Lessons from a Maldives tourism pioneer

There is something profound and inspiring in getting to meet people who have achieved great success in their lives. Few days back I got the opportunity to meet such a person. I will not reveal who it is, but his name is synonymous with the most well established brands, successful entrepreneurial economic activities and futuristic investments in Maldives.

Any one familiar with the tourism success story of Maldives would credit him as one of the founders of tourism in Maldives.

To give you a bit of context consider this. The year is 1960. Maldives was just mere specks of sands in the middle of Indian ocean. It was untouched, unheard and unknown to the rest of the world. Then one day, a delegation from UN comes to Maldives. After their studies and surveys they declare that Maldives had no potential or prospects for tourism development. Come 1972. I wouldn’t go into details on this blog post, but the first group of 22 Italian tourist arrived to Maldives on 16 February of that year. They came to a Maldives utterly devoid of any infrastructure or amenities for tourists. Things have changed a lot since then and now, nearly a million tourists visits Maldives per year.

The person I met a few days back, is one of the pioneers of Maldives tourism industry. He was there on that fateful day of 16 February 1972 to receive the first tourist arrival in Maldives. What followed then was an extraordinary tale of leadership, unique business acumen, unwavering determination and lots of hard work. Today he is one of the most prominent and highly successful entrepreneurs and business icon of Maldives.

He invited me to brunch. In a very heart warming gesture, his wife has made delicious Maldivian “mas-huni” and Roshi with the good old black tea. It was also the first time I had any Maldivian food since I moved here.

After the very Maldivian meal we talked. We talked long and we talked a lot. It was a serious but at the same time a light hearted chatter ranging from politics to food, and of course business. For me it was a truly an inspirational and unforgettable conversation.

As business students we always learn about the theories and the science of business. But we rarely get an insight of how what we learn can be applied in real life scenarios. The three hour chat I had with him was like doing a case study with a friend who has actually lived, practiced, experienced and written the case.

Below are four key lessons I learned from him:

Get information from all sources.

Often time owners and CEOs receives information through a well placed hierarchy of executives and seniors. Through this structure the owner or CEO receives only filtered insights. As a result, despite all best practices, standards and work ethics that might be in place, the owners or CEO get an incomplete picture (after all we all are only human). So to get the full picture it is important to go down to the level of the most junior staff, and have the ability to talk interact with them personally every now and then.

“I don’t have an office or a desk”

This is one of my favourites. He doesn’t confine himself to an office or a desk. According to him this is one of the most productive management lessons he has learned over the years. It is particularly effective to banish time-stealers. Instead of having an office, that would usually be accessible to only c-suite executives who comes to meet him, he goes to them and others in their offices and work stations and have brief meetings and updates. I studied something called management by wandering around (MBWA), but wasn’t convinced how effective it can be until I met hm. Just wow!

Invest your time and effort to make your existing clients happy.

According to him, investing in the current clientele is more important than going out to get new clients. If your current clients are happy, they will get new clients for you. As he said a personal recommendation from someone you know will always be more powerful than a small banner on a website or a huge billboard on the road side. I agree!

Detach but know the details.

It is important every now and then to detach yourself from the hustle and bustle of work. In addition to the refreshing and replenishing effect it has on your body and soul, it also helps to assess your work from a bird’s eye view. It gives a new perspective on the operations, understand the areas that need more attention and visualize the required strategic changes. He detaches himself regularly from the business operations but keeps himself well updated with the important details. How he does that is another topic for a future blog post.