One can easily get lost between the lines when working with a topic as evocative as leadership and management.
We reported back to the office fresh-faced in January with an already busy diary for the start of 2018 after a well deserved December holiday. The day to host our first event of the year came. The Nordic Business Forum- the world’s most significant business forum purposed to building leaders who change the world. The Nordic Business Forum partnered with Fuzu to screen the first 2018 event which took place in Sweden exclusively to its African audience. This was an opportunity for the attendees, who represented various budding Startups, to gain insight into leading innovation and leading lean in organizations from world-class business leaders.
When you are working with a topic as evocative as leadership and management, there are chances one might get lost in between the lines if the two are not clearly defined. However, the guest speakers left nothing to chance as they construed what qualifies as sound leadership and how leaders can make their systems efficient. The speakers included Eric Ries- Author, The Lean Startup, Lenar Apler- co-founder Collector AB, Seth Godin- Bestselling author, Cheri Tree- Best selling author and BANKCODE founder.
Lenar Apler who topped Sweden’s Business week list of top 15 women entrepreneurs in 2015, was keen on highlighting the importance of the management being accommodative in allowing their employees to make mistakes as part of their learning experience. The same sentiments were echoed by Seth Godin who emphasized how critical it is for leaders to set an example by being willing to take responsibility for things which go wrong. Understanding why people buy is as important as knowing how to sell. Cheri Tree did just that, breaking down how BANKCODE helps sales persons understand their own personalities influences the buying decision of their customers.
The event wouldn’t have been complete without a panel discussion and engaging the audience to get their perspective on leading lean. The panelists who included Martin Moller- C.E.O Mdundo, Kenneth Oyola – General Manager – Commercial, Multichoice and Fuzu’s CEO, Jussi Hinkkanen as the moderator shared their experiences in the startup world. Throughout the engagements, it was clear that the attendees came with and also took a lot of knowledge about leadership and management. The event culminated with Steve Wozniak’s interview with Seth Godin.
“The presentations were really awesome, informative and motivating especially now that I am running a Startup company. It’s time to be leaders; the days of managers are coming to an end.” – Michael Mburu, Managing Director, Elernic.
“This event has opened up my eyes. I have been able to see things differently in terms of leadership and management and how I approach my clients as a salesperson.” – Moses Maina, Cool for School.
