Last year Citi FM turned 10.
Naturally this called for celebration but I do not believe they got the attention
they deserved. I expected recognition from government and other institutions for
the contribution of this small organization towards our democracy and the
general welfare of this nation’s citizenry. The impact of Citi’s contribution
is enormous and for us at CSD Africa and SPiD-UP® they epitomize high
performance in every sense of the idea.
A high performance
organization is intelligent; it understands itself, it understands its
environment and knows the manner in which it can maximize its existence by
affecting its environment. The folks at Citi have done this in the deftest
manner. They appear to also understand performance theory and how the world
works. They clearly ensured that every individual in the organization meets a
certain standard. This comes about with the understanding that the performance
of an organization directly depends on its individuals as the most active
sub-components. High performing individuals makes high performing organizations
and it is a simple as that.
A high performing organization
understands how to leverage strength in order to make impact in an already saturated
market. When Citi came into the business of radio broadcasting, there was a
clear leader of the Bolt Caliber. To outclass
them must have seemed an impossible task unless you understood strategy and had
an unfathomable amount of confidence. This says a lot about the leadership of
the organization as they clearly set out to lead the market with what will be
referred to in business parlance as product
leadership. Every single product they put out was above average and they
seemed to have mastered the art and
science of brand building quite well. In every area they appear to lead
with a brand or two. This includes news and current affairs spearheaded by the
nation’s number one breakfast show, entertainment, events and sports.
The intelligence of the organization
is clearly demonstrated in the brands as they appear to be aware of the idea of
the influence of the sub-component. To have a high performing organization you
need high performing units-- high performing products that are created by high
performing individuals. I dare without sounding too esoteric; postulate the as above so below concept as the driving force behind such
thinking. For a breakfast show for example, they pack in five people who on
their own could have given any other breakfast show a run for their money. This
is a clear demonstration of the intention to lead the market with a high
performing product.
Intriguingly, they did not do all
these at the expense of operational excellence. From where I sit, they match
every best practice in running a modern business. They appear to have not have
thrown ethics out of the window either and have consistently contributed to the
welfare of the underprivileged. To understand our findings on the Citi
performance analysis, it is necessary to discuss some thoughts from business
theory and a bit of our own performance theory without over-digressing.
According to business
theorist, very rare businesses are able to master two of the three driving forces
of business strategy i.e. Product
leadership, operational excellence and customer intimacy. Most successful
companies focus on one of the three and this enables them to lead the market in
a way. This of course makes sense given that there is the need to prudently
apply effectively the limited resources
available to organizations. At CSD Africa we proposed structure and content both being of high quality as the means by
which high performance can be attained. This is a question of what is being delivered and how it is being delivered both being of
high quality. In practice this will mean that an organization must be high on
both product leadership and operational excellence. This is not a
deviation from the business theory of course as it proposes that whiles one may focus on one of the three,
the other two must also be at appreciable levels. (I recognize that this needs
further discussion)
Citi appears to understand
both theories and have broken the barrier building the much needed bridge. Perhaps
a new theory can now be formulated based on how they run their business.
Although, I suspect the new theory will validate the idea of quality in both what is being delivered (content) and how it
is being delivered (structure). We do not always have to look outside for
our success formulas. We can formulate our own based on our own narratives.
So if
there are any hints there, they will point to
Understanding
your market and developing the right products
Understanding your strengths and weakness (I know it sounds a bit cliché-ish but it’s useful)
Being clear about your target
Having a reliable and modifiable business model and a clear strategy (extremely important as it shapes how the business creates and delivers value)
Understanding your strengths and weakness (I know it sounds a bit cliché-ish but it’s useful)
Being clear about your target
Having a reliable and modifiable business model and a clear strategy (extremely important as it shapes how the business creates and delivers value)
If you have any fear of a Goliath in the field the above
will kill it in your head and you will walk confidently into your victory. Just
like Citi has done. With that; it is appropriate to recognize key individuals,
who by their performance as micro-components have ensured that the larger
organization performed at a very high level.
High performance in leadership
A great personality by all standards, it took one meeting which lasted not more than ten minutes for me to conclude that he is a masterful judge of character. By our second meeting which did not even involve a direct conversation, I begun to understand the depth of his social intelligence and integrity. Frankly we don’t have that many of his type in Ghanaian leadership.
Indeed one cannot discuss
leadership in our time without mentioning John C. Maxwell. In his book 21
irrefutable laws of leadership, Sammens as he is affectionately called was
clearly captured in the first law. A true leader is the one who raises other
leaders. If there is any leader within visibility who has achieved this, it
will be Samuel Attah Mensah. Another lesson from the Maxwell leadership class
is: leaders are trail blazers, they lead by example and this man iconizes this
in more ways than one. He has a great connection with his team and his
leadership can only be described as exemplary. Bernard Avle appears to have
learnt from this as he demonstrates this through his leadership of the market leading
Citi breakfast show.
High performance in radio broadcasting (Current Affairs)
As far as I know, breakfast show meant Kumla Dumor. Prior to that, it was good old TAF and Charlie Sam. In fact one might even argue that Komla brought the whole breakfast show hosting thing to a new level standing albeit, on the shoulders of the giants before him. I did not see how I was going to listen to anything or anyone else. What were they going to say and how were they going to say it?
All that changed of course
when I stumbled upon the Citi breakfast show. I honestly didn’t know what it
was that captured my attention. It appears the structure and the content
were both right (pardon my need to use
performance lingo). This means that both what was being delivered and how
it was being delivered was of a high quality. The voice was distinctively
Ghanaian without blemish and so was the language with traces of useful
verbosity. Soon I was imagining a great personality behind the voice. My dial started shuffling between Komla Dumor
and Benard who? This was happening subconsciously until I woke up one day and
realized I was listening to Bernard Avle all the time. When Komla left the
local scene-- that was it. We gained in Bernard Avle an indisputable king of
breakfast show hosting who did not drop the standard as we have seen happen in
other areas. The lanky Ewe boy has taken the place of his mentor after giving
him the only real competition in his breakfast show hosting career. To say it
is possible Bernard was the reason why Komla moved on will be a fair
speculation probably not too far off the mark.
Bernard’s achievement can
fairly be described as phenomenal and his portrait rightfully belongs on the
same wall as the greats. He is clearly a market-leading individual who runs a
market-leading product in a market-leading organization run by a market-leading
leader. This is no coincidence at all if you understand performance theory (the behavior of the micro-components determines
the behavior of the larger entity). He learnt from the best and is clearly
applying his knowledge through the engagement of his gift. My only problem with
him is that, he has done it all and doesn’t appear to know where to go next;
this worries me of course because I happen to believe that it is continuous
progress that sustains an entity’s existence and ensures its maximization. If
you like something, you want it to be the best it can be. And that is what I
will continue to insist on as far as Bernard Koku Avle is concerned
High performance in radio broadcasting (Entertainment)
I was being driven from the
airport on the day I had returned from my sojourn in another country for a
considerable number of years and naturally I had lost track of what was going
on in the country. I asked to listen to the radio and when it was turned on the
voice hit me. Who is that I asked almost instantly? Jessica-- came the answer.
Wow! came my only response. That’s what happens when you encounter a great
product. It was almost like my first encounter with the iPod.
I really didn’t care much for
what she was saying and that is being plain honest. She was in argument with
another presenter whose name I don’t remember (funny) about the man and woman difference thing. The question is;
how do you like someone who is arguing against your very nature. High
Performance. If it’s Jessica then you really don’t mind. You just want to
listen.
There was another shift in
power base when Jessica started hosting the Citi mid-morning show as she
clearly took some shine away from good old Doreen Andoh who a priori had been the undisputable queen
of mid-morning radio. It will be surprising if Jessica didn’t look up to her at
some point given the age gap and depth of experience.
The thing with Jessica is
this; she is just entertaining to listen to. She is incredibly smart, adoptive
and a super-talkative. Most importantly, she has high social intelligence which
makes her a great conversationista.
Have you ever met someone who knows what to say and when to say it in the most
entertaining way-- all the time? Erm…that will be Jessica. I guess you can call
it versatility. Such persons are very aware of their environment and how it
works. This makes it easy for them to fit in and affect it in their own way.
Put her on another planet and all she will need is a microphone and some music.
Whiles there are other great
personalities at Citi who by their effortless
hard work have made it the outstanding radio station it is, these three
personalities have been the key driving forces behind its leadership. However,
it is important to mention names like Shamima Muslim; who put the evening news
on top of the list, Gary Al Smith and Godfred Akoto; who put the sports in its
own class, and Richard Sky who made short documentaries fashionable again. There
are several formulas for performance as we have discovered at CSD Africa in our
research. The one I would like to share in concluding this article is
What
you choose to do + how much of it you do + the nature of your output / the
period of time in which you do it – the comparison to others.
That may not sound functional
now but take some time to think about it. Over the last ten years Citi have
decided to do radio and they have done a lot of it consistently. I truly cannot
recollect any down times since I have been listening to them and comparing them
to the best, they have done better bringing broadcasting to a new threshold.
All of this has been made possible by great leadership and performance
consciousness.
This
article was written for the sole purpose of recognition based on our evaluation
of the organization in question over the period of its existence compared to
others. It is possible that the writer may be Citi's number one
critique. I do it for the good of mother Ghana and Grandma Africa. May you also
be the best you can be in your field and get recognized for it. To ensure high performance this year get configure 1.0 now
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