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

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka
/2014/01/24/2014s-
most-valuable-employee-the-social-intrapreneur/ 

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/
tendayiviki/2020/06/28/
why-intrapreneurs-are-not-just-entrepreneurs-working
-inside-large-companies/ 

[3] https://yawperbi.com/wanted-intrapreneurs/ 

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka
/2014/01/24/2014s-
most-valuable-employee-the-social-intrapreneur/

[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

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

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, 20^th 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 12^th 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.

INDRA NOOYI – The Business Leader and Strategic Thinker Who Transformed PepsiCo

“No business can ever truly succeed in a society that fails.” ― Indra Nooyi

INTRODUCTION

Indra Nooyi shattered the glass ceiling with her rise to become the first woman of colour and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company.^[1] Her achievements at PepsiCo have marked her out as an outstanding strategist and leader. She spent twenty-four years at PepsiCo and is credited with growing the American multinational food and beverages company’s net revenue by more than eighty percent during her tenure as CEO.  Her initiatives strengthened PepsiCo’s commitment to environment sustainability and  improved the healthiness of its food offerings. In June 2023, Forbes estimated Nooyi’s net worth at $350 million.^[2]

Nooyi’s amazing journey from Madras in southern India to the zenith of the corporate world in the United States is one that inspires many. 

GROWTH

Roots in India

Indira K. Nooyi was born on 28^th October 1955 in Madras (now called Chennai) in the south of India to a close and devout Hindu family.  She has an elder sister and a younger brother. Indra describes her family as a ‘traditional family living in a multigenerational home’ and although they were not wealthy, they lived comfortably and had invaluable stability^[3].  Her family was ‘supremely focused on education’ and so were keen on educating the women in the family, something that was uncommon in mid-twentieth century India.  

Her mother, Shantha, instilled in Indra and her elder sister, Chandrika, respect for their teachers, admonishing them to revere their teachers as ‘gods’. Indra recounts that often at the dinner table, Shantha “would ask us to write a speech about what we would do if we were president, chief minister, or prime minister – every day would be a different world leader she’d ask us to play”. ³

Indra had her secondary education at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, a few kilometres from her home and then proceeded to Madras Christian College (MCC) from where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 1974.  She played guitar in an all-girl rock band and was an avid cricket player too.  After a tough admission process, Indra began an MBA at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) in August 1974. She was pushed towards IIM Calcutta partly by her sister, Chandrika, who having spent her days at Holy Angels and MCC with Indra did not want Indra following her to Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad). “I need a break from you – don’t you dare apply to IIM Ahmedabad!” Chandrinka had warned Indra.³

After graduating from IIM Calcutta, Indra worked with Mettur Beardsell, a textile firm owned by a UK-based company, Tootal, and then subsequently with Johnson & Johnson’s Bombay (Mumbai) office. At Johnson & Johnson, she took on the difficult challenge of marketing Johnson and Johnson’s Stayfree brand of sanitary pads. This was particularly difficult in the late 1970s India when such a product was not advertised and many retailers were reluctant to stock them.^[4]

A Shade of Difference

When her sister, Chandrika, decided to leave Madras for IIM – Ahmedabad, their parents had been reluctant to allow an unmarried woman to travel that far for studies and were insistent on her marrying before leaving for college. Their mother had declared that she would fast until death if Chandrika was allowed to leave for Ahmedabad. Their grandfather’s intervention saved the situation. In many ways Chandrika was a trailblazer for Indra – her attendance of the distant IIM Ahmedabad paved the way for less resistance to Indra’s decision to attend IIM Calcutta. In August 1978, at age 23, Indra was leaving unmarried to study in a place thousands of miles away. This was not an easy decision as she recalls in the Financial Times January 2004 edition: “It was unheard of for a good, conservative, south Indian Brahmin girl to do this. It would make her an absolutely unmarriageable commodity after that.” ⁴

After reading an article titled ‘A Shade of Difference’ in the September 1976 edition of the Newsweek magazine, Indra felt the article was speaking to her. She wanted a life in global business – a different shade of what she was doing at that moment. The article was about Yale University’s new business school. In 1978, Indra gained admission to Yale School of Management in the United States to pursue a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management.

After graduating from Yale in 1980, Nooyi worked with the Boston Consulting Group for six years managing international corporate strategy projects.^[5]  From 1986 to 1990, she worked with telecommunications company Motorola, serving as Vice-President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning. She subsequently worked for power and automations company, ASEA Brown Boveri, as Senior Vice President for Strategy and Strategic Marketing.

 

SUCCESS

Leading PepsiCo

Nooyi sees the fundamental role of leaders as looking for ways to shape the decades ahead and helping others accept the discomfort of disruptions to the status quo.³ She demonstrated this leadership at PepsiCo.

Her journey with PepsiCo began in March 1994 as Senior Vice-President of Corporate Strategy and Planning overseeing major restructurings during her first years. She played a major role in PepsiCo’s acquisition of Tropicana Products in July 1998 and its merger with Quaker Oats Company in 2001.^[6] 

She rose through the ranks at PepsiCo serving as Senior Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Development; Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer; President and Chief Financial Officer; Member, Board of Directors, responsible for Corporate functions. Indra Nooyi was appointed President and CEO in August 2006 and Chairman in 2007.

To reposition PepsiCo for success in the decades ahead, Nooyi introduced her guiding strategy, Performance with Purpose (PwP). She introduced PwP to rethink PepsiCo to provide consumers with healthier products and to promote environmental sustainability.^[7] PwP was aimed at delivering excellent financial performance and three important goals: Nourish humanity and communities, Replenish the environment and Cherish the people at PepsiCo (Nourish. Replenish. Cherish.).

PwP tested the resolve of Nooyi as she faced resistance from some of the shareholders of PepsiCo but she remained resolute and it defined her leadership of PepsiCo. PwP influenced major decisions as well as minor decisions. For example, to show that she cherished the workers at PepsiCo, she wrote hundreds of personalised letters and notes over ten years to the parents of senior executives thanking them for raising their children well to become excellent workers at PepsiCo. She sent similar ‘Thank You’ notes to the spouses of her direct reports.

PwP influenced major decisions such as redirecting the company from junk foods to more healthier foods.^[8] PepsiCo reduced the sugar content in its products and also ended the use of trans fats. It introduced recyclable packaging and new processes to reduce water consumption.^[9] In 2012, PepsiCo won the Stockholm Industry Water Award for conserving nearly 16 billion litres of water in 2011.^[10]

Nooyi is renowned for her strategic thinking and is credited with growing the revenue of PepsiCo’s from $35 billion in 2006, when she became CEO, to $63.5 billion by 2017.^[11] The market capitalisation of PepsiCo rose by $57 billion dollars between 2006 and 2018, when she stepped down. She is also praised for mainstreaming design thinking at PepsiCo to drive innovation in the company^[12].

The many initiatives implemented by Nooyi at PepsiCo were hugely successful and the company continues to benefit from them years after her exit – she shaped the decades ahead. Her achievements have made her a celebrated business leader.

In an interview with Morgan Stanley in 2023, Nooyi advised business leaders that “You don’t inherit leadership. You earn the stripes to be a leader. Leaders have to inspire everyone in the organisation to follow them.”^[13] Indra earned the stripes with her achievements at PepsiCo and has a global following.

 The Value of Family

Nooyi sees family as a powerful source of human strength and has often touted the family she created with her husband, Raj Nooyi, as her proudest achievement. Indra was introduced to Raj by an Indian friend and after a few weeks of dating, they decided to get married. After four decades of marriage, Raj and Nooyi still debate who broached the subject of marriage. Raj and Indra have two daughters, Preetha and Tara.

Before joining PepsiCo in 1994, Nooyi had in direct conversations with Jack Welch rejected job offers from  GE (General Electric) because the offers were going to require her to move away from her family. She rejected an offer from the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology giant, Monsanto, for the same reason. Nooyi chose to join PepsiCo in part because its headquarters was close to her home and it would take her fifteen minutes to drive to her home, and to her children’s school, from the office.

Indra in her autobiography – My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future – recounts an occasion where her mother reminded her of the paramountcy of family and her role in it. She had just been informed of the decision to appoint her as President of PepsiCo and she drove home eager to tell her family. She was however met on arrival by her mother ordering her to go out and get milk. When upon her return she complained about her mother not being interested in hearing about her appointment as President of PepsiCo, her mother replied, “You may be the president or whatever of PepsiCo, but when you come home, you are a wife and a mother and a daughter. Nobody can take your place.  So, you leave that crown in the garage.” ³

The importance of family and providing the right conditions for work-life balance underpinned many of the major decisions she took as CEO. It also drives her efforts to find solutions to the work-life conundrum. The family support structure – mother, uncles, aunts and in-laws – she had around her allowed her to work full-time. These family members supported with the care of her daughters.^[14]

 

SIGNIFICANCE

Achieving Work-Life Balance

As a trail blazer for women at the very top, Indra has been a strong advocate for the creation of the right work environment to promote women’s financial independence and security.^[15] She has been rallying businesses and governments to provide conditions that allow families to thrive.^[16] In her view, companies need to see child care and elder care as business issues.^[17] In order to create a healthy work-life balance, she has proposed a three-pronged approach focusing on paid leave, flexibility and predictability, and care.^[18]

She has campaigned for a minimum twelve weeks paid maternity leave for mothers (primary caregivers) and eight weeks paid paternity leave to be made available across the United States.  She has been pushing for the extension of paid leave to workers caring for sick family members. Indra is a beneficiary of these paid leaves. In January 1983, she was granted a 6-month paid leave by the Boston Consulting Group to enable her return to India to care for her ailing father. She ended up taking only three months but credits the gesture as saving her career as she did not have to choose between family and career. In her own words, “In many ways, it’s only when you have experienced this benefit yourself that you can truly realise its critical importance.” ³

The second prong focuses on providing workers with work flexibility—including opportunities to work remotely—and predictability in work schedules, especially for shift workers.

The third prong concerns the provision of quality, safe and affordable care infrastructure for children and the elderly. Again, Indra exemplified this at PepsiCo by resisting scepticism to spend $2 million to retrofit a floor at PepsiCo’s headquarters into a childcare facility, PepStart.^[19]

Community Service

Since Nooyi’s retirement from PepsiCo‘s board in 2019, she has been focusing her efforts and attention on community service. For her it is no longer about “achieving anything. It’s about giving back—as so much was given to me—to my community, the state, the country.” ¹

In 2019, Nooyi was appointed co-director of Connecticut Economic Resource Centre to help improve the state’s economic development strategy. Nooyi and fellow Yale graduate Dr. Albert Ko were chosen to represent Connecticut on a six-state body  in the U.S. tasked with designing a plan for the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.^[20]  In 2021, Indra and her husband Raj Nooyi donated $3 million dollars to Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) to establish the Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health to help position YSPH as an international leader in public health science.^[21] She has made several donations to Yale and is one of her  alma mater’s largest alumni donors.

She was the co-chair of AdvanceCT, a Connecticut based non-profit organisation, from 2019 to 2021.^[22] She joined the board of Amazon in 2019.^[23] Nooyi also joined the Board of the International Cricket Council as its first independent female director in June 2018.^[24]

 Recognition and Awards

Indra Nooyi has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years. She was elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008^[25] and was elected chairperson of the U.S. – India Business Council in January 2008. In 2009, she was named CEO of the Year by the Global Supply Chain Leaders Group and was named every year from 2008 to 2017 on Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.^[26] She was winner of Academy of International Business (AIB)’s The International Executive of the Year award in 2016.^[27] In 2021, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in the U.S.^[28]  In 2019, Indra was honoured with a portrait at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.^[29]

She has received honorary doctorate degrees from many universities including her alma mater (Yale University),^[30] New York University^[31], Duke University^[32] and University of Warwick^[33].

 

CONCLUSION

Indra Nooyi’s journey to the pinnacle of corporate America and her accomplishments at the top is one of the most remarkable stories about overcoming challenges with hard work and determination, no matter one’s origins. It is one that motivates many to strive for success in work and family life. When Nooyi stepped down as CEO of PepsiCo in 2018, after 24 years, she shared with staff some of the lessons that had guided her throughout her career. These lessons are worth repeating and are summarised below:^[34]

• Always have a clear, compelling vision for what you want to accomplish
• Focus on the short-term and the long-term
• Bring people along with you
• Be a good listener
• Be a lifelong student
• Think hard about time–make the most of your days.

 

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-indra-nooyi-on-leadership-life-and-crafting-a-better-future retrieved 29th January 2024

[2] https://www.forbes.com/profile/indra-nooyi/?sh=66b9d4be5d6f retrieved 29th January 2024

[3] Nooyi, Indra. My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future. New York, Penguin, 2021

[4]  Encyclopedia of World Biography “Indra Nooyi Biography’’ https://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2004-Ko-Pr/Nooyi-Indra.html retrieved 29th January 2024

[5] https://www.weforum.org/people/indra-nooyi/ retrieved 29th January 2024

[6] Tempest Lynsey “ How Indra Nooyi changed the face of PepsiCo” World Finance https://www.worldfinance.com/special-reports/how-indra-nooyi-changed-the-face-of-pepsico retrieved 30th January 2024

[7] https://www.bcg.com/publications/2010/indra-nooyi-performance-purpose  retrieved 29th January 2024

[8] Novak, David (September 12, 2018). “Follow Indra Nooyi’s example: Be a leader people want to follow”. www.cnbc.com. Retrieved January 30, 2024. 

[9] https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/departing-pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-did-it-her-way  retrieved 29th January 2024

[10] https://siwi.org/latest/pepsico-receives-the-2012-stockholm-industry-water-award/ retrieved 30th January 2024

[11] https://www.ismworld.org/events/conferences-and-events/annual-conference/indra-nooyi/ retrieved 29th January 2024

[12] https://hbr.org/2015/09/how-indra-nooyi-turned-design-thinking-into-strategy  retrieved 29th January 2024

[13] https://www.morganstanley.com/articles/indra-nooyi-next-generation-leaders retrieved 29th January 2024

[14] Burke, Louise. “How I made $290 million while raising two children” The Telegraph 3^rd October 2021

[15] Indra Nooyi: The Indian executive who broke the glass ceiling in corporate America”. The Economic Times. August 7, 2018

[16] https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/Indra-Nooyi-on-having-a-career-and-a-family.html retrieved 29th January 2024

[17] https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/duke-fuqua-insights/indra-nooyi-former-pepsico-ceo-says-families-should-be-central-designing-future  retrieved 30th January 2024

[18] https://www.marketplace.org/2021/09/28/former-pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-on-the-work-and-family-conundrum/  retrieved 30th January 2024

[19] https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/ex-pepsi-ceo-indra-nooyi-childcare/  retrieved 30th January 2024

[20] https://ctmirror.org/2020/04/13/cuomo-says-ne-governors-to-cautiously-ease-covid-19-restrictions/ retrieved 30th January 2024

[21] https://ysph.yale.edu/about-school-of-public-health/charitable-opportunities/donors-make-a-difference/the-raj-and-indra-nooyi-professor-of-public-health/  retrieved 30th January 2024

[22] https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/nooyi-smith-stepping-down-as-co-chairs-of-advancect-successors-named retrieved 30th January 2024

[23] https://ir.aboutamazon.com/officers-and-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=e5f7858e-89c5-4615-9236-295b354ef354 retrieved 30th January 2024

[24] https://highereducationplus.com/indira-nooyi-to-be-the-first-female-director-of-icc/ retrieved on 30th January 2024

[25] https://www.amacad.org/person/indra-nooyi retrieved 28th January 2024

[26] https://www.forbes.com/profile/indra-nooyi/?sh=45e404ce5d6f retrieved on 30th January 2024

[27] “International Executive of the Year Award”. Academy of International Business (AIB). Retrieved 30^th January 2024

[28] https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/indra-nooyi-2/ retrieved 31^st January 2024

[29] https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2019.4 retrieved 31st January 2024

[30] https://som.yale.edu/news/2019/05/indra-nooyi-80-presented-with-honorary-doctorate-at-yale-commencement retrieved on 30th January 2024

[31] https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2008/may/indra_krishnamurthy_nooyi.html retrieved on 28th January 2024

[32] https://today.duke.edu/2009/01/honorary.html retrieved on 30th January 2024

[33] https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/olympics_weirdstones_pepsi/ retrieved on 28th January 2024

[34] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/parting-words-as-i-step-down-as-ceo/ retrieved on 30th January 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.

 

JOYCE R. ARYEE – A Nation’s Aunt.

After about five decades of public service and private sector leadership, it is intriguing to find a wide social spectrum—from those young enough to be her grandchildren to those old enough to be her parents—all call her “Auntie Joyce.” Everybody’s aunt. Here may be why.

 

INTRODUCTION

Long before ‘women in leadership’ was a global mantra and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) became a do or die affair, there was Joyce Aryee. Auntie Joyce. Having blazed the trail for women in leadership in the first and last twenty years of the twenty-first and twentieth centuries respectively as a public servant and politician, business and executive leader and minister of the gospel, Rev. Dr. Joyce R. Aryee has earned herself a distinguished place in the African leadership hall of fame, with a global afterglow.

 

GROWTH

Joyce Rosalind Arye was born on 27 March, 1946 to a Fante mother from Elmina and a Ga father hailing from Anorhor in the Ghanaian capital region of Greater Accra. As the second of four children (two girls and two boys), little Joyce was raised in Ghana’s second largest city, Kumasi. In the suburb of North Suntreso where she grew up with her middle class family, Joyce would begin her early years of education at the Methodist Primary and Methodist Middle schools in the area. Joyce lost her father early—when she was barely seven years old—thus “as a single parent, her mum had to go through hell in bringing her and her siblings.”^[1] Her educationist mum desperately desired to endow all her children with quality education and so she had to complement her salary with baking and trading her sizzling handiworks in order to make sure that her children successfully went through school.^[2]

Soon, Ms. Aryee the tween would relocate to Accra, Ghana’s capital, to attend the prestigious Achimota School (founded as the Prince of Wales College in 1927), all seven years of secondary school, from Form One till graduation from Upper Six, with her A-Level certificate. Her life, from then onwards, would be largely an Accraian kind as she proceeded to the University of Ghana, barely 5km away in  northeasterly direction, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English.^[3]

Auntie Joyce also wields a Post-graduate Certificate in Public Administration from GIMPA, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. GIMPA was set up to offer training for Civil and Public Servants in Public Administration and Management  hence its name. Dr. Joyce Aryee recalls, “It was a compulsory three months training in Public Administration for a Public Servant. Civil Servants (those working in the Ministries) received a Post-graduate Diploma; they were required to do a six-month training.”^[4]

 

SUCCESS

A String of Female Firsts and Fellowships

Madam Aryee is the Republic of Ghana’s first ever female Minister of Information in its approximately sixty-seven-year history—and there’ve been only three such females so far—with her serving the longest as well, by far. Joyce is also the first ever female CEO of a Chamber of Mines in Ghana and even across Africa. She has a strand of Fellowships adorning her Curriculum Vitae like a well-strung necklace: FIPR (Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations), FGIM (Fellow of the Ghana Institute of Marketing), FGHIE (Fellow of the Ghana Institute of Engineers, March 2010), FCIA (Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Financial and Investment Analysts, September 2011), Fellow of the Graduate School of Governance and Leadership (October 2011) and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management (April 2021).

Political Office and Public Service

“Joyce Aryee” was a household name in Ghana in the 1980s when I was growing up in bustling Accra, Ghana. While nearly everyone was antsy during the heady days of the military revolution in Ghana, “Auntie Joyce” was a sight for sore eyes and dare I say a somewhat calming balm amidst a sea of macho military men and braggadocious cadres of the bloody 1981 Revolution that brought Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings to power. Rumours were rife about a supposed amorous relationship between Joyce and the thirty-something military leader of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military junta but she kept her eye on the road, pursuing her tasks. For a dozen years she was an appointee in the PNDC government. The PNDC was the Ghanaian military government after the elected People’s National Party government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup d’état on 31 December 1981. He remained in power for a dozen years—with Joyce Aryee serving alongside all those years-–until 7 January 1993, after which he metamorphosed into a civilian to run the country as a two-term president for another eight years.

As quadruple Minister of State (called “Secretary” back then, like the United States still does today), Ms. Aryee was Minister of Information (1982-1985), Minister of Education (1985-1987), Minister of Local Government (1987-1988) and Minister of Democracy, a non-cabinet ministerial role at the National Commission for Democracy. The latter role meant she was front and centre in the democratisation process that restored multiparty democracy in Ghana, a midwife of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. From 1993 to 2001 Joyce Aryee was a Member of the National Defence Council.^[5]

With the Ministry of Information being the principal organ responsible for the dissemination of Government’s development communication, Joyce’s role was to facilitate free flow of adequate, timely and reliable information and feedback between the government and the public for socioeconomic empowerment and enhanced democratic citizenship.^[6] At the time, that PNDC portfolio was designated “Secretary of Information.”^[7]

Joyce prides herself that in support of human capital and national development she was formulating and coordinating education policies, setting standards and monitoring and evaluating their implementation to ensure accessible quality education for all Ghanaians as Minister of Education during that volatile period of Ghana’s history where the education of the ordinary Ghanaian young person could have easily gone awry.

Ms. Aryee’s public service did not start with the politics of the military government, for prior to her appointment she had been Public Relations  Officer (PRO) of both the Ghana Standards Board and the Environmental Protection Council. She had also been an Education Officer with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board and Test Development and Research  Officer (TEDRO) with the West African Examinations Council in the 1970s as well. At the time she was co opted into the PNDC military government she was at the Ghana Standards Board.

Business and Executive Leadership

Joyce Aryee led the Ghana Chamber of Mines for a decade (2001-2011) as Chief Executive Officer, managing a process of “integrating social responsibility and dialogue with Government to promote sustainable mining for national development.”^[8] The Chamber is the main minerals industry association in Ghana “representing the collective interest of companies involved in mineral exploration, production and processing in Ghana.”^[9] With that wealth of experience under her belt, Madam Aryee founded a leadership, management and communication consultancy and training outfit christened after her household name: Joyce Aryee Consult (JAC). JAC has consulted for mining companies including Keegan Resources and Pelangio Explorations.

The years of corporate leadership experience and public leadership experience, coupled with her education at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has made her a governance attraction for many companies, local and foreign. She has served on umpteen boards including those of AEL Mining Services, International Cyanide Management Institute (ICMI), Stanbic Bank, Volta River Authority, Central University (as Pro Chancellor), Databank Ark Fund (Chair), Global Media Alliance (Chair), Newmont Gold Ghana and Newmont Golden Ridge Limited (Chair), The Roman Ridge School (Chair, Academic Board), Global Records Management Ltd. (Chair), L’ainee Services Ltd and Apex Health Limited.

Clergy and Ministry

Madam Joyce Aryee is the Founder and current Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries, a ‘parachurch’ organisation established to raise disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ to be effective, fruitful and practical Christians.^[10] The objectives of Rev. Aryee’s Salt and Light Ministries are to motivate, inspire and encourage people to live effective and productive Christian lives, to assist Christians to discern God’s purpose and will for them and their generations, to aid Christians to discover, nurture and apply their spiritual gifts to everyday situations, to provide Biblical counselling, to raise and train people to be disciples of Jesus Christ in order to fulfil the Great Commission^[11] and, not surprisingly as a successful Christian in the marketplace herself, to motivate and inspire Christians to proactively bring Biblical principles and values to bear on social, political and economic activities.^[12]

Dr. Aryee is regularly on air and online with words of wisdom and scriptural admonitions for all who have ears to hear. She is “passionate about the Arts and serves as Executive Chairperson of Harmonious Chorale and patron to many other choirs.”^[13]

Family Hiccups

About the only thing Auntie Joyce has had to try more than once and still not hit gold is marriage. Joyce has been married twice; firstly to a medical doctor with whom she lived in Germany for a season and had a now-43-year-old son^[14] and secondly to her childhood neighbour Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby.^[15] Auntie Joyce is a biological grandmother of three.^[16]

Cathedral Controversy

Being the celebrated colossus of a leader with a proven track record spanning half a century and with the rare ability to successfully straddle being a politician and a pulpiter, it is no wonder the current President of the Republic of Ghana appointed her to the Council to execute his vision for a National Cathedral that has become embroiled in controversy. Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee has been defending the project to the hilt,^[17] a situation that some of her admirers are understandably concerned might soil her legacy if sophisticated prudence is not brought to bear. This author, a keen advocate for authentic leadership and principal at PELÉ, is one of such admirers.^[18]

 

SIGNIFICANCE

Awards and Honours

The Nation’s Aunt has a truckload of awards recognizing not just her personal success but her societal significance, making her arguably the most decorated female leader in Ghana’s history. Madam Aryee is a recipient of the second highest national award in Ghana known as the Companion of the Order of the Volta (CV) conferred by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana in 2006^[19] for her service to the nation in the public and private sectors. She has been named on the list of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining in the world.^[20]

Achimota School, her alma mater, named their seventeenth dormitory ‘Rev. Dr. Joyce R. Aryee House’ after her, in honour of her selfless service to the nation as well as her  commitment and contribution to her former secondary school. Such dormitory naming, ranging from prominent leaders like the school’s triune co-founders (Governor Gordon Guggisberg, Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey and Rev. A.G. Fraser) to significant missionaries like David Livingston and Mary Slessor, is a “tradition of the school authorities to name dormitories after the sons and daughters of the school who [have] excelled in their fields of endeavour and had contributed immensely to the country.”^[21]

She is the recipient of several awards including the African Female Business Leader of the Year (2000) by the African Leadership Centre for Economic and Leadership Development and the CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year 2007. Auntie Joyce was honoured in the mining and public service category at the maiden edition of the Women in Excellence Awards in 2011. The American Biographical Institute (ABI) nominated her as the “2011 Woman of the Year.” Again, she won an award as the Public Relations Personality of the Year 2014 by the Institute of Public Relations Ghana. She also received the Inspirational Woman Award at the Ghana UK Based Achievement (GUBA) Awards 2015 for creating change, paving the way for women as well as being the first female to head an African Chamber of Mines.

Even as a near-octogenarian, like the Proverbs 31 woman, her good works still follow her. His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Life Patron of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, conferred upon Auntie Joyce, the “Millennium Prize for Leadership and Contribution to National Development” in recognition of her meritorious work in the areas of Motivation and Outstanding Clergy Policies in Ghana (July 2021). That same year, she was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ghana CEO Awards. She is an Honorary Council Member of the Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors.^[22] Even her love for music has not gone unrewarded. Over a decade ago she received the Honorary Award of the Year( 2012) at the Adom FM Ghana Gospel Industry Awards (GGIA) (2nd Edition).^[23]

 Honorary Doctorates

Dr. Joyce Aryee wields two honorary doctorates, a Doctor of Communication Arts degree from the Central University (Honoris Causa, May 2021) to recognise her contributions in the area of communication and leadership and the other from the University of Mines and Technology (July 2009) in recognition of her immense contributions to the growth of the mining industry.

Substantial Humanitarian Boards

Apart from corporate boards, Dr. Aryee has provided deep wisdom from her gracious heart to bolster the governance of significant nonprofits like the George Benneh Foundation, Finatrade Foundation, Energy Foundation, Compassion International, Prisons Ministry of Ghana, Bible Society of Ghana (Chairman and President), The HuD Group (I’ve seen her in action there for myself), and Harmonious Chorale, a multiple award-winning non-denominational choral organisation she founded to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through chorale music. Auntie Joyce loves chorale music and it was always electrifying to see her interactions with my late grandfather, Emeritus Prof. J.H. Kwabena Nketia. In fact, Harmonious Chorale, in 2016, staged a whole night’s performance on the celebrated Ghanaian ethnomusicologist’s compositions for voice and instruments.

Growing Other Leaders

Auntie Joyce does not just stand tall like one huge Baobab tree towering over everyone else and sucking in all the air in the room. In both her personal and professional capacities, in formal, semi-formal and informal ways, she has been raising cohort after cohort of leaders for the private and public sector alike. Being a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative (ALI) myself, I’ve personally encountered her as a Senior Mentor of ALI, a leadership formation programme birthed to develop the next generation of values-based and community-minded leaders of Africa to transition from success to significance. Beginning from Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in East Africa and in Southern Africa, Mozambique and South Africa, ALI is part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN). Rev. Aryee has “resourced several leadership and skills development programmes, both locally and internationally.”^[24]

Written Words and Said Speeches

Joyce Aryee co-authored the book The Transformed Mind with Samuel Koranteng-Pipim in 2012. They describe it as a “ provocative and inspiring volume” which speaks to issues facing Africa by Africans. “The stage is set,” the introduction audaciously declares, “The world is our audience, Africa our aisle, and Ghana our pulpit. We speak as citizens of a world to come. And we’re passionate about the issues we address, in the hope that you will be challenged to change your world.”^[25] A sought-after and most eloquent public speaker, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee addressing a graduating class at the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) once said, “Great leaders care about the well-being of those in their charge. They do not use people simply as a means to an end. They genuinely want others to develop to their full potential.”^[26] She lives this out, that’s why she’s everybody’s “Auntie Joyce.”

Mama Mining

No single female leader has influenced the mining industry in Ghana, and perhaps in Africa, like Auntie Joyce. She is “passionate about sustainable mining and has advocated strongly for responsible mining for sustainable development. She has delivered several papers in sustainable mining in various mining conferences across the globe.”^[27] In 2022, she was appointed by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of the Ghanaian government as chairperson of a five-member committee to oversee the management of funds in support of victims of the Appiatse explosion.^[28] Dr. Joyce Aryee is also the First Patron Extraordinaire of AMN, Accra Mining Network, the largest amorphous extractive industry professional organisation in the world.^[29] She has also participated in several mining conferences in South Africa and Canada, and as a guest speaker at the “Women in Mining Conference” in Australia.^[30] Joyce is widely, very widely, travelled.

 

PELÉ

“Great leaders are needed now than ever in all sectors of the economy,”^[31] Dr. Joyce Aryee believes, and one of the ways she does this is to serve as a consultant in general leadership development at PELÉ where authentic and customised relationships and resources are offered to C-level executives to grow personally, succeed professionally, and become significant societally.

 

CONCLUSION

Whether as Minister of the Government or Minister of the Gospel, the doubly-doctored Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee has distinguished herself, serving God and Ghana for nearly half-a-century in both the public domain and the private sector. A nation’s aunt, who was a voice of reason in Ghana’s military government days and midwifed the birth of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, it is no wonder that from those young enough to be her grandchildren to those old enough to be her parents, all call her “Auntie Joyce,” really a sign of endearment. She’s everybody’s aunt, all the people she’s served or have only heard of her—from politics to the pulpit—for nearly 50 years. Hail the colossus of women in leadership par excellence, by all standards. Give Auntie Joyce her due.

 

^[1] “Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee – First CEO of Ghana Chamber of Mines – Today Newspaper”. Ghana Today. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 15 January, 2024.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Attah-Mensah, Samuel. “Footprints on Citi TV with Dr. Joyce Aryee”. Citi Tube. Citi Tube. Last retrieved 17 January, 2024.

^[4] Personal correspondence between Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee and the author, Dr. Yaw Perbi, via WhatsApp on 23 January, 2024.

^[5] Christensen, Martin K.I. (31 May 2010). “Ghana Ministers”. Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership. Martin K. I. Christensen. Last retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[6] Joyce R. Aryee. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024. Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[7] Eribo, Festus & William Jong-Ebot, Press Freedom and Communication in Africa, 1997, p. 20.

^[8] Joyce R. Aryee, Joyce R. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024. Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[9] Ibid.

^[10] Salt & Light Ministries. About Us. https://saltandlightministriesgh.org/about-us/ Last retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[11] Matthew 28:18-20

^[12] Ibid.

^[13] Aryee, Joyce R. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024. Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[14] “Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee – First CEO of Ghana Chamber of Mines – Today Newspaper”. Ghana Today. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Last retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[15] Sackitey, Gideon. Personalities | Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby. Ghanadot. Retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[16] Personal correspondence between Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee and the author, Dr. Yaw Perbi, via WhatsApp on 24 January, 2024.

^[17] Anim-Appau, Felix (October 2023). National Cathedral; Project not stalled, keep contributing towards completion – Joyce Aryee urges public. Onua Online. Retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[18] Boakye, Edna Agnes (21 January, 2023). Halt National Cathedral project and audit expenditure – Dr. Perbi to gov’t. Citi News Room. Retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[19] Ghana Web. Ghana Famous People | Politics | Joyce Aryee. Last retrieved  23 January, 2024.

^[20] Aryee, Joyce R. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024. Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[21] Boateng, Dennis Agyei. “Achimota School names girls’ dormitory after Rev. Joyce Aryee – Graphic Online | Ghana News”. Graphic Online. Retrieved 23 January 2024.

^[22] “Governing Council”. GARIA. Retrieved 23 January 2024.

^[23] MyJoyOnline (24 June 2012). Selina Boateng wins Artiste of the Year at Ghana Gospel Industry Awards”. MyJoyOnline. Retrieved 24 January, 2024.

^[24] Aryee, Joyce R. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024. Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[25] Koranteng-Pipim, Samuel & Joyce R. Aryee (2012). The Transformed Mind. Eagle Online Books. Amazon.

^[26] Ghana News Agency. 28 July, 2014. “Great leaders don’t use people as a means to an end.” Citionline. Last retrieved on January 21, 2024.

^[27] Aryee, Joyce R. (2024). Profile: Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee. Sent to the author by Joyce Aryee on 18 January 2024.Last retrieved on 23 January, 2024.

^[28] Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. June 28, 2022. “Government Launches Apiate Support Fund.” MLNR. Last retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[29] Accra Mining Network (AMN), Since 2015 (27 July 2015). “Joyce Aryee, AMN Patron Extraordinaire”. Accra Mining. Retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[30] “Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee – First CEO of Ghana Chamber of Mines – Today Newspaper”. Ghana Today. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Last retrieved 23 January, 2024.

^[31] Ghana News Agency (28 July, 2014). “Great leaders don’t use people as a means to an end.” Citionline. Last retrieved on January 21, 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.

 

 

 

Open Letter to Anybody Who Wants to be President of Ghana in January 2025 by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng

Ghana has not done as well as it should have done since President Kwame Nkrumah was unconstitutionally ousted from office through a military coup by the National Liberation Council on February 24, 1966. Ghana has had three other interruptions of governments. The present 4th Republic, dominated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has not brought the transformational change that will put the country on path of sustainable development and prosperity for its people.

I dare say that the fight ahead of Ghana is greater than the fight for political independence and its people cannot be won with leaders who lack the zeal, commitment, conviction to confront their own demons and other forces and headwinds that are against the development of the country.

It is always said that one cannot re-invent the wheel and I believe in that old adage. I present here examples of what happened elsewhere on this planet not too long ago. I personally believe that the country can make progress when we get leaders who exhibit the qualities in the examples that follow.

The first example of transformational leadership is from Singapore. When the government of Lee Kuan Yew took office in 1959 it set out to have a clean administration. The Prime Minister said that “we were sickened by the greed, corruption, and decadence of many Asian leaders” and “We had the deep sense of mission to establish a clean and effective government”. This was a solid commitment from the newly elected Prime Minister. With determination and a credible program committed to scientific and technological development, Lee Kuan Yew and his team were able to live up to their good intentions and Singapore, which in 1819 was a village with 120 fishermen without natural resources and hinterland, propelled itself from third world squalor to first world affluence in just 35 years. This was commitment and a sense of mission personified.

The second example is from China. The economic development taking place in China is the result of an initiative taken by four scientists. On the 3rd of March 1986, four of China’s top weapons scientists: WANG Daheng, WANG Ganchang, YANG Jiachi, and CHEN Fangyun, jointly sent a private letter to Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the country, with a warning that decades of relentless
focus on militarization had crippled the country’s civilian scientific establishment. They recommended that China must join the world’s “new technological revolution,” or it would be left behind. They called for an élite project devoted to technology ranging from biotech to space research. Mr. Deng Xiaoping agreed, and scribbled on the letter, “Action must be taken on this now.” This was China’s “Sputnik moment,” and the project was code-named the 863 Program, for the year and month of its birth. In the years that followed, the government pumped billions of dollars into labs and universities and enterprises, on projects ranging from cloning to underwater robots. The program initially focused on seven key technological fields: Biotechnology, Space technology, Information technology, Laser technology, Automation, Energy, and Advanced Material Sciences.

Two more fields were brought under the umbrella of the program: Telecommunications (1992) and Marine Technology (1996).

In 2006, Chinese leaders redoubled their commitment to new energy technology; they boosted funding for research and set targets for installing wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric dams, and other renewable sources of energy that were higher than goals in the United States. China doubled its wind-power capacity that year, and then doubled it again the next year, and the year
after. The country had virtually no solar industry in 2003; five years later, it was manufacturing more solar cells than any other country, winning customers from foreign companies that had invented the technology in the first place.

Korea transformed itself from a stagnant agrarian society into one of the most dynamic industrial economies of the world within 40 years. In the early 1960s when Korea first launched its industrialization efforts, it was a typical poor developing country with poor resources and production base and small domestic market. Korea’s Gross National Product (GNP) in 1961 was only $ 2.3 billion (in 1980 prices) or $87 per capita which came mainly from the primary sectors. The manufacturing sector’s share of GNP remained at a mere 15%. International trade was also at a very infant stage: in 1961, Korea’s export volume was only $55 million and imports $390 million. As late as 1970, the three top exports were textiles, plywood, and wigs. South Korea now has established world prominence in such technology areas as semi-conductors, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), telecommunication equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding, and many more. Indeed, it has emerged as one of the key international players in the global economy and is considered the 13th largest economy and one of the major trading countries of the world.

The last example is from the United States of America. When the 56 signatories of the Declaration of American Independence met in the State House of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on the 4th of July 1776 to append their signatures to the famous document on declaration of America’s Independence this is what they said: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”.

The signers of American Declaration of Independence, twenty-three lawyers, fifteen merchants, five plantation owners, four physicians, three scientists, two land speculators, one farmer, one military man, one lawyer/musician and one Minister, showed tremendous courage and bravery by willingly putting their names on that document. They knew full well that they were committing treason against England and they knew the penalty was death. Their commitment to the United States of America led to the creation of what is still the richest and most powerful country in the world. Ghana has not yet seen the type of closed, united, committed, focused, and dedicated leadership that is ready to sacrifice for future generations of Ghanaians. We have not had leaders who see beyond the next elections and plan for future generations. If a few leaders of this country, relying on the protection of divine providence, would mutually pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for the development of Ghana, there would be a palpable change within 2 years. May be there is no sacred honor or fortune to pledge on.

The political corruption that is gradually gaining root in Ghana is very disturbing. When it comes to choosing leaders to run the political parties and the nation it is no more a question of looking for selfless and competent individuals who have what it takes to move the nation forward. It is more of who is loyal to powerful individuals who want their interests to be served after the power
is won.

I expect anyone who wants to lead this country to tell the nation now how things are going to be done differently so that young people would begin to have hope and stake in this country.

Our leaders have devalued themselves to the extent that they think only foreigners can help us out of our misery. How can someone tell us that he is waiting for a loan from some other countries before roads, schools and other infrastructural projects can be executed?

Our leaders seem to know it all and can develop this country without Ghanaians. After all they do not need Ghanaians to travel around looking for loans, grants, and handouts. They do not need Ghanaians to build the infrastructural projects. As it is, those who give out the loans also provide the highly qualified and skillful workers from their country to get the work done.

Our leaders’ understanding of development seem to be only the provision of infrastructure. No country ever developed by borrowing to build infrastructure. ‘Something’ else must be built on the infrastructure. That something is the true development.

As far as I am concerned the many roads, interchanges, schools, hospitals, wells, electricity, and other infrastructural projects, erroneously called development projects, do not alone determine the success of a Government. Rather the success of true leadership is measured by what extent the people can be mobilized to lead independent lives: to feed, shelter, clothe, heal, and defend themselves, and also produce tools, implements, spare parts and machines they require for daily living, so that if for one reason or the other ships and airplanes are unable to access the country the citizens can stand on their own and survive.

We need attitudinal change. We should realize that the overall development of the nation, including the economic, social, cultural, and technological development is the responsibility of the Ghanaian. Mr. Future President, the men, and women to solve the myriads of problems facing us are here at home and in the diaspora. They have to be found and encouraged to perform. The task of political
leadership is to unearth the actors needed to transform the nation. If we say we have the men, let us use the men and not the boys.

We should exorcise the ‘beggar mentality’ from our lives and accept that our poverty is self-inflicted and it is absolutely unnecessary.

We pride ourselves as having been endowed with abundant natural resources. That is true but it is also important to know that natural resources have no natural owners. The real owners are those that have the technology, skills, and the financial power to exploit those resources. They are the ones that take 90% of the mineral and other resources and leave a mere 10% for the host country.

It really beats my understanding that our leaders do not seem to realize that the real difference between the developed countries of America, Europe, Asia and the Far East and the underdeveloped countries of Africa lies in their technological capability. This capability has been defined as the extent to which countries access, utilize, and create science and technology for the solution of socio – economic problems. Technology has the track record of solving developmental problems. Our modern world is driven by technology. Energy, agriculture, medicine and health, clean air and water, transportation, sanitation, management, utilization, and conservation of natural resources — all are based ultimately in science and technology. So, it is obvious that to be a part of that world, there must be science and technology elements in the development process.

Despite efforts to alleviate poverty, Ghana still exhibits chronic inability to alleviate poverty. Poverty alleviation means, for many people, being able to afford nutritious food, access to clean water and sanitation, energy, safe shelter, education, and a healthy environment. Since science and technology have a historical record in providing solutions to poverty problems, any efforts to alleviate poverty will not succeed without innovations in food production, water, energy, and health provision and in general economic growth. We must understand that Science, Engineering and Technology will give us the capacity to manufacture machines, develop processes and materials and exploit our abundant natural resources for national development. If we do not develop the capacity to manufacture machines that will work for us, we should as well forget about any dream of developing the Nation. No country ever developed without the capacity to manufacture machines. If we characterize Ghana as an agricultural nation, we do so by default because we cannot do anything else. We will continue to run the Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel economy: planting yams and rearing animals. We have not advanced to Noah’s economy. He built a sophisticated ship that saved humanity and other forms of life. About 2200 years ago, the Chinese built the over 6300km Great Wall of China, without any assistance from the World Bank but we in the 21st Century have closed our minds to technology and need assistance to construct everything, including toilets. We need to constantly remind ourselves that the POVERTY GAP is a TECHNOLOGY GAP.

Again, our development should be driven by our ability to understand, interpret, select, adapt, use, transmit, diffuse, produce, and commercialize scientific and technological knowledge in ways appropriate to our culture, aspirations, and level of development.

Ghana needs a new brand of leadership. It is unacceptable that about 80% of inputs into agriculture, education and health are from foreign sources. It is a shame that a major thrust of our economic policy is to try as much as we can to attract foreign investors. Good as foreign investments are we just cannot sit down and think that without confronting our problems ourselves we can still be prosperous.

To my mind Ghana is unable to attract significant Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). Any country that does not take the development of her human capital seriously finds is difficult to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The high-income developed countries with well-developed human capital are not only the major source of direct investment, but they are also the major recipients. China and the United States of America are the major recipients of FDIs in the world.

There is ample evidence that multinationals are more active primarily between similar, high-income countries and that outward direct investment in particular is associated with skilled-labor abundance. Even when a multinational decides to invest in a developing country with low human capital base the type of investment is the vertical one in which the production process is geographically fragmented by stages, the capital-intensive intermediates being produced in the home country of the multinational and the labor-intensive stage produced in the host country. This is in contrast to the horizontal investments in which the multinational carries on basically the same activity in the host country as at home, for example, German investors producing the same cars in the United States of America as they do in Germany. This type of investment is almost non-existent in Ghana.

Finally Mr. Future President, I believe that the greatest asset of a nation is the trust and confidence of its people. This should, however, not be taken for granted. Leadership must also fight for this great asset by working hard with even-handedness for the people in all honesty. This asset has been and still is being squandered through misgovernment and corruption to the extent that leaders are not trusted and citizens do not see that they have a stake in their country and its future.

Most Ghanaians do not see any virtue in working for the future of their country. Our leaders have not been able to invoke in the citizens the spirit of nation building. Mr. Future President how are you going to rectify this situation?

God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

 

A PELE Note

Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng is an astute German-trained Ghanaian cardiothoracic surgeon and founder of the National Cardiothoracic Centre whose recent foray into Ghanaian politics nearly marred his otherwise stellar legacy. This Open Letter was written by the good professor on 31st August, 2023. Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELE) contacted him for his original typed up version on September 20, 2023 to republish here in toto, unedited whatsoever. He is scheduled to speak in-person at the John Maxwell Live2Lead Conference in Ghana on Friday October 6, dubbed Leader Day. 

To Compete or To Complete? That is the Question.

Dr. G. Ayorkor Korsah (née Mills-Tettey) and I shared many hearty laughs at the VIP lounge after Ashesi University’s impressively inspiring commencement ceremony last Saturday, June 3, 2023. She is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Robotics, and as department head, Computer Science & Information Systems, she was in her element dolling out degrees to deserving graduates. But we have a 28-year history of rivalry.

This wasn’t our first meeting. Nearly three decades ago, in 1995, we were impassioned opponents. Each of us was part of a trio representing our high schools in the semi-final of the Brillant Science and Maths Quiz on national television. Brillant was what it was called, yes, no typo there. That was the name of the blue bar soap by Unilever that was the title sponsor OF the competition. Much has changed since then. National Science and Maths Quiz, it’s now called. Very appropriate. Prime Time was in its prime, producing this feast of brilliance. They seem to have kept their shine, now in the hands of the next generation of Mensah-Bonsus.

 

THE LADIES WERE LOVED

Our battle was held and filmed at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon. Technically, this should’ve been a ‘home match’ for me, in my own territory, since the venue was barely a mile from my home, No. 14 Legon Hill. But no. Everyone was rooting for the über smart all-ladies team from Wesley Girls. Can you blame them? Even now they would be a delight; how much more in those medieval ages of STEM in Africa. Come to think of it, the now-ubiquitous ‘STEM’ term for Science, Tech, Engineering and Math had not even been cooked yet. The STEM acronym was only introduced in 2001 by scientific administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Girls in Science were hallowed in the 1990s.  Even I admired them, but my mission was to win for my school. No distractions.

My Achimota School team was made up of three boys, the three musketeers, although we are the first co-ed public school in the country as far back as 1927 and had science girls who rocked. Needless to say, the competition against the Cape Coast chics was fierce. We had both earned our way to the penultimate in the southern zone.

We inflicted what is arguably the most painful defeat Geyhey has ever suffered at the science and maths quiz. It was veeery close. Even the camera crew were downcast when the celebrity girls lost, visibly disappointed. We made enemies that day. Some couldn’t even hide it.

 

SOME OTHER LADIES, SOME OTHER TIME

But as it turned out: it’s not the whole word that hated us. Some girls loved us. I was the recipient of umpteen letters of adulation from young ladies all over the country. They happily introduced themselves, sometimes with atrocious photo inserts, and poured their admiration on me—about my intellectual prowess among other things which will distract from the point of this article. Now I’m not sure all of it was appropriate for seventeen.

Even the Weygeygey girls became friends later when things cooled down. After all, “if you can’t beat them; join them,” as they say. That’s how I ended up with the various names in that year group, some of whom became colleagues at the University of Ghana Medical School, as friends. Zanetor Rawlings, first daughter of the then Flight Lieutenant-retired president of Ghana, even visited me in Achimota School at some point. Like me, she would later pursue Medicine too; but in Ireland. I once warned her at a party in Nana Ama Barnes’ home on Legon Campus that if she dared ended up schooling outside Ghana after her revolutionary dad had messed up (yes, teenagers are fearless!) our educational system so, I would be really mad. I guess I’m still mad. A little. She has since returned and been admiringly serving as a Member of Parliament for the Korle Klottey constituency of Accra. In any case, seeing affliction metted out to a certain young man who hang around her at the time, involuntary hair-shaving at the Osu Castle and all, it might have been providence that I stayed at arm’s length.

 

NOTHING BUT ADMIRATION AND RESPECT

But I digress. Back to the main lady Gertrude, as we called Ayorkor then. She was and is brilliantly brilliant. We only beat her team by strategy and a stroke of luck. Call it grace, if you like. Those girls were on fire! Ayorkor, after 1995, went on ahead to pack up four degrees including two Bachelor’s, a Master’s and a PhD. Dr. Korsah grew up in Ghana and Nigeria, and as a child, she wanted to be an astronaut and an engineer. Ayorkor didn’t join the majority of us that continued to Ghanaian tertiary institutions but went to Ivy League Dartmouth to major in engineering. She attended Carnegie Mellon University for her doctoral work in computer science, obtaining a PhD in 2011.

Ayorkor Korsah is all-round passionate about the artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, algorithms, and programming courses she teaches on the Ashesi Hill but so is she about expanding robotics education in Africa for every Kofi and Amma. That’s why she co-founded the African Robotics Network (AFRON) over a decade ago with a robotics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Ken Goldberg.

Anyele my wife and I really found a common sweet spot with Ayorkor last Saturday when we coincidentally discovered our common passion for literacy. Being someone who has shared with the BBC how humans and machines can collaborate and combine their strengths, Ayorkor once, over a dozen years ago, experimented with an automated reading tutor in the quest to improving child literacy in Africa. She has a paper on it in the Information Technologies & International Development journal, vol. 6 no. 2, 2010. We are keen to collaborate with her and her bright Ashesi students at our EdTech company, Perbi Cubs, for bigger, brighter and better outcomes for Africa’s precious cubs.

 

NOT A BOUT

Ayorkor beat me to full-time lectureship and will most likely beat me again to professorship (she so deserves it). But as she, Anyele and I continued our hearty conversation, including recruiting some of her students to practice what she teaches at our Edtech, we got to know she has two little ones of her own, younger than our last two. And we have seven. We beat her to that, fair and square. She even just married, in light of our sixteenth year, and transitioned from Mills-Tettey to Korsah.

Enough of these beatings! Really we’re all grown now and know, for sure, that life isn’t a race against each other. Nor is it about a bout. Rather than compete like we did in our teens, we now learn to complete one another in our adult years for the greater good—the Good Society. In lockstep, we will keep producing holistic emerging leaders, formally like Dr. Ayorkor Korsah does with degrees at Ashesi and informally and semi-formally like I do at The HuD Group. Ashesi turned 20 last year and we turn the same this year. Patrick Awuah, our mutual founding friend of Ashesi will be keynoting at The HuD Group’s presser on June 16, 2023. I was telling him that maybe I should’ve started a Uni too instead of going the CSO (Civil Society Organization) route. But nay, to each one their own. And we compliment, collaborate and complete each other as we all strive hard and long towards the Africa we want.

And as if by divine design, one of the Presec folks who beat our Achimota team in the finals of the Brilliant Science and Math Quiz 1995 southern zone competition ended up as my Biological Sciences course mate and even my room mate at Legon Hall, University of Ghana. We both competed for the few slots at med school available to our Leviathan-sized cohort and made it–from the same room!

There’s a time to compete and a time to collaborate. For me, to complete and not compete today as professional pals and fellow family framers of the same generation is a no-brainer. Here’s to answering life’s real tough questions and quizzes together. Congratulations, Dr. Ayorkor Korsah, for continually raising the bar.

 

Post script

And oh, Anyele and Ayikai, Ayorkor’s engineering whiz kid of a younger sister, have been tight friends for a quarter-of-a-century, going way back to their Wesley Girls days.

Tribute to Tim of my Table ~ Timothy Keller (1950-2023).

We first met on a table near the Table Mountain; I hope we meet again, in eternity, at a wedding table on a holy mountain.

 

In an emerging leader-affirming move, typical of The Lausanne Movement, my 32-year old self was appointed a table head at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa. Imagine that. This was a gathering of the crème de la crème of Christian leaders from around the world, even described by some as “the most representative gathering of Christian leaders in the 2,000 year history of the Christian movement” (Christianity Today).

Each table had about half a dozen members. One of mine was Tim Keller. At the time, I had no clue who he was and quite frankly, couldn’t be bothered. Everyone was somebody. He wasn’t always at the table and even when he was there, he wasn’t quite there.

The Congress was over and everyone received their beautiful certificates of participation. Tim wasn’t there. Again. Apparently he had left back to the United States earlier. So I decided to travel back to Canada with his certificate, do an internet search of his whereabouts and mail his certificate to him in the States.

THAT is when I found out to my shock what a tall figure of a man this was! I eventually did get to speak with a staff and mail his memento to the right address (I would hope) in New York City. Rev. Dr. Tim Keller, founder and lifelong pastor of the 5,000-member Redeemer Presbyterian Church, was über brilliant and very deep—in head and heart. So deep that he had decided not to write any book till he was in his fifties. “Writing a book in your 50s will go twice as fast and be twice as good as if you try the same book in your 30s. It’s just good stewardship to wait,” he told The Gospel Coalition, which he was co-founder and Vice President of.

The other dimension I admired most about Keller was how ambidextrous he was in elucidating the gospel and engaging the culture, simultaneously! Stupendous! That, to me, was epitomized in his invitation to speak on his obviously Christian worldview book, ‘The Meaning of Marriage,’ at Google in Silicon Valley. Check out his presentation and responses to their questions and comments. Dr. Keller mentored many, near and far, in-person, in spirit and via media. Those around the world who were directly mentored through his Redeemer City to City should count themselves fortunate, blessed. I just spotted on Facebook a touching tribute from a pastor friend of mine from Brazil who recently planted a church in Rome, inspired and equipped by Rev. Keller.

As a latter day follower of Tim on Twitter, I admired the way he vulnerably yet resolvedly faced his imminent death, having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer since 2020, a sequel to his 2002 thyroid cancer battle. All the while incarnationally demonstrating ‘The Meaning of Marriage’ through the dynamics with his wife of nearly 50 years, Kathy Kristy. Tim transitioned into glory on Friday the nineteenth (of May), 2023.

Dr. Tim Keller’s influence on the church and the world for Christ is deep and wide. I hope we share a table, again, at the grand, imminent marriage feast of the Lamb in eternity. Till then, Rest in Peace, champ! #Maranatha!