(Trinidad Express) A change in leadership style is needed if local businesses are to survive and continue being successful into the 21st century, according to chairman of SM Jaleel Group of Companies Dr Aleem Mohammed.
Speaking on evolution to excellence at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce 8th Annual Business Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Gala Dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Saturday night, Mohammed shared his secrets of success to business owners present.
He told them, “Our market is no longer Trinidad and Tobago. The world is our market place. We are limited today only by our imagination. This is the first time in our history where our heritage is no longer our destiny.
“The question is can we survive? Can we survive in this global village as a small island economy, with relatively small business on a global context. The answer is yes. Because nobody holds the future. The future is up for grabs. The question before us is how do we invent our future? To do this we must change our style of leadership. “We must move away from 20th century leadership to 21st century leadership. We are all rapidly depreciating assets. If we don’t re-tool and reinvent ourselves we will become totally depreciated assets. “We have to move away from control order and predict to acknowledge empower and not acknowledge create and empower.
“We must create an environment where we can unleash the hidden potential of our people and then we must empower them.”
Mohammed said businesses that hope to continue to be successful cannot enter the 21st century doing more of the same thing.
“We must be different we must be revolutionary.
“We must understand that success in the past is no guarantee for success in the future. We must learn to develop as one of our core competencies radical innovation.”
He told business owners they needed to create an environment that facilitates change.
Mohammed said in a world of chaos and uncertainty, where small corporations can challenge giant conglomerates for global supremacy. “You can be great at what you are doing today and out of business tomorrow. Remember not too long ago we all used Motorola phones then along came Nokia, now Research In Motion-BlackBerry, Samsung, iPhone, Galaxy 3 have taken over the market share…”.
He used local examples of Kirpalani and more recently CL Financial which were also once dominant entities but were today just a memory of greatness.
The three businessmen inducted into the Chamber’s Hall of Fame in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the local business landscape on Saturday night were Caribbean Communications Network Chairman, Joseph P Esau, banker Ronald Harford and Geoffrey R Inglefield-a local insurance stalwart who was awarded posthumously.
