Insights & Articles
Encourage initiative if you want to go far together
I wonder whether paradoxically getting too involved in your own business could actuallydamage it. The proverb, “If you want to go fast, walk alone. But if you want to go far, walk together” can be applied to business
Requiring respect at work counters toxicity and builds health
Mental health problems at work are infectious. Of course they are not physically infectious, but depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders spread between and within organisational boundaries through social contagion.
Deciding when to go
In this series on coaching managers in SMEs I have moved up the ladder of seniority. This time I look at when to leave as the leader of the company. You mentioned that you would need at some point in the future to consider stepping aside to allow someone to bring different skills to the company. You are creative, have ideas, and enjoy initiating new things, but you don’t think you are so good at keeping things going over the years.
The Development Bank of Rwanda and African Management Institute Enable Rwandan Businesses to be Resilient to Risk
Following the training, 94% of them reported an increase in revenue, 79% reported an increase in profit and 68% reported to have created jobs.
The opportunities and threats of taking charge.
Taking a management role will offer a chance to develop greater self-reliance and heightened judgment. Leadership requires being comfortable with paradoxes and trade-offs. You have to balance short term and long term results.
Moving from an operational to a strategic role
The third coaching letter in a series offered as part of AMI co-founder and chairman Jonathan Cook's regular columns in BusinessLIVE, responding to real questions managers in small or medium enterprises have asked.
Does being promoted to a management position suit you?
The second coaching letter in a series offered as part of AMI co-founder and chairman Jonathan Cook's regular columns in BusinessLIVE, responding to real questions managers in small or medium enterprises have asked.
Customer service is the manager’s responsibility
I heard of a rural hospital that closed its doors to visitors on Freedom Day. A public holiday affords workers a rare opportunity to visit their loved ones during the week. In this case a man travelled overnight to see his father, only to be turned away: “It’s a public holiday; we’re closed.”
Viva the little people who create jobs and serve their communities
Dunvegan, a suburb east of Johannesburg, is bisected by a road with two large traffic circles. The circles feature attractive, well-designed and lovingly maintained gardens. That is both welcome and surprising, as the local government is not particularly known for its public gardens.
Turning chronic problems into acute challenges we can solve
Two years ago I wrote in this column that the entrepreneurial priority then was to save as many livelihoods as we could. “Many small businesses and gig workers face ruin in the coming weeks, with economic damage rivalling health threats; so our response should be as urgent as for the health threat.”
When Adversity Becomes an Opportunity: The Story of Lesengkeng Foods
Mzi Nduna, Director of Lesengkeng, a food business was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, Mzi enrolled in AMI’s Survive To Thrive (S2T) programme, which was designed to empower MSMEs to overcome Covid-related challenges.
A model of government and business collaboration to create jobs
The collaboration of governments and private sector is essential for the creation of jobs. Youth@worK, tells a great story illustrating how government and private sector can collaborate to create small businesses and jobs for unemployed youth.