Be the lonely leader and AIM for success…
What has shaped as the pillars of globalization is the unwavering belief that people are people no matter where you go! Thirty years ago, I may have faced an argument or two from some Director of National Sales, who had merely heard of globalization in fiction books, has now willingly accepted this notion that in order to have sustainable business model in developing and emerging economies, we must deal with what is at the core of each culture and that is people.
Doing business in emerging economies once is easy and for that matter lucky. Doing business in emerging economies twice is easy and for that matter coincidence; it is when you want to continue to have a growth model in emerging economies in 2012 and beyond that you need to create trends and those trends are created with AIM- Aspirations, Integrity, and the Mindset.
Emerging economies tend to have a common thread that is so prevalent all throughout those countries. That thread is corruption. Instant gratification and the western influence has ignited gen X further to take to corruption in order to develop their cause and they tend to do so proudly. Be the lonely leader and willingly walk away from potential business opportunity that lures you to take to corrupt measures. In my limited travels of 89 countries and dealing with 120 countries multiple times and having lived now in diverse cultures, I am yet to meet a truly honest business person, hence my invitation and my challenge to those aspiring to business in the coming decade especially with emerging economies is to find those in such minorities and instill the benefits of honesty and integrity and its sustainability. Culturally, doing business in those countries finds another common element that is challenging and that is women leaders who are perceived new breed of threat to the male dominated societies. Along with these two elements if we add a third dimension, collectively they make the most dangerous triangle; even more dangerous than the Bermuda triangle; for a sustainable business model for 2012 and beyond in emerging economies. That third dimension is Religion. These three, corruption, gender, and religion collectively shape or deform the discipline that exists within the economy. These three shape the political agenda of a country and of course the economy. Religion is the biggest marketing game that promotes hope with hardly measurable and tangible ROI. Be skeptical, be lonely, but be the leader, and above all be spiritual.
Biggest opportunities lie in the youngest generations in these economies, should you get to start with them in their early infancy they would take to the learning and adopt AIM, so corruption, gender and religious bias would be lesser issue than in the past. It is superstitious and ungodly to believe that an act of majority binds a minority. Be the change, don’t think of changing others.
