TRUST - base condition for success.
All organizations care about success. That’s natural, that’s what organizations are made for, regardless of their nature and how it is measured. But in the end, what is the most essential element of an organization? Money? Infrastructure? IT? If you have answered PEOPLE, we agree, yes. This is the “key element” of your organization.
Knowing this, it is very surprising that even nowadays many organizations, that is, many managers, in key positions, manage as if people were rocks. It is so astonishingly surprisingly stupid to see the behavior from some supposedly top managers, that one is forced to ask: Why are some key managers acting as if they are blind and deaf? Why do so many key managers perform so badly with their teams? Recently, in a flight to Luanda, talking with a friend, I heard a curious answer. “Eucalyptus managers”, said my friend. Everyone should recognize them and act fast, whenever necessary, she said. “Eucalyptus managers”, I insisted? Yes, “eucalyptus managers” she answered again. Everyone should be careful with them: they dry everything around, they “suck a lot of water” from the environment.
Going deeper into her thoughts, I understood her picture. She told me, “in the end it is all a matter of TRUST, first of all in yourself”. TRUST is a necessary condition to success. Trusting yourself allows you to trust others. Trusting yourself means that you are confident enough to share your knowledge and values with others, instead of fearing the value and knowledge of others. Trusting yourself means that you are confident enough to surround yourself with the right and best people, not fearing that they might take your place but, conversely, learning from them all you can in order to expand your limits. In the end, it will have direct consequences on your management.
With TRUST, you may try a positive approach to management. Eventually, you may find a way to empower your peers, to delegate, to share your expertise, to motivate, to learn, share profits and in the end, to create a multiplying system of knowledge, actions and profits. Without TRUST, eventually you begin to mistrust people, you cannot delegate, you do not share and acquire expertise, in the end, you and your organization will have a lack of profitability. This is the ultimate consequence, it will just be a matter of time.
Most often these managers are far away from the field. If they do not trust in and delegate properly to middle managers, usually those who are daily in the field close to clients, how can they manage successfully? They can`t, in due course it is a recipe for disaster.
If you followed my previous posts, you know that we have been doing our work in Angola over the past years. I have been thinking a lot about this and that’s why I have decided to share this post with you.
In Viangol we believe in TRUST and we trust that indeed this is a key ingredient to success in this very challenging country (and anywhere). Our motto is to “create and share value”. We try to be as close as possible to our clients and understand their needs, bringing them realistic, valuable solutions.
What is our job, what do we do? Primarily, we deliver TRUST to our clients, this is our true value. Bringing TRUST to the market allow us to better develop it. As a natural consequence, we create VALUE. And if there is VALUE, it is natural to SHARE it. In the end, this is our rationale: delivering TRUST allows us to create VALUE and SHARE it. This is a virtuous cycle that we believe in.
Are you planning to invest in Angola?
Be prepared for very high local living costs, select the right people, allow a fair amount of time for results (do not expect to make a profit ahead of your investment…), implement the very best management practices from the beginning, and welcome to the game. If you have done your homework properly you have good chances to succeed. Welcome and please bring all your expertise to this country.
Elísio Lopes Cabrita, Sales, Marketing and Export Management Consultant.
Born in Angola, I have worked over the last two and a half decades with a diverse array of challenges ranging from B2B to B2C and small sized familiar business to multinational ones, with living experiences in China, Europe and Angola.
Our approach is to challenge the status quo and find a suitable way to create and share value.
I really appreciate that you are reading my post. If you want to reach me directly, please email [email protected] .