TENACITY OF PURPOSE: A VALUABLE LESSON FROM THE RICHEST BLACK MAN IN
THE WORLD.
“I know of no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a
sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tenacity — unremitting demonstration of the habits of
prosperity — is the secret behind the success and multi-billion dollar empire
of Alhaji Aliko Dangote; the richest man in Africa and richest black man in the
world.
The business magnate was fortunate to recognize his
passion for trade and business early in life. Though at the time, the main
thing he had was an eager desire to be superior in his business; but unlike
like many of his peers; he knew how to get started with the few resources
available. With a burning dream in his heart to grow big one day; he was able
to start small.
The day he dreamt of is not too long in coming. The day
Dangote dreamt of has become a reality, this day. Far more than many, and
without question, he understands the meaning of taking action, and more
importantly, he understands the meaning of tenacity.
Proverbially, you can’t grow an Iroko tree overnight;
and practically, you don’t build a multi-billion dollar business overnight
either. You need not only the courage to start but the discipline, the energy
and the will to weather all the storms of life for you to eventually come out
on top; you need to have tenacity.
My objective on this article is not to repeat the
entire life story of Alhaji Aliko Dangote for you; that, you can view at
Wikipedia and many other business websites. My aim is to help myself and you integrate
and apply — in our own lives — the core
principle behind the gargantuan empire of the business tycoon; the principle of
tenacity.
The principle is very powerful, no doubt. But we can benefit
fully from it, only when we move beyond merely knowing and talking about it,
and decide to embody it in the key areas of our lives through unremitting
action.
Meanwhile, listen to the man himself for you to be
thoroughly influenced by the magnate’s deep understanding of a seemingly simple
idea. Here it is:
“I built a conglomerate and
emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen
overnight. It took me 30 years to get to where I am today. Youths of today
aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to
work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is
supreme.”
UNBREAKABLE WILL
Arguably, tenacity of purpose is the greatest secret of
his spectacular success. This is evident in his triumph over so many challenges
throughout his business life.
To enumerate all the challenges he overcame to become
number one will require volumes of articles or a complete book. To rightly
describe his success stories on business after business is beyond the capacity
of just one article. Just like Sir
Richard Branson; the chairman and owner of Virgin Group, the businesses that
make up Dangote Group are legion.
However, one critical test of his courage and tenacity
that I am going to highlight was his founding of the continent’s largest cement
producer — Dangote Cement Plc. The odds he had to surmount to establish this
key company in the global prominence of his business empire were huge.
How huge were the obstacles? You may ask.
They were
huge enough to force an enterprising man of fearless mettle to utter these
words:
"The most dangerous thing for
an entrepreneur to do is to actually go into a business that he does not understand
fully."
The extremity of this statement underscores an
important point on what the daring fighter experienced; the odds were
overwhelming and potentially crippling.
Yet, he didn’t quit. He was able to hold-on, no matter
what. He was able to persevere because he had an unbreakable will.
He has tenacity!
His tenacity of purpose made him commit to a tall
standard of life that great success demands and this has made him one of the
greatest businessmen of our century.
Another reference for this can be found in Harvard Business
review when Jonathan Berman wrote to encourage American CEOs — that they must annihilate
their fear of uncertainty and risk — with the bold investment choices of a man
from the African soil; a testament to the audacity and tenacity of his purpose.
With all of this, my question for you is thus:
How can you and I cultivate such spirit of tenacity in
the most important areas of our lives — no matter what life throws at us?
This is what today’s article is all about.
BE LIKE A POSTAGE STAMP: STICK TO IT UNTIL YOU GET THERE.
Meanwhile, not everyone is cut out to be a business
mogul; everyone has different interests and passions. For Dangote, it was
business, as he himself said:
"I can remember when I was in
primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes] and I would
start selling them just to make money. I was so
interested in business, even at that time."
He was lucky to know his dominant passion at a very
young age and he had the courage to pursue his heart desire. While many people,
in their thirties and forties are not quite sure; let alone getting started on
their unique paths to stardom and fulfillment.
The way it has always worked is expressed by John
Maxwell as: “Find
something you like to do that you will gladly do it for free and learn to do it
so well that people will be willing to pay you for it.”
Now, the questions for you to answer before you learn
to be like a postage stamp are:
What is my purpose?
What am I passionate about?
What do I love to do that benefits the people?
What am I willing to do whether I am paid to do it or
not?
What will I continue to do if I were the only person
living on earth?
The importance of this process is expressed by the
black American billionaire, Oprah Winfrey, as:
“Your life work is to find your
life work; and then to exercise the discipline, tenacity, and hard work it
takes to pursue it.”
After you have chosen your purpose, your dominant
passion, your life’s work; the next step is to get started.
Dreaming big doesn’t mean you have to start big. Just
start where you are with what you have. Lack of understanding of this simple
truth has stopped many from fulfilling their heart desires. Imagine, if Dangote
had not started where he was and with what he had, he probably wouldn’t be
where he is today. Isn’t that an awful probability?
If you are brave enough to start something you are
passionate about; you have made a wonderful choice; not for overnight success;
but for a brand new destination of glory and grace.
Now all you need to do is resolve to be like a postage
stamp; you must stick to it until you get there — no matter what. You must
stick to it until you reach the acme of your aspiration.
This vital principle is what made Dangote the richest black
person in the world; and it is what Amelia Earhart; the distinguished American
aviation pioneer, demonstrated throughout her life. And I choose to end this article
with the illustration of her words on the courage to start and the power of
tenacity in the achievement of our dreams — whatever they are:
“The most difficult thing is the
decision to act, the rest is mere tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can
do anything you decide to do. You can change and control your life; and the
procedure, the process is its own reward.”
So, never let up your flying speed after you have
kicked off the plane. Keep moving. Stay moving. Always. That’s tenacity of
purpose.