Business View Caribbean - January 2016 7
Corner
View
What a wonderful month for another issue of your absolute most favorite, most compre-
hensive, and most compelling magazine in the universe, Business View Caribbean. I’m
hopeful that your 2016 is adding up to its expectations - unless those expectations were
low…and in that case, I’m hopeful that it has far exceeded them. In fact, I’m hopeful that
whatever your quarterly fiscal predictions may have been, that you have surprisingly
crushed it! (It’s an industry term.)
As we’ve traveled around the Caribbean, we’ve noticed the vast differences in the vari-
ous economies from country to country. And although, we’re a “glass half-full” type of
publication, we’d be remiss in our duties if we weren’t cognizant of the fact that some of
those economies have recently fallen upon rough times, while encountering unforeseen
challenges (that may, or may not, have been, actually, unforeseen).
Now, we’re not doubting the leader of certain countries, and we definitely are not in the business of calling them out on their
lack of vision or leadership. At the same time, there are countries that are performing quite well economically, but retain some
social disparities that also seem to call their leadership into question. In many of those economically flourishing countries,
there are businesses that have every reason to be performing optimally, yet are they failing because of circumstances beyond
their control.
With all of this said, how does a country, a government, a state, a city, a company, a division, regain its footing after having
lost its way? Well, for starters, one sure-fire way is to get rid of its current leadership. Leadership is everything. It may sound
unfair, but as the ancient scribes accurately proclaimed: “To whom much is given, much is required!” With leadership, your
country, or your company, could make a miraculous turnaround in no time flat. Leadership is proactive, assertive, and decisive.
However, the greatest attribute of leadership is vision.
Over the years, in speaking with many leaders in many different capacities, I’ve been able to deduce that the single, most
monumental difference between a great leader and a not-so-great leader is the distance that a great leader can peer into the
future in order to view the landscape that his current decisions will inevitably sculpt. The greatest of these leaders can see
10 – 25 years ahead of the present moment. The leaders without this attribute tend to limit their scope of leadership from six
months to a year, or heaven forbid, from month-to-month, or even day-to-day.
If you’ll take a careful look around, you’ll notice how accurate an account this viewpoint has on your surroundings. This seems
to be why the leadership in various Caribbean countries is being replaced – as are the heads of many Caribbean corporations.
And while it may be a daunting task to maintain long-term vision, it is a necessary component of the leader you wish to fol-
low, or the leader you wish to become, yourself. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” But a crown worth wearing should
indeed weigh heavy.
Until next time: plan, build, and continue to prosper.
Andre Barefield
