the humblest leaders I have had the privilege to work with. I believe this is part of his success. He is so sincere in his interactions and people sense this. His genuine affection and care is felt in everything he does. People believe in his vision and most importantly they believe in him.

roadshows in the business were very successful, and during one of these sessions a team member suggested we do the same for our customers – so we did! I am not sure whose hearts were more ignited – the customers or their people. The process connected the people of the Company to the lives of their customers – it opened a whole new world. Suddenly, the guy processing a piece of paper in a building was connecting to the family man who wants to buy a camera and a printer as his last hope to generate an income for his family – and then he’s standing at a customer roadshow with his camera and his printer explaining what these two items have done for this family. It’s not all processes and systems, it’s about touching lives.

courage it takes Lester and Jack every time they put themselves on a stage in front of hundreds of people and listen to everything their team has to say. They put pressure on themselves when it doesn’t go completely as planned and we all keep moving the bar to improve the experience. At this stage they are interacting with over 2000 people a month and taking the criticism with the compliments. They keep challenging themselves and the people around them, and they take a stand to do the right thing. It takes real courage to do this.

step but every step has created momentum and right now it’s rolling. This amazing team has

It took commitment. It started with a small It took courage. I do not ever forget what It ignited the hearts of their customers. The

not faltered and they keep going. Behind Lester and Jack are another team of great people who support each other and make sure it happens. They take care of every detail, run it by the “dudes” and make sure it happens. This is not an event or a once-off intervention, this is a process and if you are not on the ship you will get left behind.

This process has proved again to me that being a leader takes enormous courage – you have to make yourself vulnerable to your people by being honest and listening to what they tell you. You will fail if you are not humble – people can feel insincerity. You have to think about who you are and what impact you have on your business, your team and your people. You have to build relationships on every level and act on what you find.

Reading this, it may seem as though it as all been said before. If you ask me, it probably has. So what is so fundamentally special about what the Company is doing?

grow on a personal level, I believe the status quo would have remained. Through the initial influence of his sales team, he made an authentic connection with his people. His journey has become the business journey. He has chosen not to walk alone but to share his experiences with his team, his people and his customers every day. The connection Lester has with his people was proven to me when he received over 1500 emails from his people on his birthday. Now tell me that doesn’t count? A leader is the compass which creates

direction for the business. What you do, they do. When you listen, they listen. When you act, they act. How you act, they act. Where you focus, they focus. It’s simple – our businesses mirror who we are.

If Lester had not made the decision to

The Company is an organisation in South Africa and has requested to stay anonymous for the purposes of sharing this information in the public domain. Names have been changed at the request of the client

58 Management Today | September 2011