In this episode, we unpack lessons from Mteto Nyathi.

He is the CEO who heads up the technology powerhouse Altron. He is responsible for transforming Altron into a world-class information and communications technology company that does good business while doing good. He was once the Chief Executive Officer of MTN South Africa, where he succeeded in returning the mobile company to growth by overhauling employee engagement and transforming the customer experience. Over a period of 12 years, Mteto held various leadership positions at IBM in South Africa and Europe. He later joined Microsoft South Africa, where he was MD for six years. In 2019 Mteto won the Business Leader of the Year award at the All African Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) and the IPM CEO Special Award from the Institute of People Management. He was also the joint winner of South Africa’s 2013 IT Personality of the Year. In 2004 he was named one of Yale University’s World Fellows on Global Leadership. 

He is Mteto Nyathi and here are some lessons we can learn from him.

Your choices make you

“To those born in difficult circumstances, dealt a bad hand, or perceived as outsiders, in the end, what makes you are your choices.”

Mteto has built his life and career on making good quality decisions. From the choice of the degree to study, to which jobs to take and how to change the course of a business, good quality decisions have been a staple. Decisions should be based on data and key values. Demming said it best “In God we trust, all others bring data.” “People will try to bamboozle you so you...you must be able to pick that up quickly and address it,” Nyathi said in an interview. Deciding on misinformation can be costly. In addition, the values need to be clear to everyone as they will be your guidance system. If you have a key value of excellence, you will make decisions aligned with excellence and not let your past dictate your future despite your background and upbringing.

Employ scenario planning

“When people transcend their differences and work together to achieve a common goal, greatness is possible.”

“Scenario planning is something that I find so valuable today where you look ahead at the likely scenarios and start thinking about ‘what am I going to do if this thing happens?’”

There is a reality that the future may be different than today and conditions may not be favourable. One way to combat this is to ensure that there is a way forward in the case of uncertainty. Scenario planning is making assumptions on what the future is going to be and how the business environment will change over time in light of that future. Mteto has employed this to lead his organisations to the pinnacle of growth and success. We are currently going through a pandemic and those who have successfully implemented scenario planning are faring better than those who have not. Scenario planning needs you to find driving forces, identify the uncertainties, come up with multiple sustainable scenarios and collectively discuss the implications. People from multiple backgrounds have so many valuable takes so it will be in the best interest to involve all their inputs. If scenario planning becomes embedded in the culture then you will be prepared for when the worst happens.

Embed key values

“My leadership style is rooted in values. It is the key to simplifying my life, as I base all my decisions on family, fairness, integrity and excellence. I value excellence and demand it from the people who work for me and believe that leadership is about embedding the behaviours that are linked to these values.”

Mteto Nyathi is a man who bases his entire leadership style, interactions, decisions and speech on key values. His mother’s influence taught him to respect people, customers and operate a business. If a decision had to be made, and it went against a key value, he would not take that root. This was easy since his value was defined and became his guidance system. A first step when he entered a new organisation is to review the values, define the right ones and then embed them throughout the organisation. Everyone who is part of the organisation will be crystal clear on the values and the associated behaviours and would be able to hold each other accountable. This practice was the catalyst that led to the turnaround of the companies and the Age of Ultron.

It is difficult for some to operate in terms of excellence, integrity, openness, professionalism, and transparency because the values and behaviours were not defined in the first place. If someone finds it hard to steal it’s because the value of honesty was never embedded. If someone finds it hard to be on time at work, it’s because the value was never defined. If someone finds it difficult to be truthful, it’s because the value was never embedded. To turn your life and business around, define the best core values and the associated behaviour and then live by them.

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