by Ikenna Oguejiofor
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) remained a household name in Nigeria politics no doubt. He is considered as one politician that could tackle corruption, ensure accountability and discipline in Nigeria. Depending on one’s age, geopolitical location, and level of education, social awareness, religion and tribe; true knowledge of the peoples general as he is fondly referred varies among citizens. However, there are other known aspects of the Kastina state born General that has been widely ignored. Some of these qualities are relevant in business.
Although Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) live almost all his life in Nigeria, these qualities as found in him has been globally referenced as equally important for business leaders to achieve success. So we outlined four qualities worthy of recommendation for entrepreneurs, new and current business owners in him. Here they are:
Conscientiousness – is the quality of ‘being thorough, careful, vigilant’ and well organised in its simplest Wikipedia meaning. Individuals that possesses this quality work hard, plan ahead and are hardly considered irresponsible. To success in business, the ability of a business owner to be super organised has a great role to play in the quality of his services to customers. Psychologist Brent Roberts of University of Illinois who studies conscientiousness pointed that ‘highly conscientious employees do a series of things better than the rest of us’. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) amongst his peers is known to be the most organised. Till date, he maintained record as the best Petroleum Minister in Nigeria history. Drake Baer, author in his Businessinsider Post noted that trait found in conscientious individuals translate to higher chances of being ‘better at goals: setting them, working toward them, and persisting amid setbacks. If a super ambitious goal can’t be realized, they’ll switch to a more attainable one rather than getting discouraged and giving up’.
Consistency – in 2003, 2007, and 2011 and hopefully in 2015, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) messages during these periods centred on how to get Nigeria rid of corruption and provide opportunities for common people. Consistence makes a leader reliable, respectable and daring to his followers. Although one could argue that this is yet to produce the ultimate result of winning Nigeria president, but it does provides business leaders clear evaluation that lack of it is undesirable as being consistence leads to securing dedicated customers. Some would call it catalyst, as it provide companies comparative advantage over competition. Kim Morris, coach and consultant for Creative Women Entrepreneurs noted in one of his post that ‘Successful businesses know that customer satisfaction comes from giving customers what you tell them you’re going to give them, and giving it to them consistently’.
Money Isn’t Everything – unfortunately Wall Street is yet to produce most of the richest 1% of the world population as there are folks in Silicon Valley too, others somewhere in Asia, Mexico, Middle East or Africa. Like Indian Mahatma Gandhi, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) unlike his contemporaries in Nigeria of today is known to be a man of limited material possession. It’s been widely reported in the news that he obtained a bank loan to purchase his political party 2015 nomination form. Even when real support for politicians in Nigeria one would say ended at the expiration of first republic, Buhari is presently the only known politician that ordinary citizens volunteer freely to be part of his campaign. His strongest support base, mostly in Northern parts of Nigeria has remained untampered. Business leaders’ ability to maintain customer loyalty to a brand over a long period without real impact on bottom-line goes beyond huge marketing and advertising credit. We are living in a time where a lot of factors combined to influence individual buy decision. Consumers are continually looking for dedicated brand that offer real value.
Passion for Community – followers of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) can be taken in simplest form to be some kind of fanatics to the retired general common man personality. People love for him are without boundaries, simply because they see him as one of their own. Someone who understand their daily pains, gains and desires. He belonged to community common people can identify and ascribed as theirs. In return his passion for this community remained unmatched, it beget to say that he is the only living Nigerian politician ordinary Nigerian particularly in the North can die to protect. Even his stanch opposition recognises this fact. As an entrepreneur, it is important to focus first on developing own community of dedicated loyal customers. Satisfying this group is important in taking your business to the next level. As people with this group are the ones ever ready and willing to recommend your services or products to friends, family and club members as word of mouth is still key in business. Companies like Finnish tablet, phones and accessories manufacturer Bluebiit has adopted this community driven strategy ahead of launch of range of products in Nigeria. The capacity to identify, create and grow own loyal customers is important to succeed in business world. So when you find your business very own community, nurture it to fruition.
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Ike is an entrepreneur based in Finland, CEO AfricaIntern and Founder ConnectSSA.com.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
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