Entrepreneur.com recently published a post on the Emerging Markets Entrepreneurs Should Keep Their Eyes On and a little while back Bloomberg talked about how the developed countries were significantly effected by the recession in the late X century while Emerging Markets continued to grow. Now, as various frontier and emerging markets continue to grow and the powers that be focus on where they can bring in the greatest, sustained profits, the rest of the team needs to step up to the plate and be ready to take on the leadership challenges they’ll face.
There are so many opportunities in frontier markets and they create a solid base to use for accelerating leadership development specifically for the region. And of course though there are many activities for leadership growth in general, here are 4 areas in which frontier market leaders should specifically focus on.
Growth
When it comes to Frontier Markets, business is driven by everyone’s concern for improving themselves, their families, their companies and their country (not always in that order). As a leader in frontier markets, one must appreciate that governments and infrastructures don’t always provide the basic necessities that people require. If you’re able to create a place where people see you as the one who can cover all their basic needs, they’re more likely to be engaged employees who will work for your organizations goals.
[Tweet “Good leaders go above and beyond to take care of the needs of their employees #FrontierMarkets”]
Forward Looking
Because everything in frontier markets undergoes such incredible exponential growth, businesses and people are constantly looking forward at what can be achieved and how to achieve it. Leaders need to be able to identify what skills their teams need to meet future requirements and give their teams the opportunities to learn. Because people often come from educational backgrounds that are not usually equal to those of developed countries they have a thirst for knowledge. Provide the right learning opportunities and you’ll create home grown leaders who are better than what any one could have expected.
[Tweet “Help your leaders cover any knowledge gap that exists for the future in #FrontierMarkets”]
Everything is Possible
Less rules and regulations mean that things are done much faster in frontier markets. Usually, if you can think it, you can achieve and. And though the road to getting things done will probably very different and not very “traditional”, it will get you there. To set up leaders for success in frontier markets you need to help them realize that it may not always be possible to create solutions in advance. You need to train and groom them to accept challenges as they arise and work with the resources they have to solve problems as they occur. Never believe that something isn’t achievable. It almost always is.
[Tweet “Teach your leaders to think out of the box to find success in #FrontierMarkets”]
Make an Impact
Many business gurus will tell you that the way to success is to find a solution that is required by the masses. In frontier markets , the masses require many solutions. As mentioned, because the government and infrastructure aren’t able to (or don’t) provide everything that the people need, it’s left to the private sector and NGO’s to step up to the plate. This means that not only can leaders create a lucrative business for the organization, they can significantly impact the lives of people in all walks of life. You’ll be able to significantly grow your leaders if they believe in the cause that they’re working for.
[Tweet: “Inspire leaders by showing them ground reality in the country they operate in in the #FrontierMarket”]
Necessity is the mother of invention. Leadership development needs to be molded to suit the environments in which they need to operate in. There’s no one size fits all model and the more dynamic the environment, the more dynamic your leaders need to be. Join the Keijzer community to get more updates on how you can strengthen your leadership team.