Ken Ashigbey on faith, values and career
For many people who are not aware of the professional background of Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, the Managing Director (MD) of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), it is easy to conclude that his success in media management is a direct result of formal education acquired in a media or communications course during his university days.
Serving in executive positions such as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Multimedia Group Limited (MGL), General Manager of Joy FM, Managing Director of Optimum Media Prime (OMP) and Chief Operating Officer of MGL, could lend credence to that view.
That is, however, not the case. Mr Ashigbey, whose leadership skills and strategic directions have helped to cement Graphic's status as the biggest and leading media house in Ghana and a dominant force in the sub-region, was trained as an electrical and electronic engineer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology (KNUST) before proceeding to the Leicester University in the United Kingdom (UK) for his Master of Business Administration, Finance option.
He is providing visionary leadership to ensure that the company continues to thrive in the midst of increasing threats to the survival of the newspaper business worldwide. He believes that university education is universal education and therefore does not limit one to a particular field.
Nurturing a passion, consciously learning from seniors and subordinates and making a commitment to excelling in whatever area one finds him/herself are important keys to the success of an individual in a particular field, he has explained.
"Beyond what you learn in the classroom, there are continuous opportunities to keep learning from your peers, subordinates and mentors. My work involves a lot of media management and marketing but the interesting thing is I did not learn any of that in school," Mr Ashigbey, who took over the mantle of leadership at the Graphic Group in October 2011, revealed on the Springboard, the Virtual University, on Joy FM.
"For me, apprenticeship has been good because I had people who taught me the skills of media management and marketing and because I had passion for the job, I made conscious efforts to learn from others," he said, singling out his former boss Mr Kwasi Twum, CEO of the Multimedia Group, as one person who still plays a mentoring role in his professional life.
On the relevance of the electrical engineering course, he said he was pleased to have studied it, explaining that the structure of the course and its demands help students to be practical and analytical in their approach to life and its associated challenges.
As a result, he said given the chance, he would advocate that engineering be made a compulsory subject in the country to help make people versatile and analytical of issues.
Virtual university
Mr Ashigbey's appearance on the Springboard made him the fifth guest of the Leaders' Digest, the weekly series on Joy FM that creates the platform for distinguished business leaders to share their success stories with the listening public. It is hosted by Reverend Albert Ocran of Legacy & Legacy, a management consultancy firm in Accra.
The Leaders’ Digest series on Springboard, the Virtual university, is expected to run for the rest of this year with business leaders, heads of institutions and people of repute in society using the opportunity to share with listeners the secrets of their success and distinction in life, their core values and the lessons learnt from their respective areas of operation.
The programme has so far featured the Deputy Managing Director of EB-ACCION Savings and Loans; Mr Kwasi Anokurang-Budu, the founder and CEO of YOKS Investments; Mr Seth Yeboah Ocran, the CEO of Bond Savings and Loans Limited; Mr George Ofosuhene, and the CEO of the Enterprise Group Limited; Mr Keli Gadzekpo. Each of these personalities shared with the public their three core values, which they treasure and apply in their daily lives and professions.
Values
Mr Ashigbey, who is an ardent believer in the word of God and a member of the Roman Catholic Church, said his core values were people, integrity and flawless execution.
"We are here to do God's will and to honour Him. And our lives and works should glorify Him and that encapsulates all that I do," he said, explaining that his choice of people as one of his attributes was informed by the fact that nothing is worth doing without people.
"My mother will tell you that without people there is nothing you can do. Everything you do is for people, by people and to glorify God. As a leader, it is the people who will be able to get you to achieve the things that you want to achieve, and they should be the inspiration behind everything you do because once you have them at the forefront, you are conscious of the things you do," he said.
On integrity, Mr. Ashigbey explained that subordinates can only stand up or take a bullet for their leader if that person is trustworthy and inspires honesty in his/her line of duty.
"Publilius Syrus, an ancient Latin Scholar, will ask you, 'what is left when honour is gone?' Once your integrity is gone, there is nothing you can stand for. For your people to be able to take a bullet for you as a general, they should believe in what you say or do and know that when you even apply the rod, you are doing it from the point of principle and that it will apply equally to everybody no matter the position," he said.
Nurturing integrity and honesty, he said, is key in the success of every leader and the place he/she leads, given that it ensures trust, inspires confidence and builds relationships.
"Even selling your vision to people requires integrity because the people need to believe you and trust that you mean well for them.”
"Everything in life is about flawless execution and paying attention to every detail. It is for that reason that God worked for six days and rested only on the last day. So, if the greatest leader of all, God Himself, will execute, will take parts and the details and put them together, then there is so much in execution that we must pay attention to," Mr. Ashigbey said, emphasising that executing a task must be done in a flawless manner to ensure success.
It must also have a monitoring and evaluation system that has a feedback outlook linked to the vision to ensure proper tracking of results and outcomes, he added.
The Fear Factor
He said his greatest fear as a leader is not living a life that is impactful.
"I always want to make a positive contribution. At the end of the day, it will not matter how long I live on this earth but how I impacted lives while I was alive. I want to be remembered as someone who contributed to finding solutions to the challenges of Africa and not as someone who added to the problems. That is what I strive to do in all my dealings," he said.
GRAPHIC BUSINESS