LEADERSHIP

One of the central themes of the DTC Business Excellence Seminar on Monday was leadership in general and whether entrepreneurs are born to greatness or can be coached to develop the extraordinary skills required to establish and run a successful business.

Three distinguished business lecturers had been invited by the DTC to address break-out sessions which were attended in rotation by everyone. The event was well organised and interesting, but of particular interest were the introductory remarks of De Beers CEO, Phillipe Mellier. At a time when leadership will be the crucial factor in whether the world economy is going to continue recovering or slide back into recession his remarks about the leadership role that he believes he must assume in his position were pertinent.

He reminded the Sightholders that the diamond industry is a $100bn industry, more than double the size of the industry he has come from, and the clear inference was such an important industry needs clear leadership and that he intends to provide it both by presenting a vision of the future and working closely with partners to realise it.

Essentially the approach seems to be one of pragmatic leadership, based on mutual respect and there is no doubt that the industry is ready for this approach. The plain speaking is much needed to address an unacceptable gap between rhetoric and reality which has meant that there has been reluctant tolerance of behaviour that either just is not acceptable in itself or even in the diamond industry’s best interests.

At a time when the industry is going to have to adjust to the challenge of the move to Botswana there is a particular need for a clear, honest and forthright narrative that will allow the industry to have a vision of its own future that will make sense.