Great nations were not built by governments; the governments serve as shoulders upon which mighty men have stood in building great nations. One of the core tenets of nation building is entrepreneurship. The first world countries are so called because their citizenry have successfully built what James Collins describes as “Good to Great Corporations.” This intrigues me because, like the first world countries, their counterpart nations also have businesses; albeit, for the first world countries, the businesses become global corporations with market capitalization to the tune of billions of dollars.
Before proceeding further into this discourse, it is expedient to note that these mighty corporations whose impact shaped their nations were not born in an all-perfect environment; some environments had similar or worse conditions the third world corporations are faced with. I have found that great corporations possess one universal trait that has helped in transforming them into global entities.
In my quest to finding solutions to business development in the third world countries, I decided to consult the Scriptures. The Holy Bible is always my resort when I cannot provide solutions to a seemingly inexplicable phenomenon. The things I found out were so captivating; I have decided to share a fragment.
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To advance in business and reach the level of enviable achievements, one needs to understand two things effectively: The management of self, on the one hand, and the management of other people, on the other hand.
Management of self is the ability to organize oneself to produce increase. This art is perfectly understood by business owners in third world countries; case in point is Lagos, the commercial capital of my home country, Nigeria. The nook and cranny of Lagos is replete with shops and micro-business outlets that are doing fairly well individually. These entrepreneurs are the drivers of the Lagos’ economy; however, management of self, at best, produces increase, and no economy conquers poverty by increase. Poverty, in an economy, is conquered by multiplication, which is a product of managing other people successfully.
Management of others involves bringing people together in order to pursue common goals or strategic objectives. This is a science employed by great corporations and it is perfectly captured in Amos 3:3 (Can two walk together, except they be agreed?) and Deuteronomy 32:30 (How should one chase a thousand, and two put then ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?)
Virtually all Christians are familiar with these verses and every time these verses are mentioned or read, they are always centered on marriage and courtship; however, the wisdom transcends the scope of marriage and courtship. They speak to relationships, of which marriage is a fragment.
Successful businesses have come to understand that, in order to build a great corporation, there is a need to assemble a group of people armed with resources aimed at achieving a targeted goal. In other words, the ability to successfully bring people together as a group is a major tenet of success for great corporation
The way to achieve multiplication is by fitting round pegs into round holes. Nothing enhances the achievement of organisational goals as having team(s) of disciplined people who have discipline thoughts and unfettered bias for action. In bringing a group together, one needs to be highly selective; the process must be devoid of unwarranted emotions, favoritism and bias. When a business fails to get its selection process right, like most businesses in the third world countries, multiplication would never be a reality.
Always remember a great business is a product of great team(s).
