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Francis Okello’s journey from the lakeshore to the boardroom

Francis Okello has just launched his autobiography, titled CONCERT OF LIFE – From the Lakeshore to the Boardroom, and what a story it is. Like so many of our most prominent Kenyans, his life began in a village. But his ancestors were anything but simple. On the contrary, Okello traces his Luo lineage back several centuries, to South Sudan, with so many who preceded him being Chiefs and in other significant positions. A tremendous amount of research has gone into spelling out the specifics of it all.

The next section of the autobiography goes into his childhood in a small village, Nyangera Daho, on the shores of Lake Victoria (Nam Lolwe), where his disciplinarian father enjoyed his 16 wives, of whom Okello’s mother was one, and their 33 children. His father, a respectable Chief of sound values, was of great positive influence on him and his brothers and sisters. Much more on his education follows, climaxing at the “intellectual cauldron” of the University of Dar, and on to Princeton University in America.

Since then Okello has spent more five decades in various sectors of Kenya’s economy, including prominent positions in banking, media, tourism, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, education, and not-for-profits, as well as youth empowerment, environmental stewardship and policy formulation. Through this he contributed to the evolution of the private sector and its role in the country’s economic development, and his book explores the intersection of politics, economics, law and culture that shaped his perspectives and influenced the organisations with which he became associated.

I now wish to share with you something about his engagement with the Nation Media Group (NMG), one of his several within the Aga Khan Development Network. It began in 1989, when he was invited to become a non-executive director of Nation Newspapers Ltd, and evolved in 1995 when he joined the main Nation Media Group Board as the Chairman of its Editorial Board Committee, which position he held since its inception in 1995 till he retired in 2024.

It was in this capacity that I got to know Okello, as we used to be together for the few years when then CEO Linus Gitahi hosted us columnists every couple of months or so for an exchange of views. NMG chairman Dr. Wilfred Kiboro and Okello were with us from the board, and each of those meetings was intellectually stimulating.

Okello has an interesting section on the relationship between the media and the state, which is often characterised by tension. The media is supposed to hold those in leadership to account, preventing it from being too comfortable with the state. But it must also maintain a working relationship of mutual respect with those in power, he points out, one that is managed responsibly and is in the interest of the larger public.

In its game of survival, the media must be sensitive to the politics of the day, neither capitulating to authority nor being too soft. He remembers Uhuru Kenyatta’s displeasure in referring to newspapers as being “only good for wrapping meat”, and these days we worry about Trump’s pressure on his domestic media to be nice to him.

In the 2007/8 post-electoral violence Okello played a supportive role in the work of Concerned Citizens for Peace (CCP), where I was the member representing the private sector. He wanted to see what NMG could do to help restore peace. So wearing his two hats, one for NMG, the other as chairman of Serena Hotels, he and then Group CEO Linus Gitahi, drove to Serena Hotel where they met with some of the CCP leaders. They decided to help us by covering our initial expenses, including for our meeting room there, which later became called the Amani Room.

Okello concludes his book by outlining the leadership challenges and lessons from his life. He tells us we must accept that we live in a VUCA (Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous) world; that we need patience, agility and resilience; and we must be curious and willing to learn – including from our children and grandchildren. We mustn’t shy away from challenges, like giving high level talks, accepting high level responsibilities in domains we are less than familiar with; and we must be willing to serve.

He calls on us to nurture enduring relationships, and places a premium on integrity, diligence and discipline. Share knowledge, he encourages – including through the Leaders Circle meetings which I co-host and about whose sessions I have written several columns here and where Okello is an active participant. And adopt an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving, noting that “a Jack of all trades is master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”. At strategic leadership levels, he insists, generalists are to be preferred over specialists. He argues a case for us to be intentional in becoming polymaths. I related to his assertion that the leader should be like the conductor, who plays no instrument but guides the ensemble to play in harmony. Hence the title presumably, CONCERT OF LIFE.

Finally, let me refer to the forewords by Willy Mutunga and Sunny Bindra, who each wrote very positively about Okello, including referring to his integrity and modesty. That is the Okello I also know and respect.

Upward appraisal Dan

I recently came across this short note from my son Dan at the time he was in America at college in around 1990. Even though we weren’t then living together, he wrote, he felt my presence around in his head, and this in the form of good memories of long talks, lectures, skits and jokes over dinner. He went on to say that the things he had learned from me have given him more real-life information and a way of clear thinking and problem-solving than any college course or person ever could.

Why did I decide to share with you what he wrote to me all those years ago? It’s because it occurred to me that he was offering me what one might call an “upward appraisal”. My performance as a father was top of the scale, he reckoned, in both the closeness and warmth of our relationship and in my helping him to develop as a young man.

Well, as a parent I was so fortunate to have two children who never went through rebellious times, and who were trustworthy. OK, it was much to do with how we treated them, but that isn’t guaranteed to lead to happy outcomes. They were easy to support in whatever they wanted to do without us having to act as stern, curtailing parents, and we enjoyed our cheerful friendship.

The big bonus for me, as I explained when I was giving my talk at the Engage 14 event in 2017, was that my “leadership style” with Dan and his sister Amy strongly influenced how I emerged as a leader in my professional life.

So now let me ask you to what extent your children share with you how they assess the way you behave with them. Is there sufficient openness for them to identify areas where they would like you to act differently? To ask more than tell? To appreciate more than criticise? To support rather than inhibit? While for you, are you skilled at communicating to them what it would take for such changes to indeed take place? I often talk and write about the importance of exchanging offers and requests, and here’s such an important place for that to occur in, so that agreements are reached and changes for the better take place.

It might be that someone else can become involved, an uncle or a grandmother, a sibling or a non-relative, who first listens to both sides’ “appraisals” separately and then brings parent and child together. (For me, it was my Uncle Alex, my father’s elder brother.)

Sadly, as many of my readers are aware, my son Dan died in 1993, at the age of 22, so our relationship on this earth was forced to end. His spirit lives on though, and just like he told me I inspired him as he was growing up he continues to inspire me. He would have been in his fifties now, as his sister Amy also is, and so now let share how she and I sometimes interact.

The term that immediately occurs to me is “mutual mentoring”. Just like I have continued mentoring her over the decades, she and I have been relaxed about what’s become known as “inverse mentoring”, as she is permanently concerned about my wellbeing. Usually, it’s to reinforce that how I am approaching some issue is very OK, but sometimes it’s to offer an alternative perspective.

That requires some boldness, but happily Amy’s emotional intelligence is such that she knows how to express her views in ways that are least likely to simply generate pushback from this old man. The more the differences between us on a particular issue, the more we are likely to laugh about it and, well, sometimes I cave in and sometimes I hold firm.

Readers of mine also know only too well that I love what are called Adult-Adult relationships over Parent-Child ones, as these are much more likely to be constructive and solution-oriented, resulting in both being better off as a result.

Let me now therefore invite you, as a mother or a father, to reach out to your children and ask them how they feel about the way you interact with them. See what they like about your attitudes and behaviour and should continue the way they are, and what they would wish to be different. Let me also ask the sons and daughters who are reading this to reach out to your parents in a similar way.

The art of changing direction

The group of leaders Frank Kretzschmar and I invited sat in our usual circle to share personal stories on our latest theme: “Pattern interruption – moments of change of direction in my life”. We asked them to reflect on what caused them to do things differently from then on. Which events provoked them to reflect, and so to change to another level, another direction, another style, of thinking and acting?

When considering changing direction, we shared, that self-awareness and self-distancing help: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves,” said Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl. It is about our growth and our effectiveness.

Many give up shortly before the goal is reached. Why is that? We need to ask ourselves how finite our strengths are. Are they adequate for the challenge? Should we continue engaging or disengage? Advance or retreat? When do we stop? When do we let go? What are the opportunities and risks associated with not letting go and letting go? The decision either way will make a difference to what kind of life we lead. And also to our legacy.

So, the stage was set, and around the walls of the room as always Frank and I had displayed some flip-charts with appropriate quotes. Here’s another one from Viktor Frankl: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

And here’s a stimulus from Oprah Winfrey: “One of the hardest things in life to learn is which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.” I really liked this one from Andrea Goeglein: “The thing about perspective-changing events is that they usually don’t announce themselves as such.”

And this one by Hayley Williams: “Sometimes it takes a good fall to know where you stand.”

One can never avoid Winston Churchill: “To improve is to change: to be perfect is to change often.” And, Albert Einstein: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Plus a final trio, first from Harrison Ford: “We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance”; then Alan Watts: “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance”; and finally this African proverb: “Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors.”

Get the picture? Started reflecting? Those in our Leaders Circle got straight down to it, telling us about the impact of a serious illness, the loss of a father, the sudden change of career, all turning difficulties into developing strengths and opening up new opportunities.

“It is when we are disrupted and under pressure that we are at our best,” we heard, “needing to detach and be self-aware.”

Like me, one never planned to be in Africa, fearing he would be condemned to a linear existence with a large corporation back home; another realised how much there is to learn from Africa and to take back to Europe; and a couple were inspired by the leadership roles played by their ancestors, including in pre-colonial times.

One takes us back to 1956 when he was fourteen years old in Canada. To fund the purchase of his ice-hockey kit he took to delivering newspapers, tending only to read the sports pages. That is, till he learned about the Hungarian Revolution and then the Suez crisis, which led him to take an interest in the front pages too.

This is where his lifelong passion for peace-keeping began. Another member is in that space too, telling us that too often despite everything one tries no change ensues.

The Maasai among us, tells us he once lectured about his Maasai values and sense of community at Lancaster University. “Who needs certificates?” the admiring listeners asked.

I spoke about my exposure as a fresh graduate to the Iowan ‘Positive Mental Attitude’ – a contrast to my Jewish Romanian upbringing, with its exception reporting on just my shortcomings. When I was growing up at home I was the shamba boy, car-washer and evening dish-washer, and all this was taken for granted.

In just a few hours we learned so much from each other. We felt energised and challenged to take greater advantage of the disruptions in our lives. How about you?

Write your autobiography

A few months ago I wrote a column about the benefits of writing a journal, including providing raw material for a possible future autobiography.

So, today, I want to follow up with an encouragement to you to get going on that autobiography – whether you have been keeping a journal or not.

And here I am not just appealing to older readers, as whatever your age it will help you with self-discovery, introspection and reflection. It can also act as therapy and self-counselling.

I have been keeping a detailed daily journal for quite a long time, conscious of these trapping memories for reference.

But I was not expecting to get going on my autobiography for several years given how busy I was… until I came down with some health issues and took a flight to London to be assessed at a hospital there.

I was confined to a stretcher throughout the flight, so I asked myself how I was going to spend all that time lying flat.

The thought occurred to me to reflect on the flow of my life, as a first go at developing the content and sequence of chapters for my autobiography.

It was, as it is called, the “initiating incident” to my writing, as since then in the hospital and now back home I have been hard at it, making excellent progress – although with a long way still to go.

I have also been an initiator for others to begin writing their stories. I’ve helped edit the autobiographies of some of my friends, and I was recently invited to contribute an introduction to the one by James Foster, written for his family.

Our life story can be more about personal, and emotional issues, to do with relationships between us and family and friends (Prince Harry!), or more about our professional life.

It all depends on what moves us and to whom we want to appeal. Is our goal to titillate with a “kiss-and-tell” series of revelations about intimate encounters, as some such stories reveal?

Not mine, and most likely not for most Business Daily readers. To amuse and entertain? To inspire and educate? Some combination thereof?

Do we see ourselves as uninhibitedly frank, and relaxed about revealing a “tell-all” account of our life? Or, at the other end of the spectrum, do we unduly need to always be uncritical and positive, not offending anyone by omitting delicate issues?

Somewhere in between, maybe. And how do we deal with negative episodes that risk us being sued for libel by the bad guys we have had to deal with? (They’re the most gripping stories!)

Next, how do we avoid appearing to be bragging? For that’s how life stories started, with the self-promotional Egyptian pharaohs of 3,000 years ago in their tombs… and how they continue today with characters like Trump.

If that’s the idea, then better have a biography written about us! While a memoir is not meant to be an extended sales brochure or CV – except for politicians as preludes to their campaigning – it’ll hopefully boost our self-esteem, with me as the hero of my story.

My suggestion is that you just start writing elements you can get going with easily and enjoyably, without inhibitions or worry at this stage about the quality of the writing.

Feel free to rant and rage; jot notes about topics; capture memories as they reveal themselves.

Initially, at least, you can be writing just for yourself, just for the grandchildren, or already for a wider audience.

And there can then be different versions for different audiences.

Ask yourself about your life’s shape. What is your story, told through a pattern of events, so you and then others get to know what your life means?

What do you believe in and why? What is your purpose in life? What were your triumphs and setbacks, crises and breakthroughs? What were your dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled; opportunities grasped and missed; moments of fun and hilarity?

Most importantly, why would anyone want to read what you have written? What will they learn from it and do differently as a result?

Who would want to publish your story and why? Who is your audience and who are you not interested in writing for?

Finally, talk to your previous generations for background before it’s too late – or you’ll regret not having done so.

What joining a book club entails

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It’s only this year that I enjoyed my first experience with a book club, one that was being launched by my Rotary Club of Nairobi.

We have been meeting monthly ever since, and as it has proved to be such an enriching experience I thought it would be good to share something about it in my last column of the year.

It’s quite demanding reading a book each month (as Sunny Bindra has often challenged us to do), never mind being prepared to make useful contributions to discussions about them.

And just imagine if you are not just a participant but the moderator. More on that later.

There’s so much to organise in forming and running a book club.

First one must benefit from an enthusiastic convener who is able to attract the right number and quality of members and then keep them motivated and active – an easier task for this book club, given that the target is from within our tight Rotary community, plus our younger Rotaracters.

Then one must schedule times to meet that are adequately convenient to all, and decide whether to have the meetings be physical, virtual or hybrid.

A regular monthly time is ideal, but inevitably circumstances arise that result in changes having to be made.

Even then of course some members have last-minute other obligations that prevent them from participating.

‘Please can you record the session,’ they plead, ‘so I can catch up with it later.’ OK if it’s virtual, more difficult otherwise.

Obviously, physical meetings deliver the best conversations and the deepest interactions, but virtual ones attract higher numbers.

As for hybrid sessions, it’s much harder for those participating online to contribute and be heard.

The Key is selecting which books to read several months ahead. Here suggestions are sought from members and we then vote on our preferences.

We agreed we’d have a mix of fiction and non-fiction, of local and international authors, and members proposed titles they thought would appeal to the group.

Needless to say, there was no shortage of good suggestions.

Selecting the books is the easier part. More difficult is nudging members into acquiring the chosen ones, printed or online, and then actually reading them before the due date.

For it turns out that the kind of people who are attracted to join are unduly busy with their professional, family and other commitments.

So while filled with good intentions, experience has shown that come the day quite a number haven’t managed to get around to even opening the month’s book.

One of the important roles of the convener is to seek appropriate volunteers to moderate each session, as good moderation skills are vital for keeping the participants engaged.

The moderators must be skilled at introducing the book and its messages, without taking too much time over it.

They must then seek contributions from members, including the quieter ones who might otherwise not volunteer to speak.

And what about those who are in on the meeting but have only managed to read the odd chapter, or maybe skimmed just a few pages, perhaps none at all?

They can be brought in later, to react to what others have shared.

Time management is important, to ensure coverage of the key aspects and impact of the book, and then to draw the discussions to an elegant conclusion, with suitable closing remarks from the members.

Among the books we’ve dissected are a trio of autobiographies: Obama’s A Promised Land (I was asked to moderate this one, so I had to take extra time beyond the mere reading), Wangari Mathai’s Unbowed, and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.

Novels included Wanjiru Koinange’s The Havoc of Choice and Khaled Hossein’s The Kite Runner; while our non-fiction ones were Sunny Bindra’s Up & Ahead (about strategy), Michaela Wrong’s It’s Our Turn to Eat, Adam Grant’s Think Again, and Evelyn Mungai’s From Glass Ceiling to Open Skies.

Each discussion was wonderfully thought-provoking, including cross-referencing previous readings, and for Bindra’s and Grant’s, we talked about how what we had read should be applied to strengthen our Rotary Club.

Indeed our conclusions were later shared with the membership at large, leading us to be described as a think tank!

Each book, and each discussion, would provide excellent material for an article.

If you are not a member of a book club I hope that what you have read here will provoke you into considering joining one.

It will be tough to find the time, but you won’t regret it.

Why keeping a journal of events is a good idea

I’ve been keeping a journal for nearly 16 years and each day, no matter how tired I am, I key in the day’s activities and my reflections on them into my laptop. I even did so during my time in hospital with Covid earlier this year, including when I was at my weakest.

I started writing such journals while I was in London undergoing several weeks of radiotherapy treatment. I was told I would feel increasingly tired, so I thought it would be a good way to keep engaged that didn’t require much energy. As it turned out though, my strength sustained and I became an enthusiastic tourist around town, offering me much to write about.

When I returned to Nairobi I continued journalising my life, and it simply became something I did each day, like checking my mails or brushing my teeth. Every three months I design a cover page to the volume covering the previous quarter, with a suitable title and picture, and I write an introduction. I then take it on a memory stick to my “publisher” in Sarit Centre, where I have it printed and spiral bound.

The quarterly volumes – now 64 in number – have evolved over time, with more pictures and more elegant and varied layout and content. They have also tended to become longer, typically now exceeding 200 pages.

So for whom do I do it, and why? I do it for me, which means that what I write can be uninhibited and personal. As for why, there are multiple benefits, the most obvious of which is not forgetting anything I’ve been up to or my reactions to it. So if I ever get round to writing my memoirs, at least this period of my life is trapped as raw material from which a finished product can more readily be produced.

I particularly treasure writing about the hardest of times, or engaging with a really unpleasant character. (Extreme cases drive me to poetry.) The writing helps to distance me emotionally from the experience, as I become more of an objective observer, and the worse the situation the more therapeutic is the writing. Travel writers (and I have enjoyed being one) find that awful journeys result in the best scripts. But awful or wonderful, what is a journal but an account of one’s journeys through life?

Many of my articles for this column result from what I do in my professional life, and my journal entry on the subject is likely to be the first step, which I then adapt (and sometimes sensor!) appropriately.

The idea for writing this article came from Josphat Mwaura, who recently posted on his LinkedIn page the link to a Harvard Business Review article titled The More Senior Your Job Title, the More You Need to Keep a Journal, by Dan Siampa.

In it Siampa writes that he started keeping a journal when he took over a manufacturing research, software and consulting firm.

“I was very young, we were in crisis facing a challenging market, and I wasn’t sure whom I could rely on,” he remembers. “I kept a journal through my 12 years as chairman and CEO and have since recommended it to people moving into any senior position for the first time.”

Like me, he found the quiet reflection that occurs during journal writing to be very valuable, allowing for calm analysis and creative thinking.

“Journal entries should provide not only a record of what happened but how we reacted emotionally,” he agrees with me, adding that “writing it down brings a certain clarity that puts things in perspective.” It can also be “a form of mental rehearsal to prepare for particularly sensitive issues where there’s no one to talk with but yourself,” he says.

In my coaching work I sometimes suggest to my clients that they keep a journal as a way of keeping tabs on the progress they are making relative to what we will have discussed and agreed together.

So if you are not a journal writer do also consider becoming one – however busy you may be. Indeed the busier you are the more beneficial standing back from the 24/7 pressures of deadlines and dilemmas and decisions is likely to be.