Business Leaders: Story and Principles (2)

Principles of Business Leaders

It is not easy to become a successful business leader, and it does not happen by accident. In addition, successful entrepreneurs have a great deal of responsibility, and hold the destiny of their businesses in their hands. As Daniel Budiman said, sometimes luck also plays an important part. But businessman cannot run their businesses relying on luck. Some essential principles include good opportunities (right time, right place), focus, and finding appropriate partners.

Finding the right partner is a key, and perhapsis a factor neglected by some entrepreneurs. Good partners will contribute a great deal. Benny Subianto, TP Rachmat and Sandiaga Uno are in partnership to develop Adaro. Oke Trikomsel and Global Teleshop are now in partnership to upgrade their supply chain management, whereas a few years ago they were competitors.

Doing business is also about focus. Businessmen usually have a passion for a specific business. For entrepreneurs, doing business is not only about creating wealth, but is also about the challenge of being successful. In fact many businessmen choose a relatively modest lifestyle. TP Rachmat, Benny Subianto and the Hartono family (Djarum group founder, BCA owner) are examples of that. As Ahmad Yuniarto (President Director of Schlumberger Indonesia) said, “It’s not a job, it’s a way of life”.

The principles of successful entrepreneurship are universal, and even apply to employees (intrapreneurship), where employees implement the principles of entrepreneurship within the company they work for. These principles are mentioned by Sandiaga Uno, and include:
1. Hard work (kerja keras)
2. Smart work (kerja cerdas)
3. Full work (kerja tuntas)
4. Sincere Work (kerja ikhlas)

Company employees must acquire as much knowledge as possible and upgrade their competencies to gain leverage. Omas S. Anwar (former Vice CEO of Pertamina) has some talent principles for employees in leveraging their competencies:
1. The first 6 months : learn everything about the job (learn)
2. The next 6 months: master the job (move)
3. The final 6 months : be ready to move on (move on)

According to those principles, employees will not stagnate in positions for a long time and will have a better opportunity to step up to higher positions as business leaders. John C. Maxwell’s study reveals that only 5% of business leaders obtained their businesses through inheritance and 10% due to study/training/courses. Yet 85% started up their business because they were inspired by other leaders. Therefore, there are excuses for not becoming a business leader!

In summary, business leaders are persons who have successfully overcome and adapted to some challenging periods whilst adhering to the values and principles they believe in. A simple way to summarize the importance of principles when facing a tough life is from this statement: “We have to adjust to changing times, but maintain our unchanging principles” (Charter, US President).

Prepare yourselves to be the next future leaders!