Heritage

Success comes from humility and good customer service

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To be successful, one requires the effective awareness, control and management of one’s own emotions. FILE

I had the pleasure of being invited to a dinner this Friday by a good friend.

We went to a place called “The Legend” in Nairobi, Karen. We joined a group of ladies and gentlemen, and the minute we walked in, we were greeted by warm smiles.
Formal introductions were made and the group made us feel welcome that I felt like I had known them for years.

During the conversation, one businessman shared very insightful knowledge on how successful entrepreneurs should be humble even if they are holding discussions with the younger generation.

‘‘You can be talking to a Form 2 student and years later the student turns out to be a business person or even your boss,’’ he said.

He echoed the sentiments of Harold C Chase who said: “The wise person possesses humility. He knows that his small island of knowledge is surrounded by a vast sea of the unknown.”

From the time I entered The Legend, I realised that the owner is passionate about the business. The place was well lit, it had good ambience and the waiters were friendly, on their toes and not wasting a single minute on any orders. The security officers too, were very well mannered and ushered seats for anyone they saw standing around the dance floor.

The management even caters for its customers who love the outdoor feeling at night.

The outside cubicles are well fitted with clean clear plastic drapes that kept the room warm while maintaining the beauty of the restaurant. Not only is this a good idea to keep the customers there for a long time, but it is also good for ladies who like weaves to feel comfortable and not worry about adjusting seating positions lest the wind blows the hair to reveal underlines.

One of the humble gentlemen in our cubicle kept walking around and talking to guests at the place and at first I thought – Oh! What a social person but later on found out that he was one of the partners at the premise.

This man’s name is James Kimani and budding entrepreneurs can learn business sustainability tips from him.

For businesses to sustainably survive, keep clients and attract even more, it is prudent for management or owners to know more about their clients. It is only from knowing your clients’ needs that you can truly know if what you are offering is optimal.

Mr Kimani and his friends got me thinking about emotional intelligence (EI) in business.

Since the concept of EI was first introduced and the term burst to life in the mid-20th century, it has been developed, adapted and embraced by the business world and more recently, by academics.

EI skills have been strongly associated with dynamic leadership, satisfying personal life experiences and success in the workplace and thriving business management skills. It’s been proven that to be successful, one requires the effective awareness, control and management of one’s own emotions, and those of other people, specifically the ones that you work with.

As a leader, one sets the emotional tone that others follow and how your business should be run. The emotional tone that permeates your organisation starts with you as a leader and it depends highly on humility and EI.

The Legend, which is a great name for a business, lives up to its name and one, does not even have to meet the owners to understand how they take their business seriously.
It offers an array of services, from comfortable entertainment sitting, to private functions and can customise a function depending on a client’s needs.

I, for sure, know that I want to go back there with some of my friends.

The pleasure of meeting Mr Kimani and his humble, but very wealthy friends was all my pleasure.

If management and businesses can learn a lesson or two from being humble, concentrating on their customer’s needs, treating their workers with respect and understanding what emotional intelligence is— then the hardest battle of sustaining one’s business has been won.

Using simple life lessons is key to maintaining a business and this will always show in the results.