2013: OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY and BISHOPS

pharmacy

2013: OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY and BISHOPS

The world has become a global village and regardless of where one lives, the effects of changes in the nature of the universal market should not be lost on us. This text seeks to paint a picture of the global economy from my own perspective and to make a case for bishops.

Bishops within this context refers to overseers – men and women who to an extent are charged with the responsibility of administering the economic fate of other men under their charge. Their bishopric often extends beyond the borders of their host nation to surrounding nations within which they do trade.  Though this text is presented within an economic context and a Bishop in this case would be a major industry leader. I’d chosen the term so as to depict the spiritual nature of the responsibilities of these men and their effects on the economy.

Speaking of spirituality, our world would increasingly discover the truism that it is impossible for a government to thrive without a doctrine. The enormity of the value-exchange involved in business transactions and other creative endeavours is such that compel individuals to evaluate the belief-system of the people they are relating with and to seek avenues to ensure adherence to a particular code. In Nigeria, we see such in the occult nature of many political relationships. It is so because the individual parties know that measures are required to ensure a certain level of adherence.

In the development of the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and South Korea, we notice a certain kind of belief system enveloped within their respective cultures within which they embarked on their national development. This is to say that successful engagement requires that one understands the doctrine of the other party and to effectively articulate ones. This would be very important as we thrive in 2013.

The diagram below depicts three major categories of participants in our economy: the Business leaders, the Government leaders and the individuals that work within their systems (the team).

Though it is the government that administer policy, security and the rules of the economic playing field, it is the business leaders that ultimately operate that field. I would outline some of their responsibilities:

1. They win and administer the contracts that comprise the majority of the government’s budget.
2. They administer the pooled resources of the team – insurance, pension funds and savings of the public and the government.
3. They manage the resources of the government, e.g. oil wells, firms, etc.
4. They store the resources of the team. E.g. Banks, investment houses, etc.
5. They employ the greater majority of the team members.
6. They directly and indirectly influence the quality and quantity of the food on the table of the team.
7. They influence the election of the personnel on the team into government positions (note that government personnel were all from the team).
8. They are lobbied by Government to bring in investment and drive economic growth.
9. They lead efforts in the creation of new products and services and determine the level of the industrialisation of the nation.
10.  They are great leaders and are often paid premiums for administering the funds of the nation.

Note that the role of business leaders is a principle of our economic existence; someone has to play that role and only few people can do that at the same time. The system is such that playing these roles would ultimately make one very rich; hence, the billionaire club is a default niche team. The global economy therefore, is such that some people would need to be billionaires.

Examples of such leaders are the owners of the major corporation in Nigeria, their actions and inactions affect us more than we care to admit. The recent upheaval in our banking sector is a clear indicator of the potent power of a few individuals. The way our business leaders would react to the Chinese and Indian onslaught would very much determine our national economy ten years from now. Their decision to either make more money for themselves or to create more value for Nigerians would influence you. In the pharmaceutical Industry, this would be very important as Nigerian firms discover creative avenues to thrive despite the Asian incursion.

Note that value creation and money generation are not always one and the same, within a global economy, a nationalistic posture may not bring maximum returns for a business owner but would generate best returns on the long term for the nation within which he operates. The Bishop’s decision at such situations is the main thrust of this text.

We would all do better if young people can understand and appreciate the roles of these leaders and not to speculate on the size of their pockets as that is not really the relevant theme.

Having said that, one would need to understand the enormity of the effects of the belief system of a bishop on the general well-being and security of the team and of the nation in general.

The best of our universities, industries, businesses and corporations that deliver the greatest value to the team today were built by well-meaning bishops. Well-meaning in this context refers to individuals whose primary motivation was not to increase the bottom line (annual profit) but rather to provide optimum service to the team and to the nation in general.

This is important because as a business owner and leader, you would come to times where you would need to make certain decisions which are defined not only by market realities but rather by the level of your empathy with the people you are leading and the nation within which they live. The spiritual leadership and belief systems of leaders are therefore very important as your decisions would affect a whole lot of other people.

So, in 2013…it is a true saying that if one desires the office of a bishop, one has desired a good work.

This is written because God has commissioned certain Bishops for particular tasks and our roles include articulating our responsibilities and the belief system within which those responsibilities would be discharged.

A bishop therefore must be a man of vision, a man who lives for a larger cause other than the bottom line; he must be a man of passion, a man who loves his nation and his people. He should also be a man of faith, he should be able to see opportunities in our bleak horizon and lead his team to maximise such. As a spiritual man, he should see both the seen and the unseen, hear the inaudible and move immovable scenarios. He should be a studios man, a diligent learner committed to maximum value creation for his team, nation and Lord.

Happy New Year, Bishop!