Growing up being inspired by business personnels was a crime you would not dare to tell you kins, as ridicule would follow you in that instant. Though a few had folks who actually exposed them to the world of business without telling the price one had to pay to be part of it. I was one of the few drawn into the business at young age, though it was in the medical field. A field I detested due to the red tape I saw to exist. The reality of this world is never told in its totality as those we admire will photoshop their story of success, while giving you just a bite to reality.
In this blog I am going to look into three different local heroes and heroine, who are found in the business world and the literature world. Being Zimbabwean one of my hero will regarded as an obvious case, as he has been celebrated accross the country and the continent. While other two might seem not likely but there way of doing things have made me to appreciate them more as look on their success cycle.
My First local Hero is Nigel Chanakira. His story inspired me to see that the business world is not a clear cut success story road but a path that require consistancy and tenecity to move on not given regards to stones that you might stamble upon along the way. Having founded the one of the once most prolific banks in Zimbabwe coming from the ghetto, is something to arvel about. This because in most case we do not see that happening as it is difficult to sail above the fact that you come from ghetto and most business people not taking you seriously. The rise and fall of Kingdom Bank right in front of our eyes, exposed to the brutal side of business which most founders do not dare to talk about.
Despite going through that difficult time, he did not give up on being a businessman but soldiered on. This lead to the reason why I see him as my local hero. The fact that he taught me that if you want to curve a mark on the world in business you have to fall once in a while. And embracing the lessons that comes from those faillures is how you grow in business. In recent years his desire to share his experience through coaching others makes me to hold him to a high standard.
My second is Strive Masiwa. He is the founder of Econet Wireless telecommunication company, of which he did so at time where was strange for anyone to start a company as such. During that time if your family had someone who owned a cellphone was regarded as a rich family. Right now the situation have change as every family has more than one cellphone with them. His struggle to get the licence is well documented in the country and is one of the most celebrated story. These days Econet has become one of the most valuable company in Zimbabwe and being one regarded as the most innovative one.
For me, his business acumen fascinate me to a level I am afraid to acknowledge. I once hearda story of how he got to attract one of his executive by sarcificing a luxury car and peaks that was unheard off. For most of the business people I know of they do not do that even if they know that the person might be worth it. They value their own comfort over that of their employees, as they would want to be seen as a "Mbinga" a trend that is now engraved in Zimbabwe business culture. With that in mind his wife heards a organization that focuse on empowering youths from marginalized community by awarding scholarships. This move makes me to admire him even further with a lesson that when you make it, make sure to uplift the community in his case the country he is from.
My last and not the least is the most intriguing author to have come out of Zimbabwe that is Tsitsi Dangarembga. In high school I was never the one you would find reading novels. Most of the time I was told to do so I would feel like it was a punishment, which was not the case when I got to read her book (Nervous Conditions). This was the book that introduce me to the love of reading books. Her pen always amazed me on how she could capture a moment and engrave it onto paper. Making my introduction to protest literature which held history and highlighted the dangers that came with shifting culture without having something to balance it.
Her book now seem to speak volume of how we needed to shape culture to give equal opportunities to both genders and not to focuse only on the male child. However, a balance is need to do so. As result I got drawn to the world of art unwillingly by her words that lead me to seek more literature from the continent. Her activism beyond the pen, fighting for the rights of others even at expense of your own freedom. Made me to see a different light to her that our words should also be reflected by actions. Making me aware our actions speaks volume of our words.
In conclusion, these three heroes and heroine have taught me lessons I have and am trying to apply in my life. These lessons can be summed up one statement that is: "Fear is just a denominator waiting to be bartered with courage to see succuss."
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