Dear Editor,
What did Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Tim Berners-Lee (the Internet), Larry Page (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), and Elon Musk (Tesla) all have in common? Uncompromising vision, a passion to change the world, a willingness to take risks, and exceptional business acumen.
Such transformational and visionary leaders have the ability to view life, work, strategies, products and services in a way that very few others can; and with a deep sense of purpose and commitment. They rise above tribalism and ego, and use their talents for the betterment of all. In doing so, they inspire their team members to think outside the box for a better life and a better world for everyone, and not just for members of their own tribe.
The key characteristic of such leadership is the willingness to take bold, risk-based actions that aren’t in the mainstream.
There are some good souls in Guyana who can meet the above criteria, rise above party politics, tribalism, ego, and personal enrichment, and use their talents for the betterment of all Guyanese. The problem is that the current environment does not support this thinking, and is rather hostile to such budding leaders, thus stifling creativity and innovation.
Were such local leaders to emerge, they must have a profound knowledge of the Guyanese multicultural landscape, business environment, economy, position within the geopolitical and geo-economic orbit, geography of the land, the country’s narrative history, its profile, and its rich and varied resources. Fusing this background with an awareness of an encroaching digital world — where digitisation in almost everything we do will be transformative — will ensure a better Guyana for everyone, and not just for a few.
Microsoft has been an integral part of social change and world affairs that impacted cultures, communities, and governments around the world. Over four decades ago, its founders — Bill Gates and Paul Allen — set the ambitious goal of putting a PC on every desk and in every home; a goal now largely realised. Though the PC market declined after the laptops’ and smartphones’ advent, the existence of these “modern mobile PCs” is a testimony to the company’s impact on the world and on personal computing. Can you think of a computer without MS-Office and its suite of applications?
The Internet, the world’s library at our fingertips, has been widely available in the West only since the late 1990s, but its impact on how we live our daily lives is incalculable. Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the Web in the early 1990s.
Google, founded by Larry Page and Sergey Bin, is the leading search engine and artificial intelligence outfit. It’s certainly true that we now have instant access to information in a way we’ve never had before. However, nothing has impacted our online lives to the same level as Google has; whether using our PC, laptop, mobile phone or tablet.
Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, could have sat on his PayPal fortune and never been heard from again; but he wanted to change the world for better, and so we have Tesla, SolarCity and SpaceX, and even his plans for colonising Mars.
Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, the giant e-commerce site, is remaking the retail industry in its own image and leading the charge in artificial intelligence. Mark Zuckerberg took Facebook from campus experiment to a social network of unprecedented scale and size, with a mission to connect the whole world.
When the late Steve Jobs announced the release of the first generation iPhone in 2007, he said it was like having “your life in your pocket”, but the smartphone has ever since truly taken on a life of its own. Today, smartphones don’t just connect to the Web, their applications enable their use for any type of activity, such as sports, cooking, purchasing goods, organising, travelling, finding your soul mate, and money management.
History tends to focus on the builders, the deciders, the leaders: in education, health care, science, business, the arts, as well as politics; because they are the men and women whose contributions have shaped the destiny of their nations.
In fact, “transformational leadership” – leadership that makes a significant difference in the life of a nation – recognises that political capital is acquired to be spent in great causes for one’s country. Presidents and prime ministers are not chosen to seek popularity; they are chosen to provide leadership. There are times when voters must be told not what they want to hear, but what they have to know.
Leaders must have vision, and they must find the courage to fight for the policies that will give that vision life. Leaders must govern, not for easy headlines in a few days, but for better countries in 10 years. They must recognise that the workhorses of the digital revolution — computers, the Internet, and artificial intelligence — backed by electrical power and big data, are widely available to all.
In today’s era of globalisation and rapid technological advances, transformational and visionary leaders must be willing to continually learn, unlearn, and relearn to really impact change. True leaders are those who lead by serving others. Amidst the complex global, social, economic, political and technological landscapes in which they operate, they are persistently and conscientiously pursuing their goals with a single-minded purpose that is geared for the betterment of humanity.
Respectfully,
Lal Balkaran
IIA-Guyana
Founder, and Past
IIA-Toronto
President