Game on with ‘Mojo’ of inclusion
So here’s the good news: You can be a capitalist and still feel good about it.
A strong call to make capitalism more inclusive by giving everyone a stake in its success and more responsible and inclusive was made at the 40th National Conference of Chartered Accountants, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) on Monday at the Water’s Edge.
Delivering a keynote address worthy of the term, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman and Axiata Group Bhd South Asia Region Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Executive Vice President Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Dialog Axiata said that a new form of socialism or nouveau socialism otherwise known as inclusive capitalism is needed for leaders to carry the nation along. “We must accept the fact that there is a divide and then bring in a social, cultural trust to bridge it,” he said noting that it is important to create a more equal world through business.. “This also brings out in us the ability to derive Mojo from contributing positively to the lives of others.”
Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya speaking at the event.
Mojo of inclusion
He called this is the Mojo of inclusion. Defining Mojo as the opportunity, hope, and aspiration and seeing that light at the end of the tunnel in your life, he added that this is what enables you to do better tomorrow and the day after. He highlighted the need to ensure that one generates this Mojo with everyone he or she interacts with whether it be peers, superiors or team members. “We need to acknowledge the doorman who will acknowledge us when going into the boardroom. We need to embed this type of practice into our culture. We like to be told ‘you did a good job or that you know your job’. You must make sure that you share this with others who do the same in their jobs,” he added.
He advocated not keeping what we have at the top of the pyramid to ourselves but using our skills, our Mojo, using the revolution of Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) to enable our entire population to participate in the economy of the future. “Either way, it means that every step we take, we take with courage, a sense of growing, but we commit ourselves to carry the nation along with us,” he added.
He added that a leader’s calling was more about igniting the Mojo of others and less about igniting their own Mojo. “We are at the top, but there are millions of people who are not as privileged as us. So our vision should be about cultivating the Mojo of others,” he said.
Dr. Wijayasuriya noted that leaders have the task of igniting Mojo through exponential times when externalities are diverse and aggressive. “We as leaders need to decipher and contain these externalities.” In this regard he identified three key areas – technology and IR 4.0 -, involving consumers and markets and the economy and the nation.
He added that technology and IR 4.0 will redefine the power of humans. As examples he noted, were the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, 5G and cloud computing. He noted that IR 4.0 will bring about a more connected and equal world.
“These exponential times will continuously challenge the relevance of people and their competence and hence their purpose and Mojo,” he said noting that the private sector has the power, being at the top of the economy, to cultivate the Mojo of the majority of people in this country.
“If we can give every citizen this power to better themselves, learn more, earn more and grow the economy within their homes, then I think we would have a nation which is full of happier people. People with Mojo,” he said.
Dr. Wijayasuriya recognised that many who were engaged in the service industry did enjoy every single moment of Mojo when they made a customer happy and in the same way this could be adapted to making all citizens in the country happy.
“Making a customer happy is compassion with passion. “In the pursuit of Mojo, it is tempting to ignore everybody else, but I don’t believe it is sustainable because we live with collaborations, power of ecosystems, network of influence and connected everything that dominates the fabric of interpersonal and inter-organisational interactions and ecosystems.”
He argued against being individually brilliant and propagated being collectively disruptive. “This, I believe, is the importance of teamwork.
Celebrate diversity. Surround yourself with people who are different, can add excitement to your life to the very root of diversity and differences.”
He also added that going against the comfort zone to restlessness and to challenge certainty will give Mojo.
“Don’t wait, rather than drive growth. When businesses grow, (this business) growth will drive economy growth. Don’t wait for economic growth to drive business growth,” he advised.
Sri Lanka is currently the third slowest growing economy in South Asia, he pointed out noting that by year end it would be the second slowest.
“This must be taken as a challenge as opposed to being despondent.”
He reiterated that business leaders can ignite and spread a nation’s Mojo, when being positive. “If we face challenges before us, face it with a positive mindset and determination that will ultimately benefit our homes, organisations, nation and society at large,” Dr. Wijayasuriya added.