In your life, who are you benchmarking against? Most of the time, I have seen people who feel high and successful yet are lying to themselves. They do not know what success means. You can’t become successful if you don’t know what success means in the first place.
Many people are mediocre because they haven’t been exposed to see how people who are successful enjoy life. Somebody has gotten a small farm, house and think they have arrived. Attaining success is about the impact you bring to the community. Who are you winning against?
Is Uganda benchmarking against the United States? The kind of potential benchmarking you set up should be within your context. Do not look up to somebody whose perspectives and context are very different from yours. Much as it could be good for Uganda to benchmark against United States, you realise maybe US had a lot of supporting structures to get where it is now. Even if we try to get there, it is not possible. This is why we have Ugandans who have bought books of successful US entrepreneurs but have remained mediocre. The business environments are completely different. You have to choose the right person to win against.
If Uganda benchmarks against Kenya, how does Uganda fix its political systems? To some extent Kenya has sounding institutions. Uganda can fix small things and easily be at level with Kenya. This is benchmarking with context. But also, is it in order for Uganda to benchmark against Burundi? You might feel high yet you are benchmarking against poor performing individuals or economies.
When I joined Ernst & Young, I got an opportunity to travel to South Africa in 2007. I had been looking at my peers in Kampala and felt I had arrived. But I boarded South African Airways, landed in Johannesburg and found somebody carrying placard with my name ‘Mustapha Mugisa.’ Went to him, took me to a Mercedes Benz Convertible. This was the second time I was boarding such a car! I arrived in Pretoria, went into a very big room and there emerged a young man in his early 20s who briefed us about Ernst & Young’s advisory strategy. By then, I was around 26 years. This young man was commanding the entire room. I got to realise it is very important to know whom you are benchmarking against.
If you benchmark against mediocre, you will remain a mediocre. Who is your mentor? How much do you know about that mentor? What kind of behaviours do you have to master from that mentor? Until you are able to identify, you will be chasing the wind.
Since then, I set myself to understanding the behaviours of my new role model. I got to understand the young man reads a lot. Have a mentor who guides you. Subscribe to publications like the Economist. And now I see why he succeeded.
