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Zach Aldwin : Milkshake in the Boardroom

Each of us has a voice. For some that voice is limited to their home and office space, for some it is the ear of the CEO, others have the ability to connect with great shapers and movers, others can influence a nation. The size of the voice is not what matters, it is what you do with it. With your voice comes a degree of influence; this can be amplified over time by position, money, by your integrity and how well you tell your story.Influence can be used in a number of ways. It can be ignored and stuffed under the mat and do nothing with it because the effort of using it is far too much. It can be used to accumulate success and great personal gain; increasing what you have to lavish on yourself. Finally, it can be used to help benefit others around you.

Africa is plagued by the idea of the philanthropist; the wealthy outsider who splashes down in a wad of generosity with the intent of bringing some form of aid to those less fortunate.

After the big splash down there is a leaving, a failure to maintain, and a situation in five years time that requires more philanthropy. Maybe I am being a little too hard on philanthropists here, there are many who do great work, but there are many who do what looks like great work but have another agenda driving their actions. A little discernment is needed here.

A friend of mine was starting up a professional business. He was ill-prepared for it, had zero business experience.

He had approached a bank and they wanted him to find some funding himself before they would put out the difference. He had barely anything to put in. His father’s boss loaned him the money; interest free. It was a generous act, no ulterior motive behind it other than to see a young man succeed in life. It took a year for the money to be returned in full.

A community has benefited from the services of that small business for 15 years now. The original investor occasionally finds himself in need of it but that was not his initial motive, rather it is a benefit that has come full circle.

It is easy to look to others to fix the issues we see around us. We wait for the church, the government, NGO’s, our next door neighbour to do the work of breaking oppression in the lives of people, to provide for the poor, to meet needs of others.

We give the street kid a coin not because we want to see him fed, but because we want him to stop knocking at the window of our car.

If you are an entrepreneur determine now, before you get too big and self consumed, how you will use your influence.

Perhaps it is the jobs you create in a small community that will bring about change in that area.

Perhaps it is the product that you produce that will save people time, money and bring them increased productivity. For some it will be the way you treat those who come through your door that leaves them feeling appreciated, lifted up and cared for.

In closing I would like to share with you an example of the voice. You may remember in the past I have complained about Econet’s airtime credit scheme that made it very difficult to do what it promised which is loan you airtime in an emergency if you run out.

I don’t know if my complaint reached anyone, or if anyone else whined, or if someone was simply doing an audit of their system. What mattered is that someone with the ability to bring about a change in the system listened, heard and acted.

There is now a range of credit available when your airtime reaches an acceptable level. Not only that there is the option for an automatic credit application if you wish. Such a better system. Will it benefit Econet much? Who knows; probably not.

But for the guy stranded on the side of the road with a broken car it will mean a huge amount. For the person rushing late to an interview who needs to communicate his delay it means a lot. Do more, reach further, and change lives.