People the driver of businesses - Odunze Reginald C

Speaking before American Bankers Association in San Francisco, Robert Schuller asked them the following questions”1) what are we in this business for anyway? 2) If we keeping going at it the way we are, will we get what we are going after? 3) If we succeed in reaching our goals, will be satisfied- and proud of how we did it? Then he ended it by saying, “Remember that at the bottom line of your business of banking, there are no numbers, only people.”

In management we talk about the 4M’s of management, namely the man, money, material and machines. Man has been the driving force that moves these other M’s to a profitable venture. Disciplines are interwoven, Marketing is eclectic i.e. it borrows from the various fields of learning just as any other discipline.

And in Marketing, people have been an important element in the expanded 4ps of marketing which gave rise to 8 Ps of marketing. People is an important p in the 8 ps of marketing because it drives the remaining 7ps of marketing to achieve maximum profitability i.e. cost reduction and profit maximization which is the basic philosophy of any organization.

In pension administration just like  any other business, it is the people that drives these organizations to the level at which it is expected. In looking at people as it relates to pension marketing and administration, it is imperative we look at the most important person in an organization the leadership.

Leadership

Leadership is of paramount importance in pension marketing and administration, the chief executive is the chief marketer and also the chief image maker of the organization.  Image is everything. He is the eye with which the public sees the organization. Warren Bennis in his book” on becoming a leader “noted that there is clear cut distinction between manager and leader.  He pointed out 4 clear distinctions and they are:

“The manager imitates, the leader originates,

  The manager focus on system and structures, the leader focuses on people

The manager relies on control, the leader inspires trust

The manager maintains, the leader develops”

Bennis concluded that “effective management and leadership mean that the theories and ideas should work well with the employees with a strong direction resulting in effective implementation.”

In my own observation, there are traits of good leadership. A good leader should have these 5ps of leadership and they are as follows:

Principle

Passion

Product Knowledge

Purpose

Perseverance.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the most important of all these 5ps is passion; the Webster’s dictionary defines passion “as an emotional response”

In selling people and businesses are won in the heart of the customer. This is because passion produces a positive response and it is in fact infectious. All dies without passion.

Concluding it should be noted that people is the driving force of any business and the play maker for the transformation of businesses around the globe.