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According to Miriam-Webster, Interdependence is the state of being dependent upon each other; a mutual dependence.
In early 2014, I walked onto the United States International University (USIU) campus for a half day orientation ahead of the start of the MBA program. I had not been back on a campus facility as a student since graduating from Charleston Southern University in the Fall of 2001.
The World had gone through a seismic shift in those thirteen years, including the events of September 11th, 2001. My time on campus as an undergraduate student was one of great hope and ideals about the World and the future.
Fast forward thirteen years later, I am older and cautiously optimistic having faced multiple disappointments in the real world, primarily from the profound realization that not everyone plays by the same rules and not everyone cares about the golden rule.
Nevertheless, there is something special about being within the precincts of a university campus as a student and that had not changed. The aroma of promise, the real and perceived energy and ability to change the world (or your world) was alive and well. I was now mature enough to appreciate the interface between industry and academia and not too preoccupied with the next spring break destination.
Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans; Rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen. It is not clear who this phrase is attributed to, but the context of this statement must have been at a time when Rugby was not a professional sport and was played part time by highly educated professionals.
Soccer had been a paid professional sport for much longer. I played both Rugby and Soccer, my time in competitive sports had me cover the entire perceived spectrum of gentlemen and hooligans.
The biggest take out from my half day orientation at USIU was that 90% of my personal success in the MBA program will depend entirely on strangers I have never met. Isn’t that true of life?
I invite you to briefly walk down memory lane with me through a few notable accolades.
Rugby and Soccer Championships
It is not often that we can claim to be the best in the country or in the World. My teammates and I had earned the right to represent my home province of Nairobi in the National Rugby Championships. As I put on my number ten jersey as Fly-Half of my high school Rugby team in the final championship game against the Western Province representatives, another Fly- Half was preparing to take to the field hours later for the biggest game of his country’s young life, some 4200 kilometers (2600 miles) away.
My high school team would go ahead and win the National Rugby Championship while the South African Rugby team would win Africa’s first World Cup trophy.
Joel Stransky was the most intelligent Fly-Half I had seen play the game. Most of my Rugby teammates had bet on New Zealand to win it all but I held a different view. I believe they were too star struck by Jonah Lomu and Zinzan Brooke to make a rational call on the game. June 24th, 1995, was as memorable as it gets, two massive wins in one day!
Later that year my soccer teammates and I would win the International Schools Soccer League. I would proceed to play Division 1 Soccer and be part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) while pursuing my undergraduate studies.
KCB Bank Group: Good to Great Campaign
In 2008, then KCB Bank CEO held a town hall meeting, rallied the entire five thousand strong organization to pull the sled and move the organization from Good to Great. At the time KCB was the second largest Bank in the country measured by Balance Sheet and profitability. Regulation required Banks to make public their Management Accounts every quarter. The rallying call was sometime in quarter two of 2008. The enthusiastic call to action was so effective that when the 2009 quarter four reports were published; KCB had knocked Barclays Bank off its perch as the largest Bank in the country. It was one of the greatest team efforts I have been part of and spoke volumes of the leadership at the C-Suite and the notable level five leaders in Senior Management at the time. I remember my personal efforts towards this campaign but the team effort across an organization of that size and the unity of purpose was incredibly special to be part of.
Winner of Best Asset Liability Management in Africa
In 2014, my colleagues and I from Bank of Africa entered a Global Asset Liability Management competition sponsored by Proparco, the French Development Bank. The competing Banks were drawn from all the World’s geographical regions. I was the Treasury subject matter expert on the team while my three colleagues were experts in Finance, Risk and Audit. We would simulate Balance sheet scenarios weekly for 10 weeks based on macro and micro economic factors. We would spend about 8 to 10 hours each week outside of our normal duties to analyze our assumptions and make online submissions. After 10 weeks of late nights and intense fellowship (I was the biggest risk taker in the team) we emerged top in Africa. The crown jewel of this competition was an all-expense paid trip to Paris, which included dinner and vintage champagne on the Montebello as we cruised the historic Seine River at sun set.
MBA: Team Leo
The MBA class was split into multiple diverse groups, our group Team Leo was made up of professionals from different sectors, marketing, law, security, finance, investments, banking and business. Our grades and whether we completed the MBA program would depend on whether your teammates carry their load. The expectation of every assignment was each team member would deliver their part with utmost diligence. In my eyes, this was just like competitive Rugby and Soccer where we each had to play our individual parts to carry the team. With our fortunes intertwined we delivered for each other and successfully completed our course work and the MBA program.
In spite having a marketing professional on our team, we did not get any awards for most creative name as one of the other teams in our class had the audacity and courage to call themselves the Committee of Experts.
Conclusion
The importance of teamwork in highlighting interdependence cannot be overstated. The economic law of comparative advantage informs us that we achieve success as individuals, communities, and nations only because we have something unique to offer. No individual is self-made, no community can isolate itself and stand alone, and no nation can look at its interests only and expect to prosper.
I have had some amazing teammates through it all, our most notable achievements are always a function of interdependence
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