This past week I have been asked by numerous friends and colleagues what my thoughts are on the demonstrations in Egypt. The world has been watching as tens of thousands of people hold anti-government rallies across the land of the Pharaohs, and another Mid-East government collapses in a short period of time, and thus far without major human casualties. I am always hesitant to offer my opinion on politics because I don’t believe it adds much value. Politics is a dirty game in case your mother never told you, and I try to steer clear away from it, but what I do love to talk about, and encourage every individual to be aware of, is the important lessons coming out of events like Egypt.
My view is the most important lesson from both Tunisia and Egypt is this: people matter. That is the lesson for governments, leaders, dictators, capitalists, socialists whatever you are. People matter. That is what we are seeing in the Middle East today, and the planet needs to get its arms around this important lesson because its not just in the Middle East where we have forgotten this lesson, its pretty much all over the world.
A few blogs back I commented that the price of rice has doubled this past year, impacting poorer regions of the world in devastating ways. In 2009 I visited my grandmother in Iran, first time I had returned there for over 30 years, and not too long after the demonstrations that took place in that country post Presidential elections. I spent 4 days there and came away with these observations:
- I saw no hate or anger towards the West. To the contrary the average person on the street went out of their way to make me feel welcome and tell me what they liked about the US, UK etc.
- Teheran is a city of 15 million inhabitants, and everyone is hustling all day no different from New York City. It was amazing to see the productivity that was happening in that city, be it at the markets, or on street corners.
- Everyone is focused on making a buck. I mean everyone.
- The most important thing to Iranians is food. The only thing that matters is having food on the table to feed your family and invite your friends. This is what they live for.
- Any and all hardships I witnessed were related to food – the availability, quality and cost.
Which brings me back to the unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. The combination of unemployment, high prices and soaring food prices will bring down any government, even our own. A person that can’t work to earn a living and put food on the table is not just desperate, they are without options and thus fighting for survival. Why politicians globally fail to understand this basic principle is beyond me. People matter.
There is a prime lesson to be taken for those of us managing people in business, too. People matter. How often do leaders fail to focus on their people when managing a team? We set goals and objectives which people have to execute, yet the number of companies and their leaders who fail to take proper care of their people far outweighs those that do.
A good friend and mentor of mine once confessed he is not good with people, and the less he interacts with them, the better. I understand his perspective but the thinking is flawed. Understanding people and what is important to them is going to get you a lot further in life than avoiding them. And you just may learn something from them too. I certainly have and its incredibly rewarding.
I follow some basic principles in how I manage a team no matter what the project or situation:
1) Set the vision first;
2) Ensure buy in from each individual team member – this is an important step and will determine if you have the right team;
3) Understand what each individual’s personal needs are – what’s in it for them?;
4) Set clear objectives/outcomes for each individual that a) contribute to the vision and b) cater to the needs of that individual i.e. Jim wants to be a General Manager but lacks sales experience, so Jim’s job is to sell X$s per quarter;
5) Be an enabler for each individual, not an inhibitor. My job is to help each individual team member achieve the objectives set for them, which in turn helps me achieve the vision and goals for the group. Many leaders create obstacles for their teams by getting in the way.
This is really basic stuff but few leaders actually take the time to do this correctly. Understanding that people matter, and their success goes far beyond the company’s success is a fundamental component of leadership and success. I’m not suggesting putting yourself or your people before the company, that would be a mistake, but not focusing on your people would be a colossal error.
Think about the 10 or 20 year span of a successful person’s career – its all about the people. A guy like eBay’s Pierre Omidyar or Tesla’s Elon Musk started out by building a business (Omidyar built eBay while Musk co-founded PayPal), but then moved on to other endeavors, yet the people who helped achieve those accomplishments remain a big part of what they do today. People matter, and while businesses come and go, and change happens constantly, the people in your life always remain a factor.
So when I’m asked about the situation in Egypt my simple response is People Matter. No amount of power, military or otherwise, can get in the way of this. If Mubarak and other leaders in the region understand one thing from all this, let it be this. Otherwise its time to go.
A few blogs back I commented that the price of rice has doubled this past year, impacting poorer regions of the world in devastating ways. In 2009 I visited my grandmother in Iran, first time I had returned there for over 30 years, and not too long after the demonstrations that took place in that country post Presidential elections. I spent 4 days there and came away with these observations:
- I saw no hate or anger towards the West. To the contrary the average person on the street went out of their way to make me feel welcome and tell me what they liked about the US, UK etc.
- Teheran is a city of 15 million inhabitants, and everyone is hustling all day no different from New York City. It was amazing to see the productivity that was happening in that city, be it at the markets, or on street corners.
- Everyone is focused on making a buck. I mean everyone.
- The most important thing to Iranians is food. The only thing that matters is having food on the table to feed your family and invite your friends. This is what they live for.
- Any and all hardships I witnessed were related to food – the availability, quality and cost.
Which brings me back to the unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. The combination of unemployment, high prices and soaring food prices will bring down any government, even our own. A person that can’t work to earn a living and put food on the table is not just desperate, they are without options and thus fighting for survival. Why politicians globally fail to understand this basic principle is beyond me. People matter.
There is a prime lesson to be taken for those of us managing people in business, too. People matter. How often do leaders fail to focus on their people when managing a team? We set goals and objectives which people have to execute, yet the number of companies and their leaders who fail to take proper care of their people far outweighs those that do.
A good friend and mentor of mine once confessed he is not good with people, and the less he interacts with them, the better. I understand his perspective but the thinking is flawed. Understanding people and what is important to them is going to get you a lot further in life than avoiding them. And you just may learn something from them too. I certainly have and its incredibly rewarding.
I follow some basic principles in how I manage a team no matter what the project or situation:
1) Set the vision first;
2) Ensure buy in from each individual team member – this is an important step and will determine if you have the right team;
3) Understand what each individual’s personal needs are – what’s in it for them?;
4) Set clear objectives/outcomes for each individual that a) contribute to the vision and b) cater to the needs of that individual i.e. Jim wants to be a General Manager but lacks sales experience, so Jim’s job is to sell X$s per quarter;
5) Be an enabler for each individual, not an inhibitor. My job is to help each individual team member achieve the objectives set for them, which in turn helps me achieve the vision and goals for the group. Many leaders create obstacles for their teams by getting in the way.
This is really basic stuff but few leaders actually take the time to do this correctly. Understanding that people matter, and their success goes far beyond the company’s success is a fundamental component of leadership and success. I’m not suggesting putting yourself or your people before the company, that would be a mistake, but not focusing on your people would be a colossal error.
Think about the 10 or 20 year span of a successful person’s career – its all about the people. A guy like eBay’s Pierre Omidyar or Tesla’s Elon Musk started out by building a business (Omidyar built eBay while Musk co-founded PayPal), but then moved on to other endeavors, yet the people who helped achieve those accomplishments remain a big part of what they do today. People matter, and while businesses come and go, and change happens constantly, the people in your life always remain a factor.
So when I’m asked about the situation in Egypt my simple response is People Matter. No amount of power, military or otherwise, can get in the way of this. If Mubarak and other leaders in the region understand one thing from all this, let it be this. Otherwise its time to go.
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