Lesson 13: Discipline

This year marks 30 years since Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, before which he spent 27 years in prison fighting for the freedom of Black South Africans. While in prison, he was offered release, but he refused because apartheid had not been promised an end yet. He wrote, “[I am not] prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free.” He tied his literal imprisonment in Robben Island Prison to the abominable socio-economic imprisonment caused by apartheid. His discipline empowered him to liberate a nation.

I visited South Africa when I was traveling the world as a Keegan Traveling Fellow. This fellowship granted me a year of independent travel to 22 countries. I learned how to be disciplined with my time because I did not want to waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With discipline I knew I could squeeze every ounce of potential from this journey.

Both as a Traveling Fellow and as a CEO, I am ultimately responsible for how I manage my time and how I treat employees. I have been reading The Case for Good Jobs by Zeynep Ton, and she describes how great companies can bring dignity, great pay, and meaning to everyone’s work. I learned about the direct link between company performance and investing in people, specifically improving working conditions to recruit and retain talent. She references how 53 million people in the U.S. are low-wage workers with a median annual earnings of $17,950. We continue to see people working hard but simply not earning enough. Addressing this disparity motivates my desire to become a CEO and an investor.

My vision is to leverage my influence as a Black business leader to pursue economic justice. Nelson Mandela’s unwavering discipline, both personal and in leading the movement, was a catalyst for South Africa to dismantle apartheid. A company is much smaller than a nation, but improving working conditions can make an enormous difference for employees. Moreover, taking care of employees is one of the fundamentals of business and leads to long-term shareholder value.

Discipline never requires doing what is easy. It requires accepting what must be done to get the desired outcome. If I aim to provide outstanding returns to investors, I must create an environment where employees can thrive across the company.

Discipline is Lesson 13. Next week, I will share Lesson 14: Communication.