|
The determined dozen
Over the past three months, KEVIN DRAKE has interviewed
many different personalities, coming from a wide variety of
backgrounds, in order to come to grips with the notion of “What
does it take to achieve success?”. This week we’ll
be having a look at a few of the more salient points brought
up in the first 12 interviews.
Joe Grioli – MD Vodafone Malta
“I believe in the ‘Global’ economy. If you have
the right qualities you can ‘make it’ anywhere. I
look at myself for example. Today I’m a director of Vodafone,
south Europe: Greece, Malta, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. And
here we’re talking about little Joe Grioli from small Malta.
It’s all about proving yourself. I look at the US and I
see the same thing – eminently capable Maltese people making
a great name for themselves in huge, high-flying markets. I
have great faith in the Maltese. The large amount of successful
Maltese people I’ve met abroad is something that makes
me feel very proud.”
“There isn’t just one formula for success. Definitely
not. If there was then everyone would be a millionaire. But,
on the other hand, you can’t simply equate success with
making money. Success can take on many forms. Somebody once
gave me a very interesting definition of happiness and it wasn’t
at all related to money. This basically was: Be content with
what you have. That makes you a very happy person. If what you
have is talent then don’t spoil it. If your talent gives
you satisfaction writing books, then write them. If you’re
a businessman then go for business. Consider what you are, your
natural talents, your strengths, your weaknesses and then go
for what you feel. But you have to go for it, it doesn’t
come to you. I’ve met a number of people in my life who
had been waiting for success to come knocking at their door.
But for these people success has never been forthcoming.”
Eve Yong Qian – Runs the Blue Room and the Chinese Story
restaurants
“Good management is basically recognising what other people
are good at. Nobody’s perfect and nobody’s useless.
You have to identify other people’s abilities and focus
on those strengths. Then again, I don’t like to concentrate
too much on what a person is good at for a particular period
of time, their temporary abilities, if you like. Its easy to
learn skills. I prefer to look at a person’s inner qualities,
their potential.”
“I’m not afraid of change because change gives you
new opportunities. Without change you die as a person. That’s
why I prefer fresh rather than artificial flowers. Fresh flowers
reflect change, they reflect the life cycle. They die but then
the cycle begins again. And that’s why life is so important.
Because there is death. The notion of death makes your life
much more precious, more beautiful. Without it life would be
meaningless, something you take for granted.”
“Whatever you do you need to do it by applying yourself
100 per cent and with total concentration. That is what I try
to do. I now pay a lot of attention to detail. For example,
I’m in the catering business. In a restaurant the first
thing I look at are the legs of the tables and chairs: Whether
they’re clean or whether they have dust or dirt on them.
Those
are details but it means that if you pay attention to the details
then you pay attention to everything.”
Ian & Kevin De Cesare
Owners and MDs of the Eden Leisure Group
Kevin: “In Malta today no market is safe, nothing is guaranteed.
There’s an over-
saturation everywhere. Something has got to give. Our culture
is changing too. We’ve been too spoilt, too molly-coddled.
Till recently everybody felt safe to borrow and spend in a carefree
manner, safe in the knowledge that if things went wrong someone,
somewhere would make good for you. That culture is changing
and when it does Malta will be a better place. But until it
does there will be a lot of ‘growing-pains’ and culture-shocks
to
contend with.”
Ian: “With me it’s a sense of responsibility that
motivates me best. It’s my job to do what I do, and I have
to do it the best way possible. I’ve also tried to impart
this sense of responsibility to my children: Be the best that
you can be, and nobody can ask you for more. You have to learn
how to accept limitations – something that can be very
tiring and frustrating.”
Kevin: “If I have any talent that I’m proud of, it
might be my ability to gauge consequences, to see things two
or three steps ahead. That has helped me a lot in my life, in
my career. That and a lot of hard work. Willing yourself to
do whatever is necessary, whenever it is necessary.”
Ian: “There’s always room for improvement. We can
definitely improve standards, they’re never high enough.
Too many people are ready and willing to rest on their laurels.
In this country we accept mediocrity too readily, much too easily.”
Joe Caruana Curran
MD Frozen Art Ltd, President Valletta FC
“You cannot achieve on your own, in any area. You need
to have the right people around you. They need to be determined,
motivated and they have to enjoy your total respect. The people
around you make or break you, they help you to achieve success.
I would not be heading a successful club if I didn’t have
the players and the committee members that I have. I wouldn’t
have a successful company if I wasn’t surrounded by the
people who back me up the way they do. Success comes about when
everybody contributes in the right way.”
“I try to be moderate in whatever I do and I sincerely
believe that I manage to ‘apply’ moderation more and
more as I grow older. Apart from ‘moderation’, my
father also instilled within me a great respect for honesty.
All that you’ve achieved in a lifetime would crumble into
dust if you are discovered to be dishonest just once. I don’t
think that I would be able to live down the shame that dishonesty
brings with it. I am extremely jealous of my reputation for
honesty, and, I suppose, very proud of it too. If you let yourself
be guided by the principles of moderation and honesty, you will
probably obtain a moderate success, moderate respect, an honest
living. Which are, at the end of the day, all that somebody
needs to live happily.”
Frank Leiter
CEO Melita Cable plc
“Many elements contribute towards success. I can start
listing them. First of all you need to keep your feet on the
ground. Keep the reality aspect always present because it’s
all too easy to find yourself out of your league. Always ask
questions, follow them up and then continue asking questions.
Attention to detail is extremely critical. Too few people pay
proper attention to detail and details. Be aggressive in promoting
new ideas and moving your company forward. Never be content
with achieving a little when you have the potential to achieve
a lot. You definitely need a lot of common sense too. If I had
to look at myself in this regard I think that I would use the
word ‘hungry’. I was always hungry for opportunities.
Hungry to do the right thing, hungry to have my companies become
the leaders in their field.”
“We encourage our people to move
forward, to take acceptable risks, and, more importantly, to
recognise their mistakes, learn from them and move ahead. I
suppose that I take risks all the time. Mind you, risks based
on 30 years experience, intuition and ‘gut feelings’.
Obviously, you can test things and ideas beforehand. That’s
very important in that it reduces the risk factor as much as
possible. You shouldn’t ever stop testing ideas and then
re-testing them again after some time. Circumstances change
and so do the conditions governing them.”
Norman Hamilton
Broadcaster and MD, Hamilton Travel
“The most terrifying moment of truth came about one morning
when I was informed by the producer that Terry Wogan couldn’t
come in and would I be so kind as to present the programme myself?
They just handed me the playlist and left me to my own devices,
with Tony Blackburn popping in and out to see if all was OK.
It was frightening! Nation-wide radio in Britain!”
“A particular characteristic of mine is that when everyone
else is losing their head and blowing their top, this inexplicable,
great sense of calm comes over me. I’ve always worked under
pressure and I work best under pressure. When a crisis occurs
I always
manage to remain cool, calm, collected. I haven’t a clue
where this calm comes from. Possibly my guardian angel watching
over me! (Smiles)”
“We’ve been operating for nine years. We’ve managed
to deliver. We have an impressive list of repeat customers who
occasionally even repeat the same tour. Our clients deserve
the best and in that regard I’m a perfectionist. The people
who come on our tours work very hard all year to be able to
afford a holiday and so they should expect the best that we
can provide. One of my priorities for the company in the near
future is to open a customer-care department. Unfortunately
our customer-care culture in Malta isn’t very strong. A
change needs to come about in that regard, starting from the
very top: government departments, big companies and so on.”
Julian Sammut
Restaurateur, Rubino Restaurant
“There are various recipes for success (smiles). For me,
there has to be the element of passion. You must be passionate
about what you do, you have to enjoy what you’re doing.
You cannot go to work with a frame of mind that screams ‘God!
What a drag!’. When that happens you know you have to call
it a day. Your success also has to arrive effortlessly. ‘Effortlessly’
in the sense that the creative side of what you do must come
naturally to you. It cannot be ‘forced or contrived’.”
“When it comes to Maltese food I feel very strongly about
things that jar and stick out like a sore thumb. I hate it when
I come across menus that insert Spaghetti Bolognese as a Maltese
speciality. It’s probably spelt badly too! But they get
away with it.”
“We have so much potential in this country! All we need
to do is to delve into our past, our culture, our traditions
and customs, exploit and develop them properly and success is
almost certainly guaranteed. We look towards ‘foreign shores’
wistfully, while at the same time we are sitting on a gold mine
of potential. When we talk about tourism, I feel that we can
only create a strong, sustainable and qualitative tourism industry
if we build upon all those things which are purely Maltese.
This concept has to be transmitted to everyone and at all levels.
We can’t afford to carry on with the heretical practice
of having Danish tourists and serving them salmon.”
Peppi Azzopardi
Director “Where’s everybody”, Broad-
caster
“I like being popular and I make no bones about it. Call
it a constant ego-trip if you like! (Laughs). I suppose that
everyone has the propensity for ego-tripping in some form
or other, mine might be a little bit more
pronounced. One of the main benefits of success, as far as I’m
concerned, is that success helps me to keep my feet firmly on
the ground. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi – the glory attained
in this world passes by very quickly. People’s tastes,
likes and dislikes change constantly. If you keep that thought
in mind you realise how precarious your position is, especially
so if you’ve reached the proverbial ‘top’. Today
I’m ‘Mr Xarabank’, tomorrow I could well be ‘Mr
Nobody’. I keep that in mind all the time.”
“Negative side of success? What negative side?? (Laughs).
Is there a negative side to success? (Smiles).”
“Success requires that you always know where you’re
coming from and always know where you’re going. Create
a set of goals and always keep them firmly in front of you.
You need to believe in yourself and in what you are trying to
accomplish. Not either/or. You must believe in both simultaneously.”
“You also need to be a good listener and have your ear
very close to the ground. Be aware of what people want from
you. Be aware of what people are thinking, feeling, saying.
It’s also very important to learn how to work with others.
You can’t think of yourself as being the alpha and the
omega. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone you
meet has the potential to teach you something new.”
Anglu Fenech
Caritas CEO and Ex-GWU Secretary
General
“I think that the Union’s biggest success was safeguarding
the employment of the 8,000 “irregularly-employed”
government workers that the newly elected PN government wanted
to dismiss in 1987. It was a particularly remarkable success
because, first and foremost, the issue at hand was a very difficult,
complex and intricate one. Secondly, I feel that it was a great
success because I was able to work out a solution, acceptable
to all, whereby the Nationalist government would also save face
politically. You must remember that this issue arose immediately
in the wake of the 1987 elections. Thousands of PN supporters
were clamouring for the prompt dismissal of those 8,000 employees.
The government was in a quandary in that it
couldn’t appear to be giving in to the GWU so easily after
having made that issue such an important thrust of the PN electoral
campaign. The long and short of it was that I came up with the
concept of the ‘Irregular Casual Workers’ and that
was apparently the breakthrough that was needed to unblock the
impasse, to everyone’s satisfaction. Being able to successfully
negotiate the whole issue and save 8,000 jobs, still fills me
with a great sense of achievement.”
“Lino Spiteri and Karmenu Mifsud
Bonnici instilled two important values in me: ‘Always do
what you believe is right, irrespective of the opposition you
face’ and ‘Always keep your word’.”
Chris Grech
Head honcho of Dhalia and Bay Street
“We are all equal and we are all equally important. Everyone
should be treated in the same manner. I don’t believe in
titles either, be they Mr, Mrs, Profs., Dr Whatever. My ID tag
here says ‘Bay Street Team – Chris’. That’s
all. On the opening night of Bay Street we had a problem with
the cleaners and so I found myself having to clean out the toilets.
And that’s OK. Why not? If necessary I will go on cleaning
the toilets for as long as I have to. All things must be approached
in that way. We need to focus our energies on positive issues.
We need to remove our energies away from jealousy, away from
concern about what others are doing. Many times you will find
that that is the cause for failure: Jealousy and not wishing
well for others.”
“For me there’s no such thing as success in business.
There’s either personal success or personal failure. There’s
something that comes before, there’s something that’s
more important than your professional life: That’s your
commitment to yourself in life. If you achieve financial success
but you are a personal failure, then you are a failure. Ultimately
we only get one chance at life and we need to make it as happy
a life as possible.”
Joe Sammut
Accountant and taxation specialist,
politician
“People don’t like to pay taxes because they can’t
perceive any benefits deriving from the taxes that they pay.
Governments here (and more specifically: The Public Service)
consume taxes incessantly without giving anything tangible back
to the public. I pay taxes but I don’t obtain any value.
I think that it is very important for people to see that they
are getting some sort of return for the taxes that they pay.
Because they can’t see any value, it is very difficult
to convince people to pay their taxes willingly and dutifully.
The Public
Service is particularly responsible for this perception of taxes
being eaten-up without anything being given back to the public.
Try phoning a government department! The blatant lack of adequate
service just increases the exasperation and frustration. Lm26m
were given to the public sector in wage increases and other
benefits. There hasn’t been,
however, any commensurate increase in productivity. People notice
these things and, in their own way, they rebel.”
“One thing that gives me a great sense of achievement is
having other accountants and professionals coming up to me for
advice. When you are in demand, when you’re sought after
by your peers, that gives me great satisfaction. In my line
of work, especially with regards to taxation, I’m often
requested to give specialist advice on various issues. That
in itself is recognition for what you’ve managed to accomplish.
The demand for your advice, for your services, is the thermometer
of achievement.”
Joe Grech
Director and co-manager Smart Supermarket
“Competition has actually been very good for us. It has
forced us to keep on our toes,
to take action when we might have been tempted to postpone.
The competition of the past few years has obliged us to invest
now and not later. It has made us move with the times effectively.”
“In order to succeed you need courage, strength, a sense
of determination, a clear direction and a lot of hard work.
You need to do whatever is necessary to attain your goals. Above
all else, you also need to be sure, you need to be convinced
that what you’re doing is right and that that is the way
forward.”
“We’re brothers and sisters working towards one goal.
We’re hands on, we’re
present on the shop floor most of the time. We’re all over
the place constantly and we do whatever is necessary to achieve
our goals. I suppose that that gives you a definitive competitive
edge.”
“I do believe that you need a modicum of luck in whatever
you do, but in our case I’m quite sure that success can’t
be attributed to luck alone! Some people do achieve success
only through luck but I feel that that leaves a bad taste in
your mouth. Success tastes sweet when you’ve achieved that
which you’ve worked very hard for when you achieve what
you’ve strived and suffered for. That is the only kind
of success worth having!”
|
