Commander of the Order of Niger) for his outstanding service to his country over the last little while.[49] In 2019, he was awarded the Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia.[50]
In 2010, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed him as one of 17 global leaders, to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals.[4] Again in September 2016, Adesina was appointed by the same United Nations Secretary-General, to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.[16] On October 19, 2017, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was conferred with the 2017 World Food Prize, [51]also nicknamed the “Nobel Prize for Agriculture”.[52] On 29 February 2020, he was named African of the Year 2019 by one million readers of the African Leadership Magazine. On 14 December 2020, the Academy of Public Health, the flagship body of the West African Institute of Public Health, announced Dr. Adesina as one of the winners of its 2020 Distinguished Fellowship Award for his successful efforts in helping Africa to curb the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.[53]
Societal Impact and Change
From food and youth to poverty and technology, Akinwumi Adesina fires on all cylinders. “He is a man on a mission to help Africa feed itself,” said the Forbes magazine of Adesina’s agricultural reforms while naming the agricultural economist and active Nigerian Minister of Agriculture “African Person of the Year” in 2013. “My goal,” said Dr. Adesina as he accepted the Forbes award, “is to make as many millionaires, maybe even billionaires, from agriculture as possible.
“We are not doing well enough for Africa’s 477 million youths. We are not harnessing their skills, talent and creativity,” Dr Adesina told members of the Nigerian University of Technology and Management Board who recently called on him at African Development Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.[54]
And as for white elephants, he’s hunting them to extinction. White elephants refer to the useless luxury projects that are often financed using international aid and built by foreign businessmen, and reek of corruption.[55] Adesina calls for “intelligent infrastructure that is more productive, more competitive.”[56] ”Finish off the white elephants,”[57] is his war.
CONCLUSION
Farmer’s son. Economist par excellence. Bowtie Man. Continent Feeder. Bold Reformer. Millionaire Maker. Banking Boss. White elephant Killer. Optimist-in-Chief. Man of Faith. Afrotech Advocate. Name it. He’s it. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s initial academic PhD gave hope; his eight honorary doctorates confirm faith has become sight. He has delivered. No wonder Aristotle claims excellence is a habit, for Adesina has been consistent in excelling from his university days till date, and been regularly publicly recognized for these over a span of 50 years. For a man so passionate about Africa, who believes poverty has no place in the continent, he seems to have gotten the fundamentals right: feeding her people and financing her economy, all on the back of the strength of her youthful population and promise of innovative information technology. There’s an Africa Africans want; akin to Wakanda. And there’s an Akin with the head, heart and hands at the forefront to make that future come true—fostering, feeding and financing it.
[1] “Nigerians dominate New Africa’s 100 Most Influential Africans of 2015”. Vanguard News. 2015-11-24. Last retrieved April 2, 2024
[2] “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.” African Union. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Akinwumi Adesina: from farmer’s son to Africa bank chief”. African Spotlight. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-22. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
[5] “The Travails of Akinwumi Adesina.” Vanguard. June 13, 2020. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[6] “Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina”. High-Level Meeting on Drought National Policy. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
[7] “The Travails of Akinwumi Adesina.” Vanguard. June 13, 2020. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[8] Delmar Broersma. 2017. God’s Surprises Along the Journey. pp. 89–93.
[9] The President’s biography, African Development Bank, Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[10] “Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina”. High-Level Meeting on Drought National Policy. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[11] The President’s biography, African Development Bank, Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[12] “The Travails of Akinwumi Adesina.” Vanguard. June 13, 2020. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[13] “The Travails of Akinwumi Adesina.” Vanguard. June 13, 2020. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[14] “Akinwumi Adesina: from farmer’s son to Africa bank chief”. African Spotlight. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-22. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[15] “AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina named 2017 World Food Prize Laureate”. CNBC Africa. 2017-06-26. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[16] “Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina”. High-Level Meeting on Drought National Policy. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Who We Are. Our Story. AGRA. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[19] Ibid.
[20] “Interview: Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture, Nigeria”. This is Africa. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved April 17, 2024
[21] The President’s biography, African Development Bank, Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] “Nigerian is ‘African of the year'”. BBC News. 2013-12-03. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[25] “Biography”. African Development Bank – Building today, a better Africa tomorrow. 2019-04-04. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[26] “Akinwunmi Adesina re-elected as AFDB president”. Sellbeta. 27 August 2020. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[27] Ibid.
[28] The President’s biography, African Development Bank, Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] “Akinwunmi Adesina re-elected as AFDB president”. Sellbeta. 27 August 2020. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[32] Profile:Akinwuni Adesina, Ogala WordPress. 2011. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[33] Delmar Broersma. 2017. God’s Surprises Along the Journey. pp. 89–93.
[34] “Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina”. High-Level Meeting on Drought National Policy. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid.
[38] “Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina named Forbes African of the Year”. BBC. December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[39] “African Of The Year”. Forbes Africa. 2019-12-18. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[40] “Afe Babalola University Confers Honorary Doctorate Degree on African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina”. African Development Bank – Building today, a better Africa tomorrow. 2019-02-08. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[41] “Afe Babalola University Confers Honorary Doctorate Degree on African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina”. African Development Bank – Building today, a better Africa tomorrow. 2019-02-08. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[42] “Akinwumi Adesina. African Development Bank Group President.” Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[43] Ibid.
[44] “AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, Receives Honorary Degree In Ethiopia”. METRO DAILY Ng. 2022-05-16. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[45] “ADB Adopts Veritas as Centre of Excellence for Computer Coding.” Veritas University Abuja News. Last retireved April 17, 2024.
[46] “Top Nigerian University honours African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina” AfDB News. March 6, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[47] “Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina”. High-Level Meeting on Drought National Policy. March 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Ibid.
[50] “Akinwumi A. Adesina à Caïd Essebsi: La BAD disposée à soutenir la Tunisie dans divers domaines”. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[51] “AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina wins $250,000 World Food Prize”. africanews. 27 June 2017. Last retried April 17, 2024.
[52] The President’s biography, African Development Bank, Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[53] Ibid.
[54] “Investing in the Next Generation: How Nigerian University of Technology and Management and African Development Bank are Pioneering Youth Skilling in Africa.” African Development Bank Group. 01 April, 2024. Last retrieved April 17, 2024.
[55] “Akinwumi Adesina: from farmer’s son to Africa bank chief”. African Spotlight. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-22. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
[56] Ibid.
[57] Ibid.
50 Inspiring Living Leaders
This 50 Inspiring Living Leaders series highlights current influencers who are succeeding in leadership, integrity, family or entrepreneurship in whatever field and exhibit most, if not all, of our values of PELÉ. We value people, growth, particularity, excellence, success, authenticity and significance. These stories are largely written in terms of growth, success and significance in leadership, integrity, family and entrepreneurship. While we do our best to receive personal references about each leader, most of our research and writing is based on literature review of publicly-available information. As authorities in leadership, we are fully aware that there is no such thing as a perfect leader, and leaders may have their flaws, but we choose to celebrate these inspiring living leaders for their achievements outlined in our series. Having said that, should you happen to have any incontrovertible evidence that any of our featured leaders does not fit our bill of an authentic leader, please write to us at info@perbiexecutive.com. Our vision at PELÉ is a flourishing global ecosystem of authentic leaders characterised by healthy growth, holistic success and lasting significance.
MARY ASHUN – Transformational Leader of Re-Imagined Education
INTRODUCTION
“Do you see galaxies where others see mere stars?”[1] inquires Dr. Mary Ashun, the visionary leader and internationally acclaimed educator, administrator, researcher and author who is leading the charge to re-imagine education and provide creative solutions to improve the quality of education in Africa and beyond. She has over twenty-five years’ experience in education in North America and Africa with key projects in the designing and creation of educational opportunities and interventions for all at every level of learning. Her leadership of the Ghana International School (GIS) in Accra, first as Principal for nearly a decade and now as CEO, has been very much lauded and won her notable awards for her achievements. Dr. Ashun has spoken on many platforms on key educational and national issues. She has also authored children and young adults’ books, staged a number of plays and published on various topics in education and the sciences, pure and applied alike.
GROWTH
Dr. Mary Asabea Ashun (nee Apea) was born in Accra in 1968 to Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Apea, a former Educator and Ghanaian diplomat and Emma Elizabeth Apea, a teacher and entrepreneur. When she was six, her father was stationed at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London thus her family lived there for three years.[2] She had her secondary education at Achimota School in Accra before proceeding to the University of East London in the United Kingdom from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Combined Sciences. In pursuit of her passion for Science, Dr. Ashun crossed the Atlantic first to Buffalo, NY from where she graduated with a PhD in Biochemistry. Her thesis focused on the role of antiretrovirals in AIDS therapies and she worked with her team to develop and test a general antiretroviral agent (DNP Ploy-A).[3]
She then moved to Canada where she earned a Bachelor of Education degree in Secondary Education at the University of Toronto. She has shared that when asked why she ‘went back’ to study an undergraduate degree after a PhD, she always mentions that ‘it can never be classified as going back when you finally find what you want to do in life’. As a trained biochemist, Mary had the option of working as a research scientist but rather chose the classroom over the laboratory – she loves being with her learners. Dr. Ashun has taught science, mathematics and technology at all levels of the education cycle in the Ontario province of Canada.
One could argue that Dr. Ashun’s interest in science education was shaped by her admiration for her chemistry teacher in secondary school. She regularly cites this teacher as having a great impact on her passion for teaching. She was moved by the excitement and passion that Mr Titi Ofei brought to the teaching of chemistry. She learned from him that one must bring passion to work. As for the flair for teaching per se, it must have been passed on from both her parents —it’s just in Mary’s bones.
After a decade of teaching at the pre-tertiary level in the Ontario province, Dr. Ashun’s passion was beginning to wane and this was noticed by some of her students. Fortunately, one of the parents of her students who had also noticed the drop in passion, pointed her towards an opportunity to ‘teach teachers how to teach Science’. For the next five years, as an assistant professor at Redeemer University in Ontario, Dr. Ashun taught teachers in the Faculty of Education how to teach Science to pre-tertiary students. She employed various ICT tools – online dissection software, chemistry graphing software – to drive up interest and enhance the teaching of Science. She trained the teachers to prepare their students for international competitions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Prior to joining the Ghana International School (GIS) as Principal, Dr. Ashun was a School Principal in Canada. Since she joined GIS as Principal and Head of School in 2014, Mary has, in her own words, worked with “a fantastic team of school leaders to transform how it (GIS) teaches, learns, collaborates and grows.[4]”
SUCCESS
An Honoured Educator
In May 2011, Dr Ashun, was awarded a $200,000 grant by the Canadian International Development Agency to work on literacy development and business growth in Asamankese in the Eastern region of Ghana. In order to achieve a longer-lasting impact, Dr. Ashun, working together with a team of students and adult volunteers, grew the literacy program into His Majesty’s Christian School, a low-cost education option for children in the Asamankese vicinity. The desire to achieve longer-lasting impact has driven Dr. Ashun to always search for solutions and structures that are likely to out-live her. The school which started with the children of the women in the literacy program (less than 15) has now grown to almost 300 pupils in creche to Year 6.
Dr. Ashun currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer working out of the Office of Strategy Execution of Ghana International School (GIS). Her leadership of GIS has won her many accolades and left a lasting impact. Much similar to what she taught her students at Redeemer University College, Dr. Ashun has led the enhancement of the classroom experience at GIS by promoting the use of online learning and ICT enhanced teaching. Students at GIS are exposed to artificial intelligence and robotics and undertake fieldwork gathering data for analysis and action planning. Giving her training as a research scientist, it is not surprising that she encourages her teachers to enable students to undertake field explorations. Her students have made field trips to irrigation facilities, recycling plants and livestock production farms. They have also participated in international STEM competitions, just like Dr. Ashun taught her students at Redeemer University College. Much like her favourite chemistry teacher, Mr. Titi Ofei, Mary transmits her passion and excitement for teaching and learning to her students. One of such former students is Christina DeVries (Redeemer University Class of 2011) who was clearly impacted by Dr. Ashun. In Christina’s own words, “One of my professors at the time, Dr. Mary Ashun, challenged us to consider what part of education touched our hearts. I chose to learn more about education in Canada’s First Nations.”[5]
Dr. Ashun places immense importance on having quality teachers and has been at the forefront of programs aimed at improving the quality of teachers at GIS and other schools. She believes that “teaching and research should go hand in hand” and that teachers must observe their classrooms and their students’ approach to learning and wonder “ how could this be better?”.[6] Teachers at GIS are encouraged to conduct and publish research in education and in many cases, are assisted with funding opportunities.
In Dr. Ashun’s view, cooperation between teachers and parents is required for children to succeed in education. “There must always be that synergy between home and school” she demands. GIS regularly organises Parent-Teacher meetings to help create this synergy and also encourages student ownership of work by allowing them to share their own growth with their parents in what is known as a ‘student-led conference’.
Occasionally, Dr. Ashun takes teaching from the classroom to the screen. From September 2011 to February 2012, she was the creator and host of a Literacy show, Book ‘Em TV, on Rogers TV, in Mississauga, Canada.
Prior to serving as principal of GIS, Dr. Ashun was the principal of Philopateer Christian College in Toronto, Canada. a K-12 school. Dr. Ashun is a member of the Global Education Council, contributing to the shaping of the world’s education ecosystem with global education innovation transformation. In 2019 she was elected a board member of the Association of International Schools in Africa (ASIA) a role which allowed her to invest her ideas in an organisation focused on improving education on the continent through the efforts of International Schools.[7]
An Accomplished Researcher, Writer and Speaker
Dr. Ashun, or as many of her readers may know her, “Asabea Ashun” or “Abena Apea,” is a prolific writer who has produced works in different genres of fiction, from short stories to science fiction books for children.[8] The aforementioned pseudonyms usually signal which of her experiences she is drawing from to write. Abena Apea is her ‘full Ghanaian self’ who writes Ghanaian stories especially for children, while Asabea Ashun refers to her ‘multicultural self’ – drawing from her broad experiences in Ghana, US, UK and Canada. When one sees Dr. Mary Ashun, then they are likely about to hear from the official educator scientist.[9]
Mary has published over thirteen novels and written numerous articles. Her fiction books include Tuesday’s Child (2010), which was shortlisted as a quarterfinalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award[10] ; Serwa Akoto’s Diary (2013); Mistress of the Game (2011); The Adventures of Kobby Badu-Smith: A Poolside Adventure (2015); The Adventures of Kobby Badu-Smith: A Space Adventure (2011); Grace, The Pandemic Warrior (2021); The Adventures of Monty Horton: A Poolside Adventure (2010); The Adventures of Monty Horton: A Sweet Adventure (2010); 22 Blessings in Disguise (2008).[11]
She has also written scripts and produced stage adaptations including The Prince of Egypt- a GIS Adaptation, a musical that her students performed at the National Theatre in Accra in March 2017.[12] Her most recent short story Kweku Checks Out, a lament on the new face of mental health joins those of eminent writers in Africa and the Diaspora in an anthology titled “Voices That Sing Behind the Veil” edited by Ivor Agyeman Duah.
Away from the fictional world, Dr. Ashun has researched and published papers in the fields of pure and applied sciences and education. She has published on topics such as the impact of professional development course on the global perspective of teachers[13] , frameworks for professional development of teachers and the teaching of mathematics.[14]
Dr. Ashun enjoys speaking and has done so at academic conferences, spiritual retreats, teacher retreats and seminars. She has spoken at several conferences on the importance of STEM education for both boys and girls. She is very vocal on educational issues in Ghana and on the African continent. She was vocal when her alma mater, Achimota School, refused admission to Rastafarian students, publishing a lengthy article on what became a much-discussed national issue in Ghana.[15]
Chief Executive Officer
Success begets success, as the saying goes, and more work is the reward for good work done. After nearly ten years of transformational leadership at GIS as principal, the board appointed her as CEO for strategy execution with responsibilities for ensuring sustainability of the organisation’s core mandate, and in collaborating with local and international partners in the furtherance of the school’s mission and vision.[16]
SIGNIFICANCE
Family Affair
Dr. Ashun is very family-oriented and dotes on them, both her family of orientation as well as her family of procreation. Regarding the latter, Mary is married to Joseph Ashun, a leading Maintenance engineer who has worked extensively with leading mining companies e.g. Barrick Gold , with whom she has three adult sons.[17] Abeyku, Kwam and Jojo were all born in North America and are very vocal about their African roots.[18] Since taking on the Ghana International School role, they have been a transnational family, doing life between Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada.
Societal Impact and Change
Dr. Ashun has been championing the provision of quality education across Africa and other continents. She is a major advocate for governments focusing resources on the provision of the necessary infrastructure, policies and curriculum to train quality teachers. She sees teachers as central to the provision of quality education and the creation of engaging and stimulating classrooms. She has been leading the organising of conferences and seminars to empower teachers to become creative.
Dr. Ashun and GIS annually organise the TIME Educators Conference to provide teachers the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills to consolidate their teaching and learning strategies to improve student outcomes.[19] TIME is an acronym for Transform Inspire Motivate Educate. GIS has also partnered the Ghana Education Service to train teachers through a collaboration with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. This initiative, too, is one of Dr. Ashun’s many legacies at GIS. She is taking advantage of the privileged position of GIS to help underprivileged schools in rural Ghana.[20]
Dr. Ashun regularly raises funds to support her charities – His Majesty’s Christian School, Enough Inc. and one of her favourites, Teach for Ghana.[21]
Recognition, Awards and Boards
In 2023, Dr. Ashun was named among the top ten finalists for the Africa Education Medal 2023 in recognition of her leadership, impact and advocacy in the field of education.[22] This was sponsored by T4 Education (UK). In 2018, she was awarded the Excellent Educator Award by Endless Possibilities and Hope Development Organization for her work and passion as an educator.[23] The Teacher’s College of Columbia University awarded her the Klingenstein School Heads Fellowship in 2014.[24]
Mary has been honoured for her work in Education by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), receiving the Educational Leadership Award for Private Education. She has been a council member of the Association of Internationally Certified Schools (ASICS) in Ghana, Chair of the advisory board of Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works and is a former Board member of the Association of International Schools in Africa. Mary Ashun is a member of the BETT Global Education Council, a driving force of visionaries from some of the world’s biggest global brands and educational institutions who are setting the tone of education globally.[25]
At PELÉ
“I pray that by the time I exit this earth, I will have used up all the grace that God gave me and poured it into someone else,”[26] says Dr. Ashun. At Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELÉ), where authentic and customised relationships and resources are offered to C-level executives, including education executives, to grow personally, succeed professionally, and become significant societally, we have conscripted Mary the Educator-Leader as a consultant in education leadership development at PELÉ. Together we hope to hone current C-level leadership as well as incubate a host of emerging C-suite executives in the vital space of education.
CONCLUSION
The celebrated Ghanaian-Canadian educator, Dr. Mary Asabea Ashun, is impacting Ghana, Africa and the world as a visionary and transformational leader in education. She is leading the drive to re-imagine education to improve the quality of teachers and to create engaging classrooms for learners. She is sharing her passion and vast experience in the educational sector on numerous platforms and channels. Dr. Ashun is forming and transforming minds with her research publications and novels. Mary is transforming that which transforms us most: education. The many children and adults who have encountered her works appreciate her immensely. She is making a difference in the educational sector not only in her native continent, but also in her wider global community and deserves to be celebrated. “Most can wait for a sunset,” says Dr. Ashun, “the passionate chase a sunrise.”[27] Mary has now crossed the half-a-century mark in age yet from all indications, despite all her achievements as a transformational leader reimagining education, it is still just about dawn for her.
Facebook: @Mary Asabea Ashun
LinkedIn: @Mary Apea Ashun PhD
Instagram: @globallyrestless
Website: www.maryashun.com
Twitter: @AshunDr
Youtube Channel: Mary Ashun
Blog: www.corneliaprincipal.wordpress.com
[1] Dr. Mary Ashun. WhatsApp interaction with PELÉ on 22nd March, 2024.
[2] Asabea Ashun. Amazon.com. Retrieved 10th March 2024
[3]Ashun, M.A., Hu, Y., Kang, I., Li, C.C. & Wang, J. H. 1996 Inhibition of murine leukemia virus with poly-2′-O-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)poly[A] ResearchGate Retrieved 13th March 2024
[4] ‘Short Biography.’ Dr. Mary Ashun. September 2023 (furnished PELÉ by the author).
[5] “Christina DeVries”. Redeemer University. Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 13th March 2024
[6] https://www.maryashun.com/academics
[7] “Mary Ashun”. Peoplepill.com . Retrieved 12th March 2024
[8] https://www.maryashun.com/mary-everywhere
[9] “One-on-One With Ghanaian Writer, Dr. Mary A. Ashun”. Geosi Reads. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 12th March 2024
[10] “Mary Ashun | Writers Project of Ghana”. writersprojectghana.com. Retrieved 11th March 2024.
[12] “GIS celebrates 10th Anniversary Musical with Prince of Egypt”. Modern Ghana. 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
[13] “My classroom is a bigger place’: Examining the impact of a professional development course on the global perspective of experienced teachers”. ResearchGate. June 2013. Retrieved on 12th March 2024
[14] “Trickle down mathematics: Adult pre-service elementary teachers gain confidence in mathematics – enough to pass it along?”. www.academia.edu. Retrieved 12th March 2024
[15] Ashun, M. (2021-03-25). The issue of ‘the other’ when it comes to school admissions: The case of Achimota School and Rastafarian students. Ghanaweb.com Retrieved 12th March 2024
[16] ‘Short Biography.’ Dr. Mary Ashun. September 2023 (furnished PELÉ by the author).
[17] “Dr Mary Ashun”. Bettshow.com. Retrieved 12th March 2024
[18] Dr. Mary Ashun. WhatsApp interaction with PELÉ on 22nd March, 2024
[19] Bannerman, E. (2022-10-04). GIS holds 6th Time Educators Conference. Myjoyonline. Retrieved 12th March 2024.
[20] Richter-Anderson, M. (2023-05-30). Ghana International School poised to make an impact in Ghana and beyond – Principal discloses Myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 12th March 2024
[21] Okertchiri, J. A. (2017-09-09) GIS Principal Raises Funds for Charities. Daily Guide Network. Retrieved 12th March 2024
[22] Ibrahim, A. (2023-05-17). Ghana’s Mary Ashun named Top 10 finalist for Africa Education Medal 2023.
[23] Principal, Dr. Mary Ashun wins Excellent Educator Award 27th June 2024. GIS. Retrieved 11th March 2024
[24] Felicia (2014-06-24). “GIS Principal receives distinguished Klingenstein School Heads Fellowship”. GIS. Retrieved 10th March 2024
[25] Dr. Mary Ashun. Global Education Council. BETT. See https://www.bettshow.com/global-education-council/dr-mary-ashun
[26] Andah, Aba Cato & Zoe Baraka. 2023. Letters of Hope to My Younger Self. Triple A Press, p. 65.
[27] Dr. Mary Ashun. WhatsApp interaction with PELÉ on 22nd March, 2024.
50 Inspiring Living Leaders
This 50 Inspiring Living Leaders series highlights current influencers who are succeeding in leadership, integrity, family or entrepreneurship in whatever field and exhibit most, if not all, of our values of PELÉ. We value people, growth, particularity, excellence, success, authenticity and significance. These stories are largely written in terms of growth, success and significance in leadership, integrity, family and entrepreneurship. While we do our best to receive personal references about each leader, most of our research and writing is based on literature review of publicly-available information. As authorities in leadership, we are fully aware that there is no such thing as a perfect leader, and leaders may have their flaws, but we choose to celebrate these inspiring living leaders for their achievements outlined in our series. Having said that, should you happen to have any incontrovertible evidence that any of our featured leaders does not fit our bill of an authentic leader, please write to us at info@perbiexecutive.com. Our vision at PELÉ is a flourishing global ecosystem of authentic leaders characterised by healthy growth, holistic success and lasting significance.
BILL GEORGE – Authentic Leader of Leaders
INTRODUCTION
A number of the inspiring living leaders being profiled in this series are actually recommendations of Bill George, who in his life as a business leader and academic alike has become a cultivator of leaders and curator of leadership, a leader of leaders par excellence. As an internationally-recognized author, speaker, and teacher—after three decades of walking the talk as a C-level leader in Corporate America himself—this octogenarian not only keeps abreast with the daily news but skillfully brings out the leadership lessons and infringements therein, often publicly holding the feet of leaders to the fire like he recently did Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg.[1] Perhaps this Harvard-taught and Harvard-teaching leader’s most endearing legacy will be fathering the whole field of Authentic Leadership.
GROWTH
Early Formation
Born William W. George in Muskegon, Michigan in the Midwestern United States of America (USA) on September 14, 1942. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan but saw opportunities elsewhere. George’s parents supported any career he wanted to pursue[2] “even though his father, a Michigan business consultant, pressed his (frustrated) dreams of corporate leadership onto their only child.”[3] Bill gained his values from his mother.[4] He would later graduate with a Bachelor in Industrial and Systems Engineering (BSIE) with high honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1964.[5] At Georgia Tech, George was a member of the Beta Psi chapter of the fraternity Sigma Chi. A couple of years later, as a Baker Scholar William George received a Master of Business Administration with high distinction from Harvard University, in 1966,[6] way before most people had gotten wind of what an MBA was and an MBA-craze had begun.
Turn Outs and Turn Downs
Young George actually started out his work life serving in the U.S. Department of Defense, where he was Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)[7]in Washington D.C. and later as Special Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.[8] William George began in government but would soon end up in the private sector, specifically in the corporate world.
Bill held a series of senior executive positions in Litton Industries (1970-78), primarily as president of Litton Microwave Cooking. In 1969, Litton Microwave Cooking Products, a division of Litton Industries, had hired George at age 27 as president and Chief Operating Officer (COO). He quickly got a jolt as he was packing his bags to move to Minneapolis. Over the radio he heard a warning. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared microwave ovens “might be hazardous to your health.” That crisis formed him as a leader, the kind of leader he has become. “I was not an expert in any aspect of the business, but in this crisis everyone looked to me for survival,” he wrote in Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. “My skill was to pull together the right people and empower them to solve the problems, one at a time.”[9]
As senior executive at Honeywell (1978-1989), Bill was President of Honeywell’s Space & Aviation Systems and President of Honeywell Europe. By the late 1980s, Bill George was a successful executive at Honeywell International. He was on the shortlist to be the next CEO. But he was miserable. George disliked the focus on turnarounds. Squeezing out expected quarterly numbers wore on him, too.[10] “I really wanted to be working closely with customers and employees, but had prioritized impressing my bosses and Wall Street,” says George.[11] Not only did Honeywell get the cold shoulder from George, he turned down offers to join medical device maker Medtronic three times. But the company, which was founded barely seven years after George’s own birth, both in the Midwest, did not give up. He accepted the fourth invitation to become President and COO in 1989, then became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1991 to 2001; and finally bowed out as board chair (1996-2002).
Sometimes, how you start out is not how you turn out; starting this way or the other does not mean that’s how you’ll end. From hard core business about tough things like defense, microwave technology and space/aviation hardware, who could’ve predicted that where Bill will flourish most and earn a household name and global fame would be in the softer business of health, especially of the heart? “It was the best decision of my professional life,” he says of finally joining Medtronic. “I was excited to go to work with a group of talented people who were dedicated to the mission of alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life.”[12] Bill was looking for purpose; and he had found it, now heading in the direction of his own True North.
My bet is that no one saw a life of academia coming after that ‘meteoric Medtronic’ adventure, becoming a professor at Harvard Business School in 2004. For what it’s worth, Bill’s 30 years in senior executive leadership in corporate America seems to have been spread over three ten-year blocks each at Litton, Honeywell and Medtronic, more or less.
SUCCESS
Bill George became a household name through health leadership, as a non-medic who clearly had a heart for human flourishing thus applied that passion and his smarts and endearing values to prospering the Minnesota-born company he led. Mr. George is “best known in Minnesota for his leadership role in the evolution of Medtronic, piloting the medical technology company through 13 years of outstanding growth as President and Chief Operating Officer (1989-91), Chief Executive Officer (1991-2001), and Chairman of the Board (1996-2002).”[13] Under his leadership, Medtronic’s market capitalization grew from $1.1 billion to $60 billion, averaging 35% a year,[14] all the while posting a “strong reputation by demonstrating ethical leadership and integrity.”[15]
Having always been a stickler for purpose and long-term success, Bill is clear that even the whooping successful numbers above stemmed from staying true to purpose rather than an attempt to chase after profit or shareholder value. In a recent interview, he was noted as saying:
I went to Medtronic because it offered me a chance to restore people to full life. When I got there, it was a mid-size company with $750 million in revenue; now it’s $32 billion. But the important thing was not the size but how we helped people. Our metric was how many seconds go by before another person is restored by a Medtronic product. When I started, that number was 100 seconds. When I left, it was seven seconds. Today, it’s two per second. Now, that’s a metric everyone can relate to. They can’t relate to $2.61 a share. Shareholder value is an outcome. If we create great value for our customers, we will increase market share, we will enter new markets, and we will expand our business and business models. But workers on Medtronic’s heart-valve line want to ensure every product is perfect because they know human life is at stake.[16]
Bill George is revered in the American Midwest for taking “a homegrown Minnesota company, Medtronic, and shepherd[ing] its rise through a remarkable decade of growth.”[17] In his own books, Bill humbly but assertively speaks of strategic mergers in the 1990s he spearheaded that provided not only for global expansion of the company, but also a corresponding boom of innovation in medical devices, services and therapies that served to benefit more than 1.5 million patients per year suffering from cardiac disease and other serious illness.[18]
Bill and the Academy
Growing up on a university campus as the son and grandson of professors, I used to marvel at how many professors in the business school had no business teaching business because they had never operated any businesses themselves. Bill George is the very antithesis of that aberration, having become a professor at Harvard Business School in 2004, after three solid decades of executive leadership actually doing business. During 2002-03, Mr. George was Professor of Leadership and Governance at IMD International and Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Executive-in-Residence at Yale School of Management.[19] William W. George, “an American businessman and academic” as he’s largely described in a nutshell now, was a Professor of Management Practice, and a Henry B. Arthur Fellow of Ethics at Harvard Business School[20] until 2016. He has since been a Senior Fellow and now Executive Fellow at Harvard.
Bill believes, “We need to develop moral leaders who are authentic, compassionate, and driven by a sense of purpose.” He continues, “I have been critical of some business schools for training too many managers and not enough leaders and not talking about the values that matter. Do you have the courage to do the right thing?”[21] There is a difference between management and leadership, Mr. George seems desirous of reminding us. In the famous words of the father and founder of modern Management, Peter Drucker, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Bill George is prophetic in the academy.
Literary Leadership
Behold Bill’s bibliography: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value (2003), True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (2007), True North Groups: A Powerful Path to Personal and Leadership Development (2008), Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide (2008), and 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (2009). In August 2015, George published the work that has been most defining of my own leadership in this decade, Discover Your True North, along with its companion workbook, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook: A Personal Guide to Becoming an Authentic Leader. [22]His latest, seven years later, is a variant of the last, tailored to emerging leaders, True North: Leading Authentically in Today’s Workplace, Emerging Leader Edition published by John Wiley & Sons (August 2022). Later that same fall, in November, Bill George came out with True North Fieldbook, Emerging Leader Edition: The Emerging Leader’s Guide to Leading Authentically in Today’s Workplace.[23]
Family Man
Bill George is big on family, as seen from his various social media posts as he does life with his spouse, and wider family, and has espoused in his book True North (2015), especially the chapter on “the integrated life.” He has been married to Penny Pilgram George, a psychologist-philanthropist, for half-a-century and they have two adult sons, Jeff and Jonathan. Together with their own wives, Renee Will and Jeannette Lager, the four children and their power parents constitute the board at the George Family Foundation, which we shall touch on in a subsequent next section. Today, the couple, who met in the nation’s capital while both were working for the Pentagon, have been married for 54 years and are exemplary champions of philanthropy.
SIGNIFICANCE
Awards, Honours and Impact Platforms
Bill has received a truckload of awards and recognitions. These include “Alumni Achievement Award” (Harvard Business School, 1997), “Executive of the Year” by the American Academy of Management in 2001, “Director of the Year” (National Association of Corporate Directors, 2001-02), “Legend in Leadership” by Yale University in 2002, “Lifetime Achievement Award” (Minnesota High Tech Association, 2003), and “25 Most Influential Business People of the Last 25 Years” (PBS Nightly Business News, 2004).[24]
Bill George was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for applying engineering principles to manufacturing to advance health care. In April 2014, the Franklin Institute awarded him the Bower Award for Business Leadership. Bill received the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication at the second annual Arthur W. Page Center Awards (2018) in New York City.[25] Mr. George is a CNBC contributor and has made frequent appearances on television and radio. He has a string of honorary PhDs from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College and Bryant University.[26]
Leadership in Governance
Giving back to society, for Bill, isn’t an afterthought or a post-retirement thing. Even “in the midst of his meteoric Medtronic years and continuing today, Bill George has maintained a focus on community service and philanthropy.”[27] He has served on dozens of corporate, health care, and nonprofit boards in the state and nation, among them Minnesota Business Partnership, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Global Center for Leadership and Business Ethics, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. George has served as a director on the boards of Goldman Sachs, The Mayo Clinic, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target Corporation and
Minnesota’s Destination Medical Center Corporation. He is currently a trustee of World Economic Forum USA, and has served as board chair for Allina Health System, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities, and Advamed.[28] He more recently joined the Advisory Council of CFK Africa.[29]
Family Foundation
In 1994 Bill and Penny founded the George Family Foundation whose mission is to “foster wholeness in mind, body, spirit, and community by developing authentic leaders and supporting transformative programs serving the common good.”[30] Their guiding philosophy is “We believe in sharing the blessings we have received and in celebrating the spiritual reciprocity that exists between donors and receivers working collaboratively to make the world a better place.”[31] They fund causes pertaining to whole-person health and well-being (integrative medicine), education, authentic leadership development, social justice in community, spirituality and inner life, environment, and youth/nextgen development. For their inspiration, George cites a line from Winston Churchill: “We make a living by what we earn, we make a life by what we give.”[32]
Gaining Authentic Traction
In academic literature, “authentic leadership” has found its own niche among other significant approaches and theories of leadership like servant leadership, transformational leadership, adaptive leadership, among others. And it is all traced back to George’s groundbreaking book in 2003 and his follow-up one with Peter Sims in 2007. As leadership guru Peter Northouse so succinctly states the case for this authentic leadership genre,
“In recent times, upheavals in society have energized a tremendous demand for authentic leadership.
The destruction on 9/11, corporate scandals at companies like WorldCom and Enron, “fake news,” and fears of foreign influence in presidential elections have all created anxiety and uncertainty. People feel apprehensive and insecure about what is going on around them, and as a result, they long for bona fide leadership they can trust and for leaders who are honest and good. People’s demands for trustworthy leadership make the study of authentic leadership timely and worthwhile.”[33]
Even the February 2007 Harvard Business Review would also admit, in consonance with the Northouse notice above, that “The ongoing problems in business leadership over the past five years have underscored the need for a new kind of leader in the twenty-first century: the authentic leader.”[34] Based on his three decade-long experience as a corporate executive and thorough interviews with an array of 125 successful C-level leaders from different racial, religious, national, and socioeconomic backgrounds to understand how leaders become and remain authentic,[35] George discovered that authentic leaders know themselves, feel free to lead from their sense of purpose and core values and genuinely desire to serve others. Specifically, authentic leaders demonstrate these five basic characteristics: 1. Passion (Strong sense of purpose), 2. Behavior (strong values about the right thing to do), 3. Connectedness (trusting relationships with others), 4. Consistency (self-discipline and act on their values), and 5. Compassion (sensitive and empathetic to the plight of others).[36]
This is purported to be “the largest leadership development study ever undertaken.”[37] But Bill outdid himself when for the 2015 work, he and his team interviewed 220 leaders (nearly double) in business and nonprofits, and learned that people’s life stories—their crucibles—help them understand who they are. “People have to know who they are before they can make a difference in their professions,” George tells McKinsey in a podcast interview. [38]
Annually, Merriam-Webster determines the word of the year. We might as well say 2023 was Bill’s year for the word of the year 2023 was “authentic.” In an article that prescribed six reasons why it pays to be authentic, Inc. magazine first reminded all and sundry that “authentic” is “an overused buzzword that has lost its meaning, sure, but considering the current era of artificial intelligence and misinformation, where the distinction between what’s real and what’s fake has become increasingly ambiguous, it’s not a bad choice.”[39]
The Authentic Leadership movement has included raising emerging leaders with that ethos. In the fall of 2022, George co-authored and published a new book, “True North: Leading Authentically in Today’s Workplace, Emerging Leader Edition” with Zach Clayton, a younger leader. The book, among others, identifies five different archetypes of bosses that you never want to become or work for, because they’ve lost their “true north” in some way.[40]
In Others’ Words
From presidents of countries to presidents of companies, everyone has high praise for Bill’s life and leadership. Former US president Jimmy Carter once said of him, “Bill George reminds us that compassion and understanding are as important qualities for business leaders as dedication and resolve.”[41] According to Kate Rubin of the Minnesota High Tech Association also, Mr. Bill George is “laser-beam focused. He exemplifies the leadership philosophy he teaches: to be guided by an inner compass, to know your strengths, to make it your business to be of service.”[42]
While it is quite American to blow one’s own horn, what is exceptional is for Europeans to chip in in genuine praise, especially a Swiss: “Bill George may be as close as American executive ranks have come to producing a moral philosopher.” Those powerful words came from Rolf Dobelli, founder and curator of Zurich minds, a community of Switzerland’s distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs.[43]
At PELÉ
During an interaction on LinkedIn a couple of years ago, Bill’s encouragement to me was: “Thank you Yaw, keep being the authentic leader that you are.” That went a long way to encourage our young firm and authentic leadership brand at Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELÉ), where we pursue authentic and customised relationships and resources for C-level executives to grow personally, succeed professionally, and become significant societally. Whether in America or across the Atlantic in Africa, together with others of the Authentic Leadership tribe of Bill George, we hope to hone current C-level leadership as well as incubate a host of emerging C-suite executives.
CONCLUSION
Born, bred and blossoming in the American Midwest, this Midwest thoroughbred with two first names, or is it two last names rather?, also lives in the Twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. William George has shone his light far beyond continental America through to Europe to the ends of the earth, literally. In fact, he is a strong proponent of Global Intelligence Quotient (GQ), in addition to the IQ one is born with and all the EQ one can get. That disposition alone puts him way past the average American who seems to think that America is at the centre of the universe.
Bill has walked the talk in corporate America and triumphed; now he’s talking the walk on the platform of the academy, especially championing Authentic Leadership with vision, understanding, courage, and adaptability (or VUCA 2.0) even in a volatile, ambiguous, complex and uncertain (VUCA) world. And with his scholarship, as he teaches the world at Harvard’s global campus and brings the nations thought leadership through his research and writing, even in his twilight years this Midwestern son shines bright and strong. He travels widely for speaking engagements related to his “True North” leadership initiatives. Meet the authentic leader of leaders, William (Bill) George, Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic, Bestselling Author and originator-thought leader in Authentic Leadership. Hail the cultivator of leaders and curator of leadership, an authentic leader of leaders par excellence.
[1] Annika Kim Constantino. “Mark Zuckerberg is ‘continuing to derail’ Facebook, says Harvard expert: ‘He’s really lost his way’.” CNBC. September 12, 2022. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
I also personally witnessed him do this, and participated, in a real time discussion on his LinkedIn feed.
[2] Investor’s Business Daily. “Legendary CEO Bill George Now Helps Others Find Their True North”. (2022-11-10) Investor’s Business Daily. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[3] Rohan Preston. Power couple Penny and Bill George believe in doing ‘a force of good in the world.’ Star Tribune. November 27, 2023. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Official website biography”. Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Investor’s Business Daily. “Legendary CEO Bill George Now Helps Others Find Their True North”. (2022-11-10) Investor’s Business Daily. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[8] He shares this in his books I’ve read. Also public knowledge on his official website and others like Harvard’s.
[9] Investor’s Business Daily. “Legendary CEO Bill George Now Helps Others Find Their True North”. (2022-11-10) Investor’s Business Daily. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. How has he Transformed the Scene? Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. (Last retrieved February 29, 2024)
[14] Charlie Rose biography Archived October 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[15] Jonathan McVerry. Page Center honoring George, Ifill and Onoda at annual awards dinner”. Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, PennState. January 4, 2018. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[16] Carolyn Dewar. “Leading with authenticity: A Conversation with Bill George. McKinsey & Company. www.mckinsey.com. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[17] Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. How has he Transformed the Scene? Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. (Last retrieved February 29, 2024)
[18] See his books: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value (2003), True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (2007), Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide (2008) etc.
[19] “Official website biography”. Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[20] “Harvard Business School faculty page”. Archived from the original on 2007-12-06. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[21] Carolyn Dewar. “Leading with authenticity: A Conversation with Bill George.” McKinsey & Company. www.mckinsey.com. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[22] “Official website biography”. Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[23] Wikipedia. Bill George (Businessman). Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[24] Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. How has he Transformed the Scene? Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. (Last retrieved February 29, 2024)
[25] Jonathan McVerry. Page Center honoring George, Ifill and Onoda at annual awards dinner”. Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, PennState. January 4, 2018. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[26] Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. How has he Transformed the Scene? Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. Last retrieved February 29, 2024.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Meet Our Team | Staff, Board, and Advisory Council”. CFK Africa. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
[30] George Family Foundation. Mission & Guiding Philosophy. (last accessed February 29, 2024)
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Peter Northouse. 2019. Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 197.
[34] Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N McLean, and Diana Mayer. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership. Harvard Business Review. February 2007. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Bill George. 2003. Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to Creating Lasting Value. John Wiley & Sons.
[37] Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N McLean, and Diana Mayer. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership. Harvard Business Review. February 2007. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[38] Carolyn Dewar. “Leading with authenticity: A Conversation with Bill George. McKinsey & Company. www.mckinsey.com. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[39] Marcel Schwantes. Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Is the Best So Far for Improving Your Leadership. Inc. Nov 29, 2023 (last accessed February 29, 2023)
[40] Anna Kim Constantino. “Harvard expert: The 5 types of bosses you never want to work for—or become.” CNBC. September 9, 2022. Last retrieved March 1, 2024.
[41] Jimmy Carter’s commendation of Bill George’s True North book. See Audible.com.
[42] Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. How has he Transformed the Scene? Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. (Last retrieved February 29, 2024)
[43] Ibid.
50 Inspiring Living Leaders
This 50 Inspiring Living Leaders series highlights current influencers who are succeeding in leadership, integrity, family or entrepreneurship in whatever field and exhibit most, if not all, of our values of PELÉ. We value people, growth, particularity, excellence, success, authenticity and significance. These stories are largely written in terms of growth, success and significance in leadership, integrity, family and entrepreneurship. While we do our best to receive personal references about each leader, most of our research and writing is based on literature review of publicly-available information. As authorities in leadership, we are fully aware that there is no such thing as a perfect leader, and leaders may have their flaws, but we choose to celebrate these inspiring living leaders for their achievements outlined in our series. Having said that, should you happen to have any incontrovertible evidence that any of our featured leaders does not fit our bill of an authentic leader, please write to us at info@perbiexecutive.com. Our vision at PELÉ is a flourishing global ecosystem of authentic leaders characterised by healthy growth, holistic success and lasting significance.
BERNARD AVLE – The Relevant Voice of Reason.
INTRODUCTION
Affectionately just called “Bernard,” even two decades ago Bernardino Avle was already an inspiring emerging African leader. Bernard is “a passionate Ghanaian who believes in Africa”[1] and is desirous “to use multimedia tools and platforms to tell African stories.”[2] Those who have just come to know him in the last ten or so years as a no-nonsense, no holds barred, say-it-as-it-is, voice of reason on Accra’s Citi 97.3 Mhz frequency amidst the cacophony of patronising personalities and parochial politics can be aptly described as only “latter day saints.” Welcome then, to the man of the hour, the relevant voice of reason.
Way back in 2005, Bernard was one of 15 Inspiring Young People this author penned about and published in his first (and only) volume with that title. At the time, Bernard was “the youngest of all breakfast show presenters in the nation.”[3] Bizarrely, nearly two decades later, he still is among the youngest and arguably the best. While some of the other 15 ‘inspiring young people’ have not lived up to the promising trajectory displayed in their youth, Bernard, au contraire, has even surpassed expectations. No doubt.
Today, Mr. Bernard Avle is a broadcast journalist on both radio and TV, General Manager at Citi FM and Citi TV of Omni Media, public speaker, event MC and international conference facilitator par excellence. And for most people, it is his ability to speak truth to power, ask hard questions of leaders, analyze trending issues deeply, reason in real time and keep the feet of authorities to the fire that make him stand head and shoulders above the rest. No one, no matter how great, mighty or connected, has Bernard in their back pocket.
GROWTH
Christened Bernardino Koku Avle by a certain erstwhile Chief Research Analyst with the Community Health Department of the University of Ghana Medical School and his then postmistress wife, Koku had been born to them on a quiet Wednesday morning, 20th May, 1981. Bernard(ino) is the seventh of eight children, some half siblings.[4]
Legon Thoroughbred
Until his graduate education in the UK (2008-2009) as a Chevening Scholar[5] at the Warwick Business School, where he obtained his MBA in Marketing, all of Bernard’s education had been in Legon; specifically in or around the University of Ghana (UG). His father’s employment with UG explains how he commenced his basic education at the University Primary & Junior Secondary School (JSS), on the Legon campus of UG. After his JSS graduation, young Master Avle went on to study General Arts, a combination of Elective Mathematics, Economics and Geography, barely a couple of miles down the street from UG, right next door at Presec (Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary). He would then return to the UG campus in June 2001 till June 2004, as a student in the revered (or is it feared?) Departments of Economics.
First Class, A++ Student
Goals are key to any achievement in life. Bernardino set himself a goal to get a First Class at UG. And he did! On 12th March 2005, Bernard Avle was one of the few who graduated from UG with a First Class honours B.A. degree in Economics (and a Geography minor).[6] Remember, it’s ‘dreaded’ Economics we’re talking about here. Bernardino typifies what this author has called an “A++” tertiary education for the last two decades. The “A+” is for academics, and the extra and/or co-curricular activities comprise the extra plus. Bernard made his A+, a First Class in no less a subject than Economics, and had the extra plus in leadership, broadcasting, politics, spiritual matters etc. “The chain of awards Legon Hall feted him with in the 2003/4 academic year alone included Student Personality of the Year, Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Hall and Academic Excellence Award.”[7]
Interestingly, Bernard reveals the secret underpinning this First Class as an intentionally formed goal “specifically to prove to skeptics and even critics who believed that anybody involved in as many extra-curricular activities (as he was) on campus would automatically have mediocre academic grades. He was bent on demystifying an almost entrenched and calcified myth.”[8]
“Born to Lead,” Indeed
Bernard Avle, “who seems quiet from a distance, has consistently displayed such a high leadership acumen in several spheres of life: broadcasting, politics, academia and the spiritual.”[9] Even two decades ago, this leadership skill was duly recognized with a certificate in Leadership and Liberty by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana.
As a leader-broadcaster with the university FM station on campus, Radio Univers, he even acted as News editor from May to August 2003, a leadership role which involved managing a newsroom crew of over 15 student volunteer journalists, overseeing news search, editing, reporting and casting. He was also a trainer of nouveau fresher volunteer broadcasters. In the 2003/4 academic year, Bernard was actually the Student Coordinator for Radio Univers.[10] These, on hindset, were apt preparatory simulations for his role today as a broadcast journalist cum General Manager at one of Ghana’s most influential radio stations, Citi FM.
Politically, Bernard served as Junior Common Room Secretary of Legon Hall (2002/3) and was a member of the Student Representative Council’s General Assembly the following academic year.[11] It is noted in 15 Inspiring Young People Volume 1 how “as an academic leader he was Class Representative for his Economics Class in Level 300, during which same period he was a spiritual leader of the Legon Pentecostals Union (General Secretary) and served on the University of Ghana’s Chaplaincy Board.”[12] So whichever way you look at it, Bernard was born, it seems, to lead…and in every field of endeavour he finds himself in.
SUCCESS
In 2017, Bernard Avle became Ghana;s Journalist of the Year, an award conferred by the Ghana Journalism Association (GJA). This was a well-deserved recognition of Mr. Avle’s commitment to personal excellence in broadcast journalism as well as solid leadership in that space. Since the Law of Consistency is a prerequisite to the Law of Success, it isn’t any wonder that for consistently being on radio since 2001, from the university’s Univers to the city’s Citi, Bernard had done his proverbial 10,000 hours and had become a broadcasting genius.[13]
Broadcast Bloom to Boom
Bernard joined Radio Univers, the University of Ghana’s FM station, as a freshman and stayed the course throughout his entire four-year sojourn on Legon Campus, while many moved in and out.[14] “For the entire period in question he hosted Exposition (a Christian talk show), Campus Exclusive (a student magazine programme) and was an ombudsman News Reporter. From 2003, Bernard also took up the challenge of hosting View Point, a current affairs programme.[15] Now he’s graduated to host the riveting Point of View on Citi TV too, unveiling a ‘baby face’ he used to hide behind radio. Even for his final year project work he was thinking about broadcasting: A Cost Benefit Analysis of an Expansion of Radio Univers.[16]
Bernardino is an all-rounder but has laser acuity “on issues on technology, business & economics, good governance and social development, with his distinctive mark of a well-researched approach to any area of discussion, which translates into the piercing and relevant questions that he treats his guests to.”[17]
One-Eyed Focus
After discovering and falling in love with the media, Bernard has looked nowhere else. He knew he was leaving campus radio to continue a career in radio at Citi FM. There was virtually no hiatus and certainly no doubt. He started out with the Citi FM news crew from July to December, 2004 and got the break to serve his first Citi breakfast on air that December as a 23-year old youth![18] The rest, as they say, is history.
“What do you love about broadcasting in general and the breakfast show in particular?” this writer inquired. According to Sir Bernardino, “Broadcasting has placed a privileged onus on me to play a leading part in the ongoing democratic experience, which is being spearheaded by an increasingly robust, probing, and pluralistic media. Hosting the Citi Breakfast Show has given me the unique opportunity to be part of the mornings of many Ghanaians to ask relevant questions on the behalf of a perceptive audience.”[19] Within four years of producing and presenting the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Avle had grown the audience base by over 500 per cent![20]
A typical day for Bernard begins at dawn: 4 am! By 6 am the Citi Breakfast Show commences and lasts for four hectic hours. Bernard not only has planning and production for the next day to think about, but also managerial and leadership duties as General Manager. Then there’s TV—Point of View—that ends deep at night. Factor in Accra traffic, to and fro, and you can do his sleep math.
Family Fortunes
Bernard even found love, again, on the University of Ghana premises. Bernard met Justine at a YouthPower! Conference organized by The HuD Group at the Great Hall of UG in October 2005. Bernard and Justine grew very fond of each other and tied the knot in 2011. Sadly, Justine, who really manned the domestic front to release Bernard to soar for God and country, kicked the bucket one fateful August evening in 2022.[21] Their union was blessed with five children, four boys and a girl.[22]
The Cost of Success
It hasn’t been all rosy. Well, even roses have thorns. Beyond the wicked blow of being a relatively young widower, Bernardino has his critics. We might even say there are those who loathe him to the same extent people love him. When he lost his wife, some of the most egregious comments that surfaced were stupefying. But Bernard isn’t a target just because he stands tall today; even before he would rise, the attacks came in fast and ferociously.
In a section of the 15 Inspiring Young People that was titled ‘Choking on Breakfast,’ Mr. Avle shared how when he set off in the commercial world of radio, “The bad reviews I initially got from industry analysts were almost crushing. Sometimes their expectations of me were rather high and in my opinion unfair. These were coupled with criticisms that sometimes left me feeling inadequate.”[23] He admitted, “Hosting a breakfast show requires one to be eclectic in outlook, intense in commitment and consistent in delivery. Developing these traits come at a cost. My spiritual relationship with the Lord suffered initially. How I got through? He was patient with me.”[24]
SIGNIFICANCE
Awards and honors
The awards Bernard and his Citi Breakfast show have garnered include BBC Africa Radio Awards Interactive/Talk Show of the Year (2007) and two other continental awards, Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Radio Programme of the Year for both 2013 and 2015, Ghana Journalists Association Journalist of the Year (2017), Ghana Journalists Association Best Radio Morning Show (2017 and 2018) and the Ghana Journalists Association Best (English) Radio Station (2018).
During his tenure as Operations Manager at Citi/Omni Media (Nov 2009-Nov 2013), Citi Eyewitness News was adjudged CIMG Radio Programme of the year (2011) while Citi FM’s newsroom won the Innovative Newsroom Award at the 16th Telkom Highway Africa Media Awards in South Africa (2012).
Bernardino Koku Avle has been a Fellow of The African Leadership Initiative West Africa (ALI) and the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) since 2015. Being Ghana’s journalist of the year is probably the one award that most consolidated the young man’s towering presence on the Ghanaian media landscape, cementing the influence of this voice of reason. It is no accident that this 2017 award followed impressive feats moderating the 2016 Presidential Encounter (presidential debate) and the one four years prior which was history-making with the first ever appearance of a sitting Ghanaian president.[25]
Growing Other Leaders
Mr. Avle is also a member of the governing council of the Global Marketing Network in Ghana. As a founding director of iJourno Africa, he trains and creates opportunities for participants to practise citizen journalism and equip them with tools to cover local issues. Almost as a way of paying back his indebtedness to The HuD Group for facilitating his finding of a virtuous wife, Bernard serves on the Ghana board, inspiring and empowering holistic emerging leadership development in Africa (and beyond). He likes to tell the youth, who he regularly mentors on various speaking platforms in Ghana, “Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.”[26]
As a man who seeks to multiply himself, Bernard conceptually developed and successfully implemented a $90,000 project to recruit, train and deploy up to 200 Citizen Journalists to cover Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Two years prior, he had done similarly with a $80,000 one to train 30 Citizen Journalists from 10 regions in Ghana.[27] Other innovative social impact projects to raise emerging media leaders have included a UNICEF “Voices of the Future” one.
Gallantry against Galamsey and other Gains
Illegal small scale mining in Ghana has gotten out of hand, making nonsense of both the law and law enforcement in addition to wrecking havoc on Ghana’s water bodies, flora and fauna. In 2017, Bernard Avle together with Citi FM launched a gallant campaign against galamsey[28] for which the Ghana Chamber of Mines awarded him and his show “for vigorously promoting environmentally responsible mining in Ghana through objective and analytical reportage.”[29] The citation further read, “Your relentless campaign against the upsurge of illegal mining and its consequent destruction of major water bodies in Ghana is admirable and worth emulating.”
He is also “currently spearheading national campaign against lawlessness on our roads, dubbed “War against Indiscipline.”[30] Between last year and now, Bernardino has been campaigning to raise money to support the Lower Volta flood victims of the Akosombo dam spillage, not only offering immediate relief and timely health interventions but also building permanent shelters for the displaced.[31] Bernard serves on the board of the Citi FM Foundation.
At PELÉ
“Our problems are becoming bigger and our [leaders] are becoming smaller. It’s a tragedy,”[32] says Mr. Avle. At Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELÉ), where authentic and customised relationships and resources are offered to C-level executives to grow personally, succeed professionally, and become significant societally, we have conscripted this relevant voice of reason as a consultant in media and general leadership development at PELÉ. Together we hope to hone current C-level leadership as well as incubate a host of emerging C-suite executives.
CONCLUSION
Bernardino Koku Avle was born to broadcast; he landed in 1981 to lead. From being a First Class graduate to serving first class food for thought as breakfast on air, consistency has been Mr. Avle’s forte right into his forties. Come next year, Deo volente, Bernard would have been running the same Citi Breakfast Show for twenty years, two decades! Apart from the Law of Consistency at work in his story, is also the Law of Process. Bernard did not just appear on the national scene in a day; he had been preparing himself daily for years on campus. From campus radio to city radio, and now Citi TV as well, Bernard has succeeded at both working in and on media, a feat few broadcast journalists are able to achieve. For many prominent figures on air, an elevation to managerial or leadership roles has meant, unfortunately, being promoted to fail. Even one of his nation and generation’s finest, Bernard Avle, gets his (un)fair share of criticism and takes it in his stride. Ghana’s presidential debate moderator and national award-winning journalist, together with his cutting-edge Citi/Omni media tribe, are reshaping the African narrative, in word and by deed. A relevant voice of reason indeed.
[1] CitiTVonline. Bernard Avle. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
[2] Bernadino Koku Avle. Curriculum Vitae shared with the author on January 25, 2024.
[3] Yaw Perbi. 2005. 15 Inspiring Young People. Volume 1. First Edition. Accra. Ghana: NEOpublishing, pg. 55.
[4] Ibid, pg. 55.
[5] “Launch of Chevening Alumni Ghana Association – News articles – GOV.UK”. Government of United Kingdom. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
[6] Yaw Perbi. 2005. 15 Inspiring Young People. Volume 1. First Edition. Accra. Ghana: NEOpublishing, pg. 57.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibd.
[9] Ibid, 56.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] A notion from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers that 10,000 hours of practice is what it takes to become a genius in a field
[14] Ibid, 57.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] “20 under 40: Bernardino Koku Avle – Business World Ghana”. Business World Ghana. 9 March 2015. Last retrieved February 9, 2024.
[18] Yaw Perbi. 2005. 15 Inspiring Young People. Volume 1. First Edition. Accra. Ghana: NEOpublishing, pg. 58.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Bernadino Koku Avle. Curriculum Vitae shared with the author on January 25, 2024.
[21] “Bernard Avle Loses Wife Justine Avle | AmeyawDebrah.com”. 2022-08-04. Retrieved Feb 16, 2024.
[22] MyNewsGH (2022-08-04). “BREAKING News: Citi FM’s Bernard Avle loses wife Justine Avle”. MyNewsGh. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
[23] Yaw Perbi. 2005. 15 Inspiring Young People. Volume 1. First Edition. Accra. Ghana: NEOpublishing, pg. 60.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Bernadino Koku Avle. Curriculum Vitae shared with the author on January 25, 2024.
[26] Yaw Perbi. 2005. 15 Inspiring Young People. Volume 1. First Edition. Accra. Ghana: NEOpublishing, pg. 60.
[27] Bernadino Koku Avle. Curriculum Vitae shared with the author on January 25, 2024.
[28] “Citi FM launches #StopGalamseyNow campaign”. Citi 97.3 FM – Relevant Radio. Always. 2017-04-03. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
[29] Allotey, Godwin Akweiteh (2016-11-26). “Citi Breakfast Show honoured at Ghana Mining Awards”. Ghana News. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
[30] Bernadino Koku Avle. Curriculum Vitae shared with the author on January 25, 2024.
[31] Abigail Arthur. #Relief4LowerVolta: Citi FM/Citi TV supports flood victims, organizes health screening in affected areas. www.citinewsroom.com. Last retrieved February 17, 2024.
[32] Modern Ghana. Modern Ghana vignette of quotes. www.modernghana.com. Last retrieved February 16, 2024.
50 Inspiring Living Leaders
This 50 Inspiring Living Leaders series highlights current influencers who are succeeding in leadership, integrity, family or entrepreneurship in whatever field and exhibit most, if not all, of our values of PELÉ. We value people, growth, particularity, excellence, success, authenticity and significance. These stories are largely written in terms of growth, success and significance in leadership, integrity, family and entrepreneurship. While we do our best to receive personal references about each leader, most of our research and writing is based on literature review of publicly-available information. As authorities in leadership, we are fully aware that there is no such thing as a perfect leader, and leaders may have their flaws, but we choose to celebrate these inspiring living leaders for their achievements outlined in our series. Having said that, should you happen to have any incontrovertible evidence that any of our featured leaders does not fit our bill of an authentic leader, please write to us at info@perbiexecutive.com. Our vision at PELÉ is a flourishing global ecosystem of authentic leaders characterised by healthy growth, holistic success and lasting significance.
