Author: Hellen Githaiga

Kenya firms hire women for top jobs as gender equity gains pace

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

Top firms in Kenya are increasingly hiring more women and placing some at the centre of decision-making in the boardrooms as the race for gender equity at workplaces gains momentum globally.

Many corporates including BAT Kenya, Absa Kenya, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Group and Safaricom have crossed the 40 percent mark for the proportion of women in senior leadership positions.

The progress has come on the back of these firms implementing policies and practices that promote gender equality, including equal pay for equal work, generous maternity and paternity leave, flexible working hours for new mothers and offering opportunities for advancement and leadership for women.

Still, the firms are alive to research that has shown that companies with more women in senior positions are more profitable, more socially responsible, and provide safer, higher-quality customer experiences—among many other benefits.

Read: Kenya’s healthcare sector scores big in global gender parity ranking

And of course, there is a clear moral argument for increasing diversity among top management teams on the back of the push by shareholders and financiers.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), for example, joined the 30 percent club, a global campaign, to increase gender diversity in boards and senior management at the workplace.

The NSE drive has helped listed firms deepen their focus on diversity, and put their sights on gender parity.

The Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) Board Diversity and Inclusion report shows the share of women in NSE firms’ boards has risen from 12 percent in 2012 to hit 18 percent in 2015, 21 percent in 2017 and 36 percent in 2021.

At 36 percent, KIM said, the figure was above the global average of 23.3 percent. The institute is working on a new report to be released later in the year.

Catherine Musakali, chairperson at Women on Boards Network (WOBN), an initiative that champions for women into board leadership through training and mentorship, says beyond the listed companies, more women are taking up boardroom positions as firms seek to diversify their skills set.

“The ground is shifting. We are seeing younger women joining boards and they are challenging the status quo and adding value on both listed and non-listed firms,” said Ms Musakali, adding that of WOBN’s more than 1,000 members, about 60 percent already sit on boards.

“I see progress and I can bet that when the next data for NSE firms is out later this year, the numbers in terms of diversity will be better. That is because we are seeing more and more requests for nomination of women to sit on boards. When you look at listed companies only, the number of female board chairpersons is also going up.”

East African Breweries PLC (EABL) says it increased the representation of women in senior leadership roles to 47 percent by end of June last year from 37 percent in the same period in 2022, moving it closer to hitting the target of 50 percent by end of 2030.

The beer maker has since 2015 been partnering with Strathmore Business School to run a ‘Women in Leadership’ programme that has so far built leadership capability of over 360 women in its business.

EABL says it believes that diversity and inclusion at all levels are necessary for growth of an organisation and has also structured its graduate programmes and mid-career development programmes to ensure they have an equal intake of women.

“We believe that the most inclusive and diverse culture makes for a better business and a better world. We have been passionate about changing the narrative around the underrepresentation of youth, women and people living with disabilities in employment and supply chains across our business and have made empowering them a business priority,” said EABL.

Such a deliberate push has seen some organisations like KCB, NCBA and Absa Kenya manage to push the share of women in their total workforce above 51 percent.

KCB, for instance, last year saw the number of women employees rise by 1,017 to hit 6,233 to take the share of female employees to 51 percent and outnumber men for the first time ever. This was a rise from 2018 when their share was at 43 percent.

“As a result of our deliberate efforts to entrench diversity and inclusion at the workplace, the proportion of female employees in the organisation rose to 51 percent in 2023,” said Paul Russo, chief executive at KCB Group.

Read: Women outnumber men in KCB workforce

Such progress has put women on course to catching up with men in labour force participation as more employers embrace gender parity policies at a time multiple studies are showing companies putting women in boardrooms are posting better performance.

A study by Catalyst, a global NGO that is pro building conducive workplaces for women, found in a study, Fortune 500 companies with three or more women on their boards significantly outperformed those with low representation by 84 percent, 60 percent and 46 percent on returns on sales, invested capital and equity respectively.

Safaricom, which targets to have 45 percent of leadership positions occupied by women, continued to make progress, with new hiring and promotion in senior roles being 19 in the year ended March 2024.

The hiring and promotion of the 19 women into leadership roles raised the share of female employees in senior positions at Safaricom to 42.4 percent from 40 percent in the previous year. The telco has already achieved a 50:50 gender split in its boardroom while the overall workforce is now 49 percent women.

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The sectors producing top men in tech revolution era

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

Since the Top 40 under 40 Men project started, now close to two decades ago, the applications have never been as huge as this year’s entries.
When the call for nominations was made, more than 6,775 profiles were submitted. All the nominees were outstanding in their own ways, but since all can’t be winners, the job of whittling down the list to 40 fell on our judges, initially cutting it down to 535 unique entries before narrowing down to the finalists.
And what a list it is! This year’s Top 40 under 40 Men represent the diversity of the Kenyan corporate, entrepreneurship, activist, and social sectors. This year, special consideration was particularly made to recognize men in the national government administration offering exemplary public service.
One of the industries that stands out this year is technology, where the winners are making novel products whose impact is felt internationally. Such include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and a cybersecurity expert who is often consulted by the military of an Asian country.
Then there is one of the youngest winners who is pioneering a digital bank that promises to ease the challenges that keep most young Kenyans from wealth creation.
One thing that ties all men is their dedication to excellence. As one of them puts it succinctly, he always stays hungry for more ways to improve himself.

Leonard Mutinda

Calibre of outstanding women is getting younger, bolder

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

Every year, the process of compiling the list of the Business Daily’s Top 40 Under 40 women starts with scrutinising the nominees.

How have they used their position or power to create a lasting and meaningful change in the community? What is so unique about their position be it in the marketing field or technology?

Which of the 1,000 nominees have made the greatest strides in using their talent, voice, or resources to pull other women up the ladder?  Yes, the job and educational background matter, but it is more than the job and degrees.

Often, the answers to these questions determine the newcomers for the list.

This year we picked women across industries, social status, and age, remarkable women of influence and achievement. They are fierce and talented. They have shattered glass ceilings with complete competence and defied poverty, disability, and male domination.

Every year the calibre of outstanding women keeps changing. They are getting younger. They are bolder. They are charting into waters their mothers and grandmothers only dreamt of exploring.

When the project was launched 15 years, several women who made it as finalists were in traditional careers. This year’s list has Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts, a genomic scientist who has a PhD in cell biology, entrepreneurs on an enviable success trajectory, and doctors in fields dominated by the over 50s.

However, missing out on the list does not mean a woman is not powerful or is making zero impact in society. There are so many women under 40 who are rising—and rising at a rate that could earn them a spot on the list next year.

Diana Mwango

Rise not about hard work, hard skills

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

As we celebrate the Top 40 Under 40 Women in Kenya, I would like to share some insights with these young winners and any other women who aspire to rise to the top in their careers.

Having spent decades in corporate leadership, coaching, training, and consulting, I have seen what it takes to succeed in a male-dominated corporate world, and I can tell you that it is not just about hard work and technical skills. It is about cultivating a set of essential soft skills that will set you apart.

First and foremost, having boundaries between your professional and personal life. Often, I have seen women throw themselves into their work as I, unfortunately, did, only to realise later that they missed out on the best things in life, such as spending time with family and friends, a financial base and pursuing hobbies or other interests or even creating one’s own nuclear family.

As you continue to scale greater heights in your careers, it is crucial to establish boundaries between your personal and professional life.

This means prioritising yourself as what I call, “Me Plc” and focusing on your well-being, first. Take care of yourself, invest in your physical and financial health, and pursue your interests beyond your career.

It is important to strike a balance between your work and personal life to be a well-rounded individual and secure your financial independence by building passive income streams which I learnt, to my detriment, rather late!

The old Kikuyu proverb, “Ukuru iriaga wethe,” roughly translated to “Old age eats from its youth,” holds true. Therefore, invest in your future by prioritising your financial stability and forget the ‘nice car, desired residential address, the designer clothes…’ which are liabilities.

Instead, seek simplicity to acquire that critical nest egg. The moral of this point is that a successful career should not come at the expense of your well-being or financial independence. Rather, it should be a catalyst for living a fulfilling life.

Secondly, develop your leadership skills. Leadership is not just about delegating tasks and managing a team; it is about being able to influence people to achieve your set goals.

This requires managing relationships and nurturing a top team that is competent, confident, motivated, empowered, and that feels psychologically safe to work for you.

So, grow your emotional intelligence skills, an essential leadership competence to truly ‘lead’ people, and stop over-focusing on technical competencies and more degrees, more certifications, and more courses as I have seen many women do!

Just focus on learning how to manage and grow relationships, and you will be well on your way to playing golf, or, being home early with your family while your team gives their ‘10 out of 10’ effort for you because they want to.

Lastly, I encourage women to develop collaborative networks, particularly among ourselves. Women groups, chamas, and other collaborative networks have a history of being very successful because of their collaborative nature.

Just as men (and companies) are collaborative with just about anybody in pursuit of their interests, there is a need for women to collaborate because it is socially more challenging for us to network as men do.

In this regard, I would like to share the story of Uri Triesman, a mathematics professor at Berkeley University in the early 1980s, who discovered that black students, despite their academic competency and studying harder than their Asian counterparts, were failing dismally while the Asians were doing well.

This is because they were studying alone as opposed to the Asians who were studying in a community.

The very successful Norwegian-backed FKE Female Future Kenya programme that I am a proud facilitator of these past 10 years works on the same principle.

Therefore, I challenge the ‘strong-Mrs Atlas -perfectionist-Can-do-it-all-ATM’, women like me to ‘stop trying to do everything by themselves, stop struggling in isolation, stop pushing help away; and, to form networks of like-minded people, men and women alike, and see how far you will go.

I challenge you to make 2023 your year of collaboration.

Mary M’Mukindia is a business consultant, mindset coach, certified Genos Emotional Intelligence practitioner and motivational speaker.

Skills, attitude that sustain your success momentum

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

“The King may rule the kingdom, but it’s the queen who moves the board.”-D.M. Timney

As we celebrate the Top 40 under 40 women, I could not be prouder. As someone who has close to four decades of experience in the corporate sector, I know the amount of courage and grit it takes to be the best in your industry, particularly as a woman.

It saddens me that the number of women rising is still painfully low, even after such a long time, but I remain optimistic. While I used to be the only woman in many boardrooms, I now find myself in the company of other women.

As women strive for success, or to break that proverbial glass ceiling, two factors are consistently important: skills. Here are some lessons I learned that can help women sustain their success momentum.

1. Resilience

Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai said it best: the higher you go the fewer women there are. It can be quite lonely up the ladder, be it in the corporate, political, or NGO space. Many times we have to fall on our inner strength, our resolve, and our resilience.

2. Be of service to other women

Support other women in your network. I have opened doors for women, many without them knowing. The greatest satisfaction I have is sitting back and watching them thrive.

3. Learn to say No

When I started my professional life I struggled with boundaries. As women, we need to learn to put ourselves first and learn to say No, be it to a new role, project, or client.

4. Collaborate, don’t compete

In my early corporate life, we played by rules written by men for men. A lot of that was quite aggressive and resulted in us not being nice to each other. Women can write their own rules and be a lot more collaborative.

We must expand our tables to ensure there is more space and when the time comes, we must give up our seats for other women.

5. Expanding networks

Our networks need to be both men and women in diverse fields. We benefit more from varied perspectives. Our networks should not just be local but global.

6. Don’t play small

Women must always challenge the status quo because most times we are not it. One of the things I learned is to dream big, challenge assumptions, and inspire teams to be big-picture people.

7. Working with women

I have had largely women staff. I loved their flexibility and agility. If something was not working, they were quickly able to change direction and find a different approach.

8. Comfort zones

Every time I get comfortable in a role or project, I know it’s time to do something else. I have interviewed many women for jobs and it’s like they struggle to get out of second gear. Change the script. Try something new. Grow. See what else you are capable of doing.

9. Experience

I am an assertive rather than an aggressive leader and the higher up the ladder I went, I found that being clear about my vision was important to get my teams aligned.

I had much more cooperation when there was clarity in the direction we were taking. These days I am often asked if I have lost my edge. Absolutely not! My edges are just softer.

10. Be yourself

Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet and playwright, put it best: be yourself, everyone else is already taken. I am proud of having created an industry from scratch as opposed to a copy-and-paste situation.

I believe every entrepreneur has a defining moment and mine was in 1997 when I identified a void in the marketplace and started a communication company that went on to become Africa’s most awarded agency.

11. Leading a team

One of the reasons I was successful was that I knew my craft inside and out. I was able to get into the trenches with my staff if I needed to. People want leaders they can connect with, and who understand them.

12. Meticulous learning

Becoming a well-rounded corporate leader is not all bells and whistles. The climb to achieving a consistently reliable reputation is largely due to your willingness and ability to learn.

I put in years of learning in different industries from governments to banks to telcos and aviation before I was able to advise on global public relations issues and I am not done yet. I am still learning.

Gina Din Kariuki is the founder of Gina Din Group and the author of ‘Daughter of Africa’, a book that will soon be a digital platform highlighting inspirational daughters of Africa, telling their stories in their words.

Soft Skills Successful Men Should Master

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

As we celebrate all the successful men in the list of Top 40 under 40, it got me thinking about how successful men can maintain and surpass what they have accomplished.

Unfortunately, looking at the last few months, we have seen successful men who are experts in their areas and are nationally and internationally recognised and respected drop the ball. They have been involved in scandals resulting in losing their jobs, funding for their businesses and in the end, credibility because of something they said or did.

It got me thinking, beyond one’s technical skills and accomplishments; what else do successful men need to maintain their impact on society and continue to flourish in their careers?

Successful people are held at a higher standard because of their position in society, but they can easily fall if they lack some of the soft skills below that I have addressed in this article.

Empathy

The work environment has changed significantly. For instance, as a man, you might find yourself leading a female-dominated workplace. So how do you ensure you lead while understanding and being aware of their needs and experience?

You may find an employee that has always been very active and engaged throughout and is now a new mother. You may require her to deliver but at the same time, the employee may expect you to allow for some flexibility and understand their situation where they may need to leave early or sometimes come late to work to balance family obligation and their career.

Knowing how to balance this is important and can be done through having empathy.

Empathy can be developed by listening while being open to expanding our understanding beyond our normal experiences for others.

Approachability

Naturally, if you are a successful man, your leadership status might put a wall between you and the people you head.

Being approachable means that you can be trusted by other people and you can influence them despite your title or position. It means that people around you are comfortable sharing with you information, either good or bad, and know that you can lend them an ear. This is important as people trust you more, which helps you form a wide range of network that builds on your credibility, and you are likely not to miss out on timely information that may come in handy in your decision-making.

Communication skills

A successful leader is able to persuade and articulate direction to the people they lead. It is crucial to be a skilled communicator in all your relationships from all levels of the organisation, to the community and sometimes on a global scale to achieve results.

Being able to think clearly, express your ideas and share information articulately with different audiences and knowing when to communicate and how to do it to meet different needs is important.

To improve your communications skills, consider taking a public speaking training course.

Be able to trust others

If you are a self-made successful man, it may be difficult for you to trust other people as you believe your work to be the best.

If you cannot trust your team, you are probably going to micromanage them, which will stall progress and in turn, your staff may not also trust you.

Instead, consider empowering others by sharing responsibilities and guiding them on things you would like done while equipping them with the needed skills.

This will even help you have time to focus on the bigger picture.

Good manners

Good manners make good leaders. It means you treat people with kindness and shows respect for them.

Respect goes both ways. Having in mind that you cannot expect others to respect you just because your position is important.

It could be as easy as not being rude to the waitress in a restaurant or not showing up late for meetings.

We have seen people who have lost credibility due to this basic skill. Leaders who grow and last have good manners.

Be open to feedback

For a leader to be successful in their role, they need to be open to feedback. It helps you make informed decisions that avoid failure and negative effect on the business and relationships.

It shows that you can listen and people can trust you enough and feel safe to share with you what they think including innovative ideas without fear of consequence. This can help you improve the functions of your business.

Conclusion

As a successful man, your expertise and your technical skills may not always keep you at the helm. The skills we have discussed above are everyday skills that you can learn, apply and perfect. They will help you stay at the top and even surpass your accomplishments.

Perminus Wainaina is the CEO at Corporate Staffing Services, A HR consultancy firm based in Westlands, Nairobi.

Modern men forging new careers, entrepreneurial paths

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

How times change! In the last edition of Top 40 Under 40 Men two years ago, it seemed there was little that could bring the global economy to a standstill. When we published the edition, our finalists were upbeat that 2020 only held greater and better things in store for them. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the world came to a halt. Most companies that were lucky to stay open, quickly shed jobs, while others deeply slashed their employee salaries and forced others to go on unpaid leave.

It was a tough time for everyone, but particularly for the modern man who still had to play that crucial role of a provider that is expected of him in our society. However, as author Doe Zantamata put it, “It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed.”

Amid the economic downturn, these men picked themselves up from their fall, dusted off, and forged new career and entrepreneurial paths. Some of the enterprises they formed are today the wind behind the sails that are pushing our economic recovery. And they are spread throughout the economy, from finance, technology to marketing, agribusiness, and healthcare to sports.

Such resilience deserves to be celebrated. But if the pandemic has also taught us anything, it is that the modern working man needs to be constantly retooling themselves by upskilling. In today’s fast-evolving technological world, survival is only assured for those who stay on top of the technological change wave. Those are the people who have taken a lesser beating during this pandemic.

In this year’s Top 40 Under 40 edition, there is no shortage of such individuals among our finalists. When the nomination call was made, over 1,500 individuals were proposed, all with unique and beautiful stories no less important than the 40 who made it to the final list. We celebrate them all and wish them greater achievements.

-Leonard Mutisya

Must You Map Every Step of Your Career Path? Not Really

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

As a longtime business executive, Ron Williams is often asked for advice on management issues. He likes to keep his answers clear and simple. One of his favorite mantras is, “Don’t get stuck in paralysis by analysis.” He also tells young people not to map every step of their careers because, like him, they never know where they may end up. Williams grew up in Chicago’s South Side, where he used to wash cars, and became one of the few African-Americans to lead a Fortune 500 company, serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Aetna. He’s on the board at American Express, Boeing and Johnson & Johnson, and also runs his consultancy, RW2 Enterprises. Williams spoke to Knowledge@ Wharton:

I read that part of the reason why you wrote this book was because you have often been asked to talk about your upbringing and career, going from Chicago to CEO.

Ron Williams: That’s correct. I get quite a few phone calls from CEOs who are going through transformational change or confronting particular problems. And I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people who were completing their MBA programs, who were mid-career, who were aspiring leaders, trying to figure out how do they develop, what do they need to do in order to get to the C-suite? Based on that, I determined that it would be helpful to have a practitioner’s point of view. The book’s about my experience, but it’s also about a collection of other CEOs, including women CEOs,  ho have risen to the top from fairly modest backgrounds.

How did you develop your leadership skills and style over the years?

Williams: There are several things that I always recommend. One is that you have to adopt a particular leadership style and approach. The approach I describe is values-based high performance. You treat people with respect and learn how you can make certain that people are achieving the right goals, doing it the right way, getting the counseling assistance that they need. Thinking consciously about your performance approach is really important.

Can you talk about mentorship and feedback, which are two topics in the book?

Williams: Mentorship is extremely important. People often think is that there’s only one way to have a mentor. In a lot of ways, you have official mentors and you have unofficial mentors. You can learn as much about what not to do as you can about what to do. When you have an interest in a professional who has done well, who is exhibiting the kind of leadership attributes that you think could be helpful, working to establish that relationship is extremely important. But you can learn from everyone that you come into contact with, if you have an open mind.

When do you think the idea of being a leader starts to formulate in a person’s mind?

Williams: It’s a journey, it’s not an event. It’s not a process. Many believe that leaders are born with some innate charisma, and certainly there are leaders who do have that capability. But the vast majority of leadership is learned. It’s individuals who have a high tolerance of failure, who have an ability to get up and to try to demonstrate leadership and participate in activities where they learn the lessons of leadership from others.

You say that values are an important component to leadership, so does the size of the company matter? If you’re following what you believe to be good values and core competencies, can you have the same success as a leader in a small business as you can in a Fortune 500 firm?

Williams: That’s true. One thing I learned along the way is that, as a CEO or the CFO, you are very excited about the financial results of the business. But most people who work in a business want to be part of a clear and elevating goal. They want to make the world a better place. One of the obligations of a leader is to connect the business activity to things that make the world a much better place.

What are the unique sets of challenges to managing a startup or smaller business? 

Williams: One is the rate at which people are hired. You end up with the person you hired six months ago training the person you hired three months ago, who’s training the person you hired a month ago, who’s training the person you hired yesterday. It can lead to a dilution of both the company culture and lack of clarity around the strategy and what the founders really want to accomplish. Maintaining that over the rapid pace of change and staying connected to the customer base in that period does require somewhat different leadership skills, because it’s much more about finding your place in the market than an organization that is very large, which has a different set of challenges. When you’re building it out and rapidly hiring, it’s extremely important that those new employees really understand the strategy, the values and the culture of the company to avoid significant problems. One of the things that companies often don’t fully appreciate is that the culture and values are the curbs on the side of the road that keep the company out of trouble. The more you emphasize those, the taller those curbs get on the roadway. And they provide a lot of insulation against challenges and troubles.

This is What Success Looks to Us Women

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

By Melissa Wakhu

The way we women perceive success in men cannot just be described in one word; it would be more befitting to describe it in layers.

The first layer is the icing on the cake; it is the first impression, the top layer, what the eye sees and the five senses experience. For this layer, the successful man is one who is as intriguing as he is attractive; a man with a confident gait, every stride communicates that he is sure of his destination and certain that he will get there no matter what.

When he speaks, he is an articulate communicator and witty in the way he expresses himself. His physical appearance is defined by a clean look, fresh fragrance and a sense of fashion, with a taste that suites and compliments his physique.

Peeling off this top layer should reveal his character. A man who is a visionary leader, who tenaciously works hard to attain his goals and is passionate as he applies himself. He is not afraid to take risks and toils with full focus and acceleration yet he also knows the right time to pull back, slow down and pace himself.

When he takes stock, he honestly analyses his weaknesses, acknowledging them and growing from life’s experiences. His physical strength and masculine presence offer comfort, security and defense, warding off any threats.

It should reveal an astute man of his word, who is dependable and you can fully count on him to fulfill his obligations and deliver on his promises. A successful man is one who is principled and his values guide his actions and choices. He is not afraid to say no and weighs his words carefully because he means every single one of them.

He is committed to stay the course and doesn’t cower at the sight of obstacles but braces himself for the challenges that life throws at him. He is a man who takes a stand and speaks out when his voice is needed.

He has lasting results built on integrity, innovation and investment in stable, sustainable and significant assets. Although he is focused and serious, he knows how to play hard, laugh deeply and take adventures that reveal the little boy in him.

Beneath this layer of character is the rock that cannot be dislodged, the tender heart of this warrior, the spirit that nurtures and feeds his character. His heart is evidenced by his love, which is exemplified in his words and backed by his actions.

He is emotionally aware yet not soft, his kindness is masculine and strong and he allows himself to be vulnerable when he needs to be but fights to get back up from it to face another day. His kindness towards others is informed by his empathy as he is aware of the needs around him and he expresses this generosity with words as well as in kind.

The heart of a successful man is relational and he is not intimidated by the intensity of love and the brokenness that it demands of him. He prioritises his family above all else. He invests in meaningful relationships, his friendships edify and offer accountability in the midst of the fun. He lifts up those around him by finding avenues to give back, mentor and pour out the wealth that is within him.

The identity and security of the successful man is not in the opulence of material things like wealth, titles and career, as these are temporary. His ego is defined by Him who created him and fulfilling his God-given purpose.
As women, we are patient enough to peel the layers slowly in the journey towards finding and growing with a successful man.

Melissa is an entrepreneur with a cosmetic line, Kono, and author of a children’s book, “The Wonderful Hibiscoak Tree”

If You’re to Succeed at 40…

Posted on by Hellen Githaiga

Having recently, myself, reached the great age of 40 I can relate to the broader concept under discussion here. Namely, trying to make a success of things by the time you are 40.

I started my own business when I was 31 and looking back, it is amazing how relatively little you know at 30 and before. It is extraordinary that people this age can keep a business, family and other things together as often there are also the pressures, both financial and time, that come with having a young family.

Achieving significant things when you are running your own business, or in management in someone else’s, before you are 40 is challenging because it is a competition, usually with people significantly older. The older one becomes, the easier it gets to a certain extent because one gains maturity and experience. These things are key to a balanced life and to a good leader.

By definition, you cannot have a high level of experience and maturity when you are young, and that is why what these young people have done is so remarkable. I don’t believe that it is entirely about brainpower, although that helps, but it is also about determination and focus.

Also, somewhat unfortunately, sacrifice. It is almost impossible not to have to sacrifice some of the time you spend with your children, family and your friends in order to achieve business success when you are young. In some cases it may mean that the chance to get started on a family is postponed. Not many people will appreciate the necessity of this level of commitment and, maybe hardest of all, your friends and also your family might at times resent it, despite the fact that often the sacrifices are being made in their interest.

The good news is they will all forgive you! And come and celebrate with you when the successes are achieved, which they always are as a result of hard work and focus. The men being celebrated here are the people who you will want to work for, or with, in future for they will have worked out what it takes to lead; make an organisation or team successful; and stay calm under pressure.

I suggest that we all keep an eye on them as a lot of them will also be some of the industry and country leaders of the future. Let us hope some of them choose a life of public service as we will surely want them to oversee our economy and government in years to come. Let us hope they also have a philanthropic and social developmental instinct, for they will certainly generate high incomes and capital that can be put to good use in this area.

Finally let us hope they manage to find some kind of work-life balance. A lot is spoken about regarding mental health internationally these days. It is almost impossible for these kind of achievers to have much balance I fear! But let us hope they at least manage to exercise a little, eat well, spend a little time with their children each day and perhaps take a Sunday off work once in a while!

– Edward Burbidge is CEO of I&M Burbidge Capital Ltd. [email protected]