'Have 'no fear' - that is the first rule. I have found that most people fear uncertainty, but I thrive on it. Almost all great opportunities comes from exploring uncertainty.'
So says James Verster, who was recently appointed as CEO of Reutech Radar Systems (RRS) after boosting his engineering skills with leadership expertise from a local business school.
And 'no fear' is just one of his strong points. Verster, who will graduate this June with an Executive MBA from the UCT Graduate School of Business, was appointed to the top seat at RRS, a defence electronics company situated near Stellenbosch, in January this year. RRS is the only company in Africa that has an extensive radar development and manufacturing capability. The company, with a turnover of more than R150m per annum, employs about 130 people of which more than 70 are highly skilled engineers specialising in the field of applied radar engineering.
Verster is uncompromising on the values that have carried him to success. "No fear is just one key to my success. I also believe in enjoying what I do. I think of my work experience as a great opportunity to have fun. I work in a high-tech industry, creating solutions to problems that most other careers do not offer and I feel privileged to do this," he says. "Always be positive. Almost all situations have a bright side. Search for it, exploit it and people will follow and support you. Most people avoid those that always criticise and complain. I positively avoid such an attitude."
"Finally, I believe in emotional intelligence. I have realised that there is no such thing as a common group of people. Each person is very unique and needs individual attention. The single most important attribute of a manager is to be able to listen. Once you start listening to others you can start to understand how they think and feel. I believe it is what makes a great leader."
In 2001, working as head of the business development group at RRS, Verster says he felt that he needed to improve his general management skills to move up the corporate ladder. He heard about the Executive MBA and saw the synergy between his interests and that of the company, in that the modular approach as well as the action research learning offered by the programme could provide significant short term benefits.
Verster, who has a B.Eng from the University of Stellenbosch and a masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pretoria, commenced his studies in late 2002 and says that there are a number of elements of the Executive MBA that have helped boost his career.
"Firstly, it developed my interpersonal skills, secondly, it gave me a framework to develop theories for solving complex problems, and thirdly, it introduced me to systems thinking tools that can, and were, practically applied to solve real problems in the organisation during the course of the programme," he says.
According to Verster, the system thinking approach to problem solving provides a highly structured manner in which one can deal with complex problems. "I used these techniques during the programme at the company with great success. My promotion to CEO during the programme certainly supports the claim that the action learning approach works."
Verster's short term goals are to establish a sustainable radar development and manufacturing facility at RRS. The current business comprises of more than 60% local sales and he intends to change that to at least 80% international sales within the next three years. He says the current business is also very intermittent in that they receive large contracts every three to four years.
"I intend to refocus the business to smooth the order intake to smaller values but at a higher frequency. This will reduce the strain on the resource requirements in the organisation. The idea is to stabilise the business and get out of the roller coaster rides associated with the high peak value contracts."
For more information contact James Verster, jverster@rrs.co.za, or the UCT Graduate School of Business, info@gsb.uct.ac.za, www.gsb.uct.ac.za.
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