Strive Masiyiwa is a London-based Zimbabwean telecom billionaire, with a $1.2 billion net worth, according to Forbes.
Apart from his entrepreneurial vision and notable success, Masiyiwa is also a crusader for sustainable investment and environmental policy leadership. His unwavering commitment to helping others has made him a household name among millions of early-stage entrepreneurs and young professionals across Africa.
Masiyiwa serves on many international boards, including Unilever Plc, National Geographic Society, Asia Society, Bank of America, the Council on Foreign Relations, Stanford University, the Prince of Wales Trust for Africa, the United States Holocaust Museum’s Committee on Conscience, and more recently, Netflix.
As an entrepreneur who began his journey by taking his country’s government to court to secure a business license, it’s no surprise that he has many timeless career and life lessons to share with his Facebook followers.
In one of such crucial messages recently, Strive Masiyiwa urged his 5.5M Facebook followers: “Play to your strength, and not to the strength of others.”
Illustrating the wisdom in his counsel to his readers, Masiyiwa shared an analogy: “A story was told of a young man who went looking to make his fortune in a gold rush in the late 19th Century. As he looked at the big burly guys digging with picks, he realized that he was just too small to dig successfully. So instead, he set himself up a repair shop for picks and shovels. Before long, he was buying gold from the miners. Next, he bought the mines. The rest is history as he became one of the richest men of his time.”
Like a master artist painting on a canvas, Masiyiwa went further to unpack the business strategy wrapped up in the parallel for his followers: It’s not always the guy who goes for gold that makes money from a gold rush!
“Think like the eagle in a storm. Take a few moments to explore, watch, listen, and share the beat of your OWN drum. Look for opportunities more broadly. And open your mind to other, but related, possibilities to get you going,” says 60-year-old telecom billionaire, Strive Masiyiwa.
The world is going through an enormous transformation right now. On the one hand, a tremendous economic crisis stemming from the pandemic has disrupted the lives of millions of people around the world. And on the other hand, digital innovation is speeding up at an unprecedented pace, creating once-in-a-lifetime market opportunities for businesses.
Applying Strive Masiyiwa’s “eagle in a storm” mindset and exploring beyond your comfort zone can help you overcome the shocks and chart a new course for your life.
The reality is that many things might not get back to what they used to be. Apart from the pandemic’s impact on livelihood and disruptions in global trade, artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics are also progressively shifting the balance in today’s workplace.
The numbers are everywhere: One research predicts that AI and other new technologies could displace as much as 85 million jobs over the next five years. According to a survey by Zapier, about 70% of current job seekers believe the key to landing a new job is automation. However, the good news is that these same technologies could help create 97 million new jobs.
As governments work to craft policies and frameworks that can safeguard workers’ future and steer new economic frontiers, you must learn to “beat your drum.”
What can you see? What does the world need that your skills can provide? How are you repositioning yourself in line with the trends in the industry?
In the final analysis, the difference between the eagle and other birds is in what they do when the winds get rough. Heed Strive Masiyiwa’s advice and utilize these troubled winds and currents to help you take to the sky. Have a sharp vision, see what others can not see, and learn to fly in your direction, even when there are other eagles around.
This post was first published here.