The Queen of Katwe

Ayele (my wife), Troy and I at lunch in Kampala 9 May 2015

Sometime last year, my wife and I had lunch in Kampala with Troy Buder. Troy was part of the Disney team who was in Uganda to shoot the Queen of Katwe. Troy, is a member of the Christian Sports Ministry and former professional Hockey player (the Christian Sports Ministry provides support to the Chess program in Katwe Uganda). 

Troy told us of his Christian journey and work with the Christian Sports Ministry. Work that has now brought him to Uganda to make the story of Phiona Mutesi into a Disney movie.

And yesterday evening, we watched the movie and it left us in tears. The Queen of Katwe is about a 14 year old who was raised in Katwe by her single mother. Named Phiona Mutesi, this teenager who sold Maize will grow up to live Chess. With help of Robert Katende, who ran a Christian Sports Mission program, Phiona fell in love with Chess and went on to win a number of local and international tournaments.

The Walt Disney drama, described by one movie reviewer for Forbes online as ''downright terrific'' was by Disney/ESPN Films and starred Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, and Lupita Nyong’o.

Phiona proved that one maybe born in poverty and misery but we have a choice about what we do with our lives. My colleague Roberta Kabaramagi reminds us that "choice is precious" and this is so true of the of the choices Phiona Mutesi made. Choices that have seen a book about Phiona's struggles and triumph by Tim Crothers titled The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster. Now a two hour $15 million movie of hope and the power of character by Disney.  

Surrounded by hopelessness, Phiona chose to find hope in the game of Chess even when she could barely read, write or speak English. When hunger came knocking, Phiona chose hardwork by selling Maize and helping her mother to to look after two brothers even when her elder sister ran away with a boyfriend and came back pregnant. And when disappointment came by way of Phiona's loss in her first bid to become a Chess Master, Phiona choose perseverance and determination to try again.

What a true story of hope, hard work, perseverance and determination. Attributes that we can choose today no matter the circumstance we find ourselves. That is why the choice of Kampala Serena Hotel to take 50 children from Katwe to go watch the movie later this month is great. We hope that through the experience of the movie, these young lives will be changed by Phiona's story, we hope that the movie will provide the canvas for these fifty children to begin to paint a future that will be very unlike what was before the movie. A future of possibility, hard work and confidence.

The future of these fifty kids will also inform us that the best days of Uganda and the rest of Africa are ahead. That the ingredients of hope, hard work, perseverance and determination are the same ingredients necessary to build a Continent that for too long has been mired in poverty, misrule, squalor and economic decay.

On our part, our team at Franklincovey will emulate the Kampala Serena example and take 50 kids in each of the four countries of our operations- Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Togo. Our colleague Julia Nansubuga whose life work is to enable greatness in children will only be too happy to lead this effort to touch 200 children.

There is something else that the movie did to me. It challenged me to be bold and reach out to the communities around us. Around us are opportunities to use what we have to touch lives.   As a team we need to hold steadfast to the commitment we made last week Friday to volunteer the equivalent of half day per week provide support the public school about 10 minute walk from our office.

We can bellyache the problems around us or we can commit to make a difference. And as Robert Katende as shown us it takes a deep interest and an unwavering desire to overcome the odds to make good things happen. We can be cynical about decades of failed state structures and corrupt public institutions or we can choose to focus on what we can influence. Indeed that which we focus on expands.

Let us resolve to encourage our young people to commit to succeed despite all odds. The type of commitment which W.H. Murray, the Author and Scottish Mountaineer wrote about when he said “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Francis Egbuson

Kampala, Uganda

November 17, 2016.

''Nation building''

The beef in the stew was very chewy so I told the Chef who happen to be inspecting the Buffet at that time, and his ready response was ‘’Ha it is Ghanaian Cow, African meat’’. And He went on to explain how you are supposed to know that Beef from Ghana and Africa for that matter is supposed to be this chewy. I promptly apologised and thanked him for taking the time to educate me.

Yes, like a number of things you run into in these parts, the ready explanation is ‘’this is Naija’’ or ‘’This is Africa’’ and we get comfortable not minding the fact that this references now mean poor service, mediocrity or part of the process of ‘’nation building’’. Consider the ‘’nation building’’ excuse provided by Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the Ghanaian Minister of Communications for the brochure that was printed to commemorate the Ghana Independence Day celebrations last month. According to one of the Ghana newspapers, ‘’the brochures were characterised by incomprehensible grammatical expressions, poor spelling, and a host of other inaccuracies, including the representation of the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as the President of Ghana’’.

And Minister Boamah’s response was ‘’I have listened and listened. Several people have made very cogent points borne-out of their genuine desires to develop our nation. This epitomises nation building-a nation on the move in the right direction’’. In other words, ‘’this is Africa, we are not there yet but we are on the move, one day we will arrive to a place where grammatical errors and outright mediocrity will be a thing of the past’’.

We must give Minister Boamah credit for not blaming this fiasco on the ‘’political opposition’’- this is another reference that people make, especially if you are part of the ruling party. Very long time ago under the Shehu Shagari administration in Nigeria, Teachers went on strike in one of the States for delay in salaries (delay is polite when you consider that Teachers were without pay for 3-6 months). The Governor of the state in question randomly dismissed the Teachers by reminding them that in other states Teachers were in similar predicament. And warned the leaders of the Teachers union not to be used by, you guessed it, political opponents to ‘’formant trouble’’.

Of course there is the routine reference to ‘’African time’’ – this when people show up late for appointments and smiling tell you ‘’ha my brother, you know how it is, African time’’. Or blame the city traffic. I routinely remind participants in my workshop that during the two to three days we will be together, the city traffic will not change, that there will be political demonstrations, heavy downpour is expected and if we are unlucky we may experience death of a distant family member. So with that, we should agree on a time that we will commit to start the workshop each day.

Now with all ‘’this is naija’’, it is possible to miss some of the other refreshing things around. For example when housekeeping came to my hotel room this morning, the gentleman knocked and when I answered, I got the ‘’good morning Mr. Egbuson, can I clean the room’’ or the polite gentleman who came a few minutes ago to do ‘’turn down service’’, when I declined, he responded with ‘’Thank you Mr. Egbuson, have a good night’’. Certainly, the folks at Movenpick Hotel Accra have done a great job outside of the chewy beef.

Now, you may train people, like the folks at Movenpick Hotel Accra has done but it is another thing to ensure that the behaviour is done every day with the same level of excellence. What we have found is that to do something well, is a choice individuals make. It is a choice to devote your effort to the work where you can make your greatest contribution as is your choice what you believe or not. Contrary to the routine excuses of ‘’this is naija’’ or ‘’nation building’’, the bigger problem is the man or woman in the mirror. And that is the journey for those who have made the choice to do so.

And the good news is we begin that journey today – the journey to make every encounter count and leave your footprint of excellence, service and contribution.

 

Along The Way

I went to a face to face meeting with the Head of Human Resources of a large telecommunications company in Kampala a couple of years ago. After waiting for about thirty minutes the receptionist told me that my meeting had been rescheduled due to a previous meeting that ran over.

The following week I came back and the same receptionist, to my surprise remembered my name. It is true what Zig Ziglar said that the ‘’sweetest sound in anybody’s ear is the sound of their name’’. Now on this occasion I was impressed that the receptionist took the time to notice and remember me the next time I showed up. I don’t know if it was part of their customer reception training or experience but it felt that way.

Now As I go through each day, it has become customary for me to make mental notes or take pictures of people or places or products that deliver extraordinary service. It brings great relief because there is no shortage of the opposite – poor, thoughtless or flat out bad experiences. Here are a few of the great ones and not so great one.

Take for example, The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent I encountered at the airport in Salt Lake City, in the United States. The TSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that has authority over the security of the travelling public in the United States. While going through the long line at the airport, I noticed that the agent took time to have a short conversation with each passenger. After which he handed the passports or other forms of identification back to the traveller. What I experienced was a ‘’Hello Mr. Egbuson, thank you for coming through today, have a safe flight’’. Wow, from a TSA agent who sees over one thousand passengers each day?. Here is one job where you don’t need to be nice and we will understand especially in these times of global terrorism. Not this agent. When I asked if I could take a picture of him, he gladly obliged.

In the hotel where am writing this in Lome, Togo, I asked to have my laundry done earlier, and I was told that ‘’today is a Saturday, we only do laundry Monday-Friday’’. Now, am sure there are reasons for not doing laundry on a weekend but it will be nice to consider the customer need. I ran out of shirts and under clothes with the thought that I could get them laundered. Maybe on check in, the receptionist could have told me that little known fact the weekends are no laundry days. Certainly we can discuss the brilliance of such a policy but that will be for another day.

Then there is great attempt that happened to me today in absentia. My favourite 5 Star hotel in Kampala sent me a birthday cake and card. It was delivered to my office and to the amazement of my colleagues who asked ‘’who is this for’’, ‘’it is for Francis, today is his birthday’’ was the polite response from the hotel staff. Wow, what a thought and touch of excellence, except my birthday is in September!. I know the General Manager and his staff, who are also clients of mine meant well and were determined to do the right thing.

To be fair, a staff of this same hotel wowed me a few years ago when he came to my office with a similar gift. At that occasion he met me and when I asked how he knew it was my birthday, he said he kept record from the previous year when I came to dine with friends on my birthday. Twelve months later there he was wishing me a happy birthday.

You see to serve with pride and offer remarkable experience is a choice that individuals and organizations make. Some people who are propelled by their passion and devotion will deliver the service experience with pride and delight. These folks will look for ways to make the customer come back. And some organizations have also built this way of doing things into their DNA while others are content to displease you each time.

If you reflect on some of the encounters above, you will find the following common themes;

1.   People who deliver great service make a choice to do so and are not constrained by rules like ‘’no laundry on Saturday’’. See the restaurant manager who took hand notes of customers who came to dine and went out of his way to wow them on their birthdays. It takes passionate and devoted (some people call it engaged) staff to do this very time.

2.   Teams and organizations who deliver great service think through the entire service experience – from check in to check out – not just the touch points along the way. That is why the Emirates Airlines experience makes for great dinner conversations. For example, on a trip to Dubai, I noticed business class passengers not only had a separate conveyor belt but their luggage actually came out in record time. Not to mention the welcome at the ticket counter where the attendant thanked the passenger for their last trip (date and destination mentioned) before attending to the details of the present trip.

3.    The customer is at the centre of the experience and not the comfort of the service provider. That is why a restaurant manager will remember your birthday twelve months later. Even the not so great attempt at delivering a cake on a date other than your birthday, the thought is still important – the genuine attempt to anticipate the customer and exceed their expectation. Since, we now know through the work of Parasyraman et al (1985) that the best way to satisfy customer is to exceed their expectations every time.

According to the folks at the Retail Banking Academy, there are five key dimensions for professional delivery of banking services that increase the likelihood that customers’ perceived value of bank service exceeds prior expectations. I dare add that these dimensions are true for a Bank as there for Hotel or Airline or my local Barber shop.
a) Reliability, which is regarded as a core dimension. It is outcome-oriented. Reliability of service creates a customer expectation that the delivery and quality are both dependable. It is also, more crucially, dependent on staff quality and having the right person with the right behaviour in the right job. The other four dimensions are aimed at creating a positive customer-bank relationship – that is, a positive customer experience.
b) Assurance, which refers to the personal disposition of bank staff in terms of competence, courtesy and credibility. Actually, credibility of bank staff is absolutely necessary for a trusting relationship with the customer; competence as reflected in functional knowledge is required to gain customer credibility. Simply put, customers want to be assured that they are dealing with bank staff that are knowledgeable and ethical and will serve customer needs first and foremost.
c) Responsiveness, which refers to the promptness and helpfulness of bank staff as perceived by the customer. The combination of reliability and responsiveness is interesting and shows that customers want a service that is of a high standard and is delivered without errors on a timely basis.
d) Empathy, which means that the bank employee must make every effort to act solely in the interests of the customer. It is interesting that when assurance and empathy are combined we see that customers want professional bank staff that are courteous, act on their behalf and respect them. Some academics propose that the quality of the customer-bank staff interaction as reflected in the combination of assurance and empathy is crucial for customer service quality. While outcome matters, it is this interaction that will create long-term benefits for the bank. Finally,
d) Tangibles, refers to the appearance of the physical surroundings (e.g., bank branch) where the service is being delivered, or the user-friendliness of technology for alternative bank channels. It is not surprising that banks have invested in modern and user-friendly branch designs that incorporate the most recent technologies such as iPads, touchscreens, LCD walls and augmented reality. It is noted that tangibles also include the quality of communication materials as well as appropriate dress code for bank staff.