Boardroom Banter

Leading yourself and others can be tricky to say the least, even more so in a world that this week's guest describes aptly as being “VUCA”: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.

Dr. Vimal Shah, a manufacturing mogul in Kenya and the continent as a whole, shares with us his ultimate business and life playbook that he has adopted over the years to lead his company BIDCO Africa into the upper echelon of commercial success. From a guided view into framing our goals and purpose, building effective teams and solving global challenges for the consumer- this episode dives into the mind and life of arguably one of Kenya’s most successful entrepreneurs.

As an avid learner and accomplished doer, Vimal sets the bar high while laying out the blueprint for you to aim and achieve even higher while staying M.A.D (Making A Difference).

Book Recommendation: The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman

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About a year ago, our guest moved back to Harare, Zimbabwe after a noteworthy 20+ years of work as an educator, innovator and consultant for various global organizations such as The World Bank, Unilever, Pearson Vue and General Electric. Tendayi Viki began his journey as a high achiever in school and stepped into his early work-life as a reputable educator in the United Kingdom.

As his interests shifted towards helping large companies innovate for the future, Tendayi confronted the shift in career trajectory with a firm awareness of his key values and a deep passion for changing the narrative around innovation within the evolving workspace. Through his most recent book 'Pirates In The Navy', Tendayi highlights the value of creating spaces that support intrapreneurship, the urgent need for a progressive take on innovation and how essential it is to remain authentic in your work.

Find Tendayi's Book here: https://tendayiviki.com/

'Helping Elephants Do Ballet' video by Tendayi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQijPhrQMug&ab_channel=Thinkers50

'How To Make Wealth' article by Paul Graham: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html

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Today’s guest is an executive-level leader with 18+ years of experience in operations, consulting, supply chain and business development. Russian-born Sergey Voropaev’s long and interesting multicultural and multilingual career has spanned North America, Europe, the Middle East as well as Central Asia. 

From as early as University, Sergey had a really good idea of the type of company he wanted to work for and what standards were important for them to meet. He walks us through his experience working with and consulting for diverse companies all around the world- and how companies can navigate the ever-growing cultural divide in the workspace through understanding people, their culture and their data.

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At the age of 12, Matija Goljar attempted to break a world-record and in the process discovered his unique ability to take risks and come out of the other side unscathed. After running an illegal underground gambling tournament and destroying the servers of the biggest Slovenian newspaper company with another one of his ventures- Matija quickly learnt how to fail fast and forward. He went on to build the largest entrepreneurship support network for young founders in Slovenia known as 'Ustvarjalnik' and has trained over 10,000- entrepreneurs from all over the world. 

Today, as he travels across Europe in his caravan scouting for new companies worth investing in, he takes us through his early life as an entrepreneur in a struggling Slovenian ecosystem, the challenges of working through the criticism he faced for being an entrepreneur and some hard lessons he had to learn in the process of becoming the unapologetic and unconventional leader that he is now.

Find out more about Ustvarjalnik here: https://ustvarjalnik.org/en/

Over the past couple of years, we have been privileged to live and study with individuals from all across the African continent and different parts of the world. In this episode, we look at the value that we have gained from these multi-cultural experiences, compare a variety of beliefs and biases that we have come across in our interactions and the significance of opening ourselves up to learning from the communities around us. 

Today's guest was born and raised in Kenya to Dutch parents and has spent the past decade entertaining audiences worldwide through his music. DJ Kace, also known as The African Mzungu, has carved a niche for himself in the Kenyan entertainment industry and is famous for his urban music flow that has captured the hearts of Kenya's event and club-goers.

In this episode, we explore Kace's early days in the Kenyan entertainment scene, the hurdles of securing and performing at gigs, working with promoters and his experience opening shows for Kenya's finest music artists back in 2010. DJ Kace is passionate about local music and fashion brands in the country. With his experience designing and running fusion events- he explains the strategies he utilized to create value for entertainers and guests at his events and emphasizes just how important word-of-mouth is when building a loyal fanbase around one's work.

Find DJ Kace's music here: https://www.mixcloud.com/deejaykace/

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If you have ever traveled to a new country, moved into a new neighborhood, started that new internship or even kicked life off in a new school- you have likely experienced a period of cultural adjustment in response to such shifts. Today in the boardroom, we speak on our experience flying back home to Kenya for summer break and exciting observations we've made in our social circles, the country's leadership approach to COVID regulations, how the political space is shaping up this election year in the country and just how important it is to build context around such cultural shifts in order to survive and thrive in 'new' environments.

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From his early days in investment banking, Justin realized that speculation in capital markets does not create much value for the real economy. He left the space to set up a tech startup, back when Venture Capital and Angel Investment were not a widespread concept on the African continent and worked his way through to leading strategic partnerships at one of the world's most valuable companies. 

With over a decade's experience working in the African market, Justin joins us in the Boardroom to reflect on the value of building a network early and being a 'connector' and problem solver in our spheres of influence. A wealth of pent-up talent on the continent has managed to overcome the barriers of entry to learning tech skills, making the continent an excellent launchpad for entrepreneurship, innovation, and beyond. Justin shares his insights on the potential of Africa as one of the last remaining macro growth markets, the importance of governments in tailoring policies that maximize this potential and emphasizes just how important it is to work for a company whose values match yours.

Justin's Movie Recommendation:

The race to win the African finance technology (Fintech) race is a fierce one, and today's guest Obadeyi is at the forefront. As the current Group Fintech Manager at Equity Bank, and having previously worked at Glovo and Cellulant, Obadeyi Oluseye sheds light on how he went from a fresh univeristy graduate to a high-level professional, strategist and thought-leader within the industry in a few short years. We talk about his relocation to Kenya from Nigeria, the realities of the battle between crypto vs traditional banking, designing Fintech solutions that scale and the regulatory minefield that is our continent as a whole. Take a deep dive with us as we pick Obadeyi’s brain and learn from him in this insightful conversation filled with many a plot twist! 

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When in the public eye, you are subject to public opinion. One of the greatest struggles in our generation is making tough decisions for the sake of growth and letting go of the cheers and pats on the back that sometimes come with staying in the comfort zone. We have each faced this dilemma in our own lives, at times rising up from it and in other instances falling victim to the complacency.