By Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” So wrote Marcus Aurelius (seen above in a statue in Rome fittingly with a beautiful Blue Sky above him) in his book Meditations (here), which without doubt would have been a global best-seller at the time had he actually published it, given he was the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors of Rome’ at the end the era ‘Pax Romana’, controlling most of the known world at the time. However it was not published, they were writings only for him and him alone, which in a way adds great strength - they were not written to impress or to dictate or even to guide others, but more of a personal daily exercise, a mantra.

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

‘Doing right’ means different things to different people, but in business it is absolutely essential and represents your core values. The above photo showing the impact that UZURI K&Y, the Rwandan business founded by entrepreneurs Kevine Kagirimpundu and Ysolde Shimwe, has had on so many lives as a perfect example of this. So, “What are the core values of your business?” could have been the title this week…

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“If knowledge is power, knowing what you don't know is wisdom.”, so wrote Adam Grant, the renowned professor of psychology at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in his new book, “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know,”. One of the basic frustrations he has is that: Too many people in the world listen to opinions that make them feel good, instead of ideas that make them think harder.

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“No one can label you a failure when what you are trying to do is audacious. Botching something easy is a failure. Failing in an attempt to achieve something huge is just courageous.”

…as stated by the fabulous Anne Boden, who against all the odds founded Starling Bank in the UK. Read Melanie’s review of her book here and indeed we too wrote around her book in our Blog entitled ‘Dreaming with Ambition’ here, (so clearly we are fans!). But that one message above from her book ‘Banking On It: How I Disrupted an Industry’, is interesting because great leaders do not worry so much about being labelled (Elon Musk, for example, would stay under the duvet if labels concerned him!). What is noticeable is that they encourage their employees, their teams to reach for the sky, to go for the huge, not because they are relaxed about risk, (in fact they respect risk, never fear it), but exactly because this encourages far greater results for their employees and for their businesses.

“Choosing the WTO Director-General should be on merit. If that person happens to be a woman, then great. If that person happens to be an African, then great. I hope it is a sign not only to women and girls of my country, but to women and girls worldwide, that the world is ready and women can do it.”

…and so said our very own Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria who on Monday became the first African and the first women to take the reins of this massive global organisation at a time at which world trade is at its most polarized and highly politicized position for decades. Talk about a hospital pass!

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

January, just the mention of that month brings high hopes and expectations of greater things. Given the low base that was 2020 (although as we pointed out in our last Blog, 2020 was a year of such incredible opposites, not only of terrifying lows but also for many Lionesses, incredible highs), 2021 for the entire world from a health perspective has to be better!

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

The year 2020 was the 250th anniversary of the world’s greatest composer, Beethoven. Many consider Mozart to be the greatest, but his abilities came too easily, he never had to struggle, his music flowed as if from the heavens. Beethoven was mortal, he was human, he struggled. Mozart found composing easy, as if he had a ‘hot line’ to the angels, and indeed if you see his original manuscripts, there are no corrections, he wrote everything down once (when was the last time you wrote an email with no corrections?) - this was an orchestral work with 20 different parts! Beethoven, however, struggled and with errors, scribbles, corrections, angry lines crossing out, starting afresh many times, he forced incredible music out, finally accepting (begrudgingly) that he had gained immortality on paper.

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“…a company cannot achieve long-term profits without embracing purpose and considering the needs of a broad range of stakeholders. A pharmaceutical company that hikes prices ruthlessly, a mining company that shortchanges safety, a bank that fails to respect its clients – these companies may maximize returns in the short term. But, as we have seen again and again, these actions that damage society will catch up with a company and destroy shareholder value.”

by the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

Terrific Tuesday (or ‘TT’ as we like to call it) is, if you remember, when the Head of Finance (HoF) gives us the morning to think outside the box, to move for a moment away from the incredible projects with which we are busy and step back for a moment from the crazy energy that is Melanie who, in the last 2 months, not only brought us the amazing LOA/Harvard Conference, then the Lioness Xpo B2B platform with Absa, and not stopping for breath just this week, the brand new (and in time for Christmas no less), incredible LOA / Facebook - Virtual Masterclass Series.

by the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“But every person in poverty, they dream of a better life, they want a better house, they want to provide for themselves, they want better roofing, they want water inside, they want electricity inside their homes.”

…so said an inspirational Lioness who is setting the world alight winning awards for her work to bring clean water to villages and into homes in Rwanda. At the tender age of 26 (so she is still a Lioness cub!), she is of course Christelle Kwizera of Water Access Rwanda.

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not, simply because they've never seen it before.”

…and so said the brilliant and inspirational Kamala Harris in a speech that many of us feared might not be possible as we saw the initial numbers coming out of the US Election on the night of the 3rd November 2020.

From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

It was looking like it was going to be a quiet day in the Lionesses Hub. It was 9:30am, the Head of Finance (HoF) was deep into a third coffee, all was as normal. But was it? Emerging from the darkness that is the Finance PowerRoom (as the HoF likes to call it!), we were shocked to hear the announcement, “Retail is Dead. Long live Retail!” boom across the stunned room.