2015: Take a chill pill

I am sure you know by now that doing business is not a race; it is a long marathon which ends probably on your death bed. Every business executive has a mind of a warrior because he/she continues to make calculations, deductions, assertions and inferences from his/her surroundings. For me, the excitement about business and by extension other professions is the constant search for solutions. That is to say, humans’ ‘love’ problems and cannot stop looking out for same.

The very things we say cause us pain, we run to. We run to love, hate, family, health, prosperity and almighty business. So, let us just conclude that we will have our fair share of problems or for want of a much more sublime word; challenges.

As they come, just have the right attitude to confront them and solve them. Challenges are not evil, they come to strengthen us and make us have an impact on fellow human beings. This is my welcome message to you in 2015; confront your challenges.

In confronting your challenges, you do not just pray and wish them away. Face them head on. Interrogate the challenge; seek advice, knowing your expected outcome and act on the best options available. Just like driving in a fog, you can only see as far as nature allows you, but with caution and intelligence, you get a safe passage.

My two wish lists for you There are two things I want us to do in 2015. The first is reading. I know this has been over beaten but trust me, reading and listening to well-thought-out and researched books and articles holds the key to our challenges. CNN has a segment in their business programme ‘Quest means Business’ called ‘reading for leading.’ I have come across a couple of high-end business executives who pride themselves in the fact that they are too busy to read. They say time is their enemy

so the least time they can get, they will rather do something else than read. The average European or American sitting in a public transport will likely come off much more intelligent than the average African. This is because when you board most public transport in these developed countries, you will get at least a quarter of the passengers reading. The second thing I want us to do together is developing a support group. Business is not done alone. You need people to share strategies with, advice and collaborate with.

It is usually an issue of trust and we shall address it head-on. So, please, follow us on our social media platforms. This month, I am reading ‘Thinking fast and slow’ by Daniel Kahneman, an Emeritus Professor of Public Affairs at Princeton University. He sheds fascinating insights on human thought processes and decision making.

It is quite a philosophical and psychological book, which will make you sleep before turning a page, but I hope to enjoy it. A statement the author makes in the introductory pages puts it aptly, “It is much easier to strive for perfection when you are never ???/board”???/, so go forth.

By all accounts, unless something dramatically happens to our economy, 2015 will not be overly different from 2014. It will put a lot of pressure on businesses and employees. When salaries remain stagnant but their real values fall, it becomes one of the nightmares of any well-meaning manager or business owner. It shutters your spirit and sucks the life out of the business. Yet, through it all, take a chill pill. Taking a chill pill connotes relaxation, enjoying life and seeing the benefits you have amassed at play. However, if you want to take a chill pill in 2015, then you need to have three ingredients:

Have a plan You sure need a plan to relax. If your plan for the year is not solid and watertight, then go back to the drawing board. The plan should be so solid that it can be carved into several and different shapes to suit circumstances as they come. One of my experiences is that for a small business, you might not have the talent in your company to do very structured plans like what the big corporates do, but just do it your way. Do it the way you best understand, it will not be the best but it is a starter.

Discuss your plan with your team. You might have to hide some plans because you lack the confidence to see them through but let them stay on the bigger picture. Invite your team to own the plan and individually share with the larger group how they each fit into the plan. Entertain the optimist and pessimist alike, but when all is said and done, you need to task yourself to achieve at least 75 per cent of the target. Till you get great talent or develop your colleagues to see things the way you see them, you are the bearer of the whole load. Enjoy it while it last!

Get a mind You obviously will not be ‘chillaxing’ forever, so do not destroy the best of your thinking faculty. Be conscious of your excitement level and control yourself. More so, since you will be coming back to face the same problems or challenges, take a mental board along. Continue to engage your mind in solving the problems your business is facing; have several scenarios and play them in your mind. When you put at the forefront of your mind an interaction to find solution, you engage your knowledge, experiences and perceptions in creating a series of options which when further pursued crystalise into formidable solutions for your challenges. It must be said though that the mind does get weary, so when it does…

Just relax Relaxation here refers to engaging in your best pastime, reading a good book, going on vacation, taking life easy and just making time go, as though there was no care. You need this as an executive. Riding a bicycle, swimming, general exercise are critical things you need to do.

Do not fault yourself for relaxing. What will be the point in chasing after a dream, which only fizzles out because you did not have the strength to enjoy it. Every day on the Tema motorway and in traffic, I encounter drivers, especially commercial ones, who will insult, shout and drive dangerously because they want to be the first to get to a destination. It is all well and good, but what is the point in endangering your very life? Get closer to the things which make you happy and know it (them) more. Take up a project or activity you have never done before and crack it. Visit a place you have so longed and bask in it. The world is there to be enjoyed and business executives need to learn that.

As we relax and see the world go by, we develop ourselves as well. We get to know who we are, our fears, worries, hopes, aspirations and fit in the puzzle of life. Our worlds are for us to conquer and enjoy. Use your plan to draw a strategy and execute it. Allow your mind to be a regulator for your actions, so you do not fall in the enemies’ trap. Enjoy the results. This is life and it must be lived well. Happy New Year.

• Yaw Asamoah work’s at Creative Trends, the organisers of the African SME Summit. Let’s continue the discussion at African SME Summit on Facebook. Email - dreamingafrica@africansme.org.