CASE IN POINT | Kenya Airways

 

KQ: Offering Seamless Connections

By Andrew Ngozo

 

Kenya Airways has earned and deserves the distinction to be called the ‘Pride of Africa’. Operating one of the most modern fleet from one of the continent’s most lucrative economies, KQ, as it is affectionately known to its more than three million international passengers, is an airline whose 39 aircraft fly to over 50 destinations in Africa, Europe, Middle East, Far East and Indian Ocean Islands. Dr Titus Naikuni, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Kenya Airways is confident about the airline’s ability to live up to its tagline as “we provide a world-class service that is unmatched in Africa.” “Kenya Airways upholds high safety standards,” he says. “It is the first African airline to have been awarded the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme twice!” he enthuses. Such recognition is a result of a myriad of factors that can best be described as the pursuit of excellence.

 

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DISCOURSE

 

Differentiation: It's More than Skin Deep

 

In the quest to stand out in the marketplace, great companies are moving beyond differentiators to embrace the philosophy of lean leadership. For all companies, the quest for market share begins with delivery of a service that offers quality and value. But good companies realise quality is not enough if one is to retain and win new business. Enter the differentiator. Businesses today have a tendency to spend much time and money figuring out what sets them apart from their competitors. It’s usually at this point that the marketers step in and communicate these differentiators, top-down, to employees and customers. It’s a well-worn strategy, and one that is wearing a bit thin. In crowded marketplaces, and in the age of social marketing and instant information, employees and customers are looking for more than skin-deep differentiators; they want meaning and responsiveness. The most successful companies in the world, like Toyota and Apple, understand this and operate beyond differentiators.

 

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IN BLACK & WHITE | Mark Holtshousen

 

Life after Success

By Mark Holtshousen

 

In his role as a coach whose primary client focus are those who have already achieved significant measures of success, a single question or theme recurs and pervades the conversations for Mark Holthousen: What next? Unfortunately the subject of life after success is a far less familiar one, and many individuals in this space are largely left to figure it out for themselves. The unfamiliar territory and assumed lack of expertise means that it is entered into by default. Theorists have bridged the subject at an academic level. Most concur with the idea of evolvement beyond the peak of one’s formal career. It has been defined as a transition from full leadership to eldership, and even from strategist to alchemist (or magician). Regardless of the labelling applied, they concur that the transition involves stewardship, the inclusivity of others, and a broader system perspective.

 

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HEALTH | Nicci Robertson

 

The New Normal

By Nicci Robertson

 

Six out of 10 clients will ask, “When can I go back to eating normally?” My standard reply – “Just as soon as you would like to go back to being sick and overweight,” in response to which I get a mortified expression. Going back to eating badly and not exercising will invariably get you back to the state of ill-health and obesity that you have worked so hard to remedy – an absurdly simple fact that eludes the most intelligent of individuals. If we go back 50 to 100 years, you would never have found processed meals that you heat in the microwave. Takeaways were few and far between, and certainly not a daily staple. We had not yet learnt how to use chemicals to preserve bread or extract oils from genetically modified seeds to make cooking oil. Artificial colourings and flavourings which trick the mind as much as the tongue were experimental and the mother of all evil– high-fructose corn syrup.

 

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