LITMIR.BIZ

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Spain combined at the naval battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 is simple. Lord Nelson and the captains of the fleet he commanded had plenty of years of sea experience under their belts; whereas the French and Spanish top naval officers were chosen from the aristocracy, some of whom had had no time at sea at all. The English commanders were professional: the French and Spanish commanders were amateurs.

      For exactly the same reason, if you look at the managers of virtually any sports team – be it rugby, cricket, soccer, golf, tennis or hockey – they have virtually all played the sport themselves as professionals and understand every aspect of the game. Their knowledge is built up over years of successes and failures and being au fait with all the other players and sides in the game. There no such thing as instant wisdom in sport.

      In business, the identical principle applies. The best CEOs are the ones that have come up through the ranks and know the ins and outs of most of the jobs down the line. They have walked the job for years and have immediate empathy with their employees. They can put themselves into the shoes of their staff and customers and thereby anticipate their needs. Equally, they can think strategically and select the best tactics because the game they are in is in their blood. During their years at work, they will have gained the financial instinct which tells them what are good bets and bad bets in terms of projects and deals.

      In education, the best principals are the ones who have sniffed the chalk on the blackboard and participated in the dynamics of the classroom – in other words they have been teachers themselves. They can tell the difference between a good and bad teacher a mile away. They put their heart and soul into improving the intellectual potential and life skills of the young people under their control.

      With NGOs, the best directors are the ones who are regarded as champions in their field, tirelessly fighting for better conditions for the communities and the individuals they serve. Over time, they have developed close relationships with their major donors such that real trust binds the two parties. Trust never comes overnight. It always takes time.

      The bottom line is that with leadership of any organisation, a primary requisite is professionalism. That can only be gained through experience combined with ethical standards which are never compromised. This would suggest that the leadership of every single parastatal in South Africa, every single municipality, every single hospital, the police, the justice system, the ports and harbours, all other infrastructure and all development agencies should be chosen on one single criterion: a thorough knowledge of the game and excellent performance in it over many years. In most cases, this means promotion from within.

      Parachuting amateurs in for whatever reason – connections, gratitude for other work, nice guys that think in a similar vein – will result in the same thing that happened to the French and Spanish at Trafalgar. Defeat.

      England’s premier asset

      Without Sir Alex Ferguson, the Premier League will never be quite the same again. He was the most successful manager in the history of the Premier League, winning more trophies than anyone else. I will miss him chewing gum on the sideline to keep his emotions under control!

      If it had been the script for a play, it would not have been believed. Manchester United at the final whistle of their game were technically champions, and then Manchester City scored those two goals in injury time to pip them. What a crazy finish to a crazy season. Sergio Aguero’s shot changed the lives of millions of fans around the world in the blink of a second – and his own as well!

      Why is England’s Premier League the number one sporting league in the world with no rival in any other country? Why does it attract the biggest global audience and have the widest geographical footprint? There are eight reasons:

      1 Soccer is the beautiful game. Lovers of other sports hate it but no other game attracts the imagination of the masses like soccer. Every little boy growing up in the back streets of forgotten slums surrounding major cities in England, Europe, Africa and South America dreams of being a soccer star. Moreover, the game in England is more free-flowing and energetic than it is on the continent. The average Premier League player covers 14km in one match.

      2 The Premier League is open to the best players in the world. If there is any example of what a liberal immigration policy can do for a country, it is the fact that the Premier League has probably the best collection of players from all over the world. African stars feature prominently in most of the top teams, including Didier Drogba in mine – Chelsea.

      3 Rich foreigners have provided financial backing to many of the clubs. Americans, Arabs and Russians have put in sufficient cash to lure the talent. A good player gets ± £100 000 per match or ± £3.8m for the season. That is around R50m per annum. The superstars get double that.

      4 Every match is televised. Nothing exhibits the power of television more than the fact that in virtually every restaurant and pub the world over, you can watch the game and analysis from experts.

      5 Each club is heavily branded. You can buy shirts, caps and all the other paraphernalia of any of the clubs. Walk into any mall in South Africa and you will see someone in the colours of one of the Premier League clubs.

      6 Most of the clubs have been around for 120 years or more. This means that the brand of the club is more important than that of the individual player. Hence players come and go, but loyalty of the fans remains with the club.

      7 The crowd are fanatic at matches. It makes all the difference to have an enthusiastic audience. Nothing depresses more than empty stands.

      8 The manager and coaching squads are brilliant. Again many managers are not English but they are all as important to the success of the Premier League as the players. Each has his own personality which comes across in the post-match interviews.

      All these points suggest that one of the most strategic decisions ever taken in sport happened 20 years ago when England’s First Division was converted into the Premier League. It is the country’s premier asset.

      Entrepreneurs in chains

      I now have an ally in Barack Obama who, on his recent visit to South Africa, emphasised the role of entrepreneurs in keeping us at the head of the economic game in Africa. When will we ever learn that freedom is not working for somebody else? It is working for yourself and climbing the ladder of your own choice.

      This chapter is prompted by two conversations I have had recently; one with a young Chinese woman at a lunch with friends last Sunday and the other with a South African businessman who has just returned from Lagos in Nigeria.

      In the first conversation, the lady said that despite the strong political hold that the Chinese Communist Party has over the nation, in the minor towns and villages across the country economic anarchy reigns. This has been incredibly beneficial in that it has led to an entrepreneurial revolution which has propelled China to No 2 in the global economic order behind the US. It may not be the sole cause because you have to consider foreign investment in China as well, but sure as night follows day it has helped.

      The businessman said that he had gone to Lagos expecting another down-at-heel, demotivated Third World city. Instead, he discovered one of the most exciting places he has ever visited, putting it on the same pedestal as Hong Kong. He found the entrepreneurial energy irresistible in Lagos. Every­where he went people were buying and selling things in an unregulated environment other than the prime rule of cash on delivery. He now considers Johannesburg’s boastful slogan of being the leading business centre in Africa to be totally empty. He sees the future of African capitalism as Lagos. Johannesburg belongs to the history book of colonial capitalism.

      What both these people’s opinions had in common was the idea of economic freedom – not the one peddled by Julius Malema of transferring assets at no cost between rich and poor with an increasing role for the state. The one they have in mind is breaking the oppressive chains binding the small business owners in this country. True liberation will only come when all those creative souls who are not politicians, not civil servants, not directors or employees of large, established businesses, not unionists or union members, not the recipients of regular monthly pay cheques, are put on a par with those inhabiting parliament and

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