CHAI with Ahmed Buhari
“If you are not aspiring for something hard to reach, then you have no goals”
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Chai with Mr Ahmed Buhari, Founder and CEO for Coal and Oil Group, had more than ginger in it. It was a blend with words that carried knowledge, experience and enthusiasm. It was not the ordinary, well-composed meeting where successful businessmen sets out his formula for success. Mr Ahmed Buhari would probably direct you to his well-stocked book shelves if that is what you seek.
Mr Buhari instead, emphasised on a few simple maxims, like the importance of setting high goals. Otherwise we are not working with goals that will create value, for us or our organisations. Contentment helps us to sleep well, but it does not drive us to achieve the best for all. A successful entrepreneur is not one who rests on his laurels, no matter how impressive they are or how hard he had to work to reach them, but is one who is always competing with himself, driving himself to achieve more.
Setting high goals entails working hard for them but more than that, is the need to be enterprising. It does not entail being more efficient with our tasks, but finding new and innovative ways to solve problems.
Finally he asked us, ‘What is our greatest asset or capital’? It is not the quantum of capital we have to invest in business. It is not our star employees who work day in and out for our organisation, it is ourselves; our own ‘credibility’. More important than what we learn and apply from books and courses on business, is the credibility we own in the business world, the trust and reliability we offer to those we work with or for. When we invest in credibility, we build a network of valuable relationships that helps not only us to make strides of achievements but those around us as well.
Mr Ahmed Buhari shared with us how, despite his well-known family background, he had to work hard in establishing his credibility among his business associates. He sets his targets high and he sets out to achieve them by delivering what he has promised himself and those around him. It is this vision and drive that has led Coal & Oil to set up a 1200 MW coal fired thermal power plant in the district of Tuticorin in the State of Tamil Nadu, South India. And, he is not done yet. He has much bigger plans in the pipeline.
Running a leading energy company is not the only aspiration for Mr Ahmed Buhari. The development of the community is also important to him. As the President for United Economic Forum (India), he leads well laid plans to improve the socio-economic status of the minority community in India. Along these lines, he encouraged us to put our knowledge and skills as well in serving the community. For those who are serious about helping the community, he says, “I will offer my support wherever I can”.
It is important to note that throughout the meeting, Mr Ahmed Buhari spoke in terms of “we”. The room was not divided into the accomplished and the aspiring. For a person who only continues to set higher targets at each stage of his life, he always sees himself as an aspiring individual.
With that, we set the empty tea glasses on the table and walked out of his office with mind full of notes. We now have to revisit our visions and objectives, think beyond our zone of comfort and develop a habit of aspiring for what is hard to each.