Kariisa urges CEOs to embrace change on their transformational journey

Next Media Services Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kin Kariisa has urged CEOs to embrace change as part of their transformation journey if they are to grow from one level to another.

Kariisa made the remarks during CEOs Apprenticeship Programme that took place at Next Media Park on Tuesday. The programme which happens once a year from February to December aims at preparing future CEOs.

Kariisa who took the CEOs through some changes that have taken place in Uganda right from the time of typewriters to that of computers said change is inevitable and for those who fail to embrace it stand a chance of losing a lot.

“If you don’t change you will be forced to change by circumstances, by competition. So, you need to change before you are forced. You need to change the way you do things,” he said, advising them to have a team of people that will be able to lead change.

He said change ambassadors are very key in the transformation journey, adding that it is very important for the CEOs to identify teams that can drive the change within their organisations to achieve the desired goals.

“There is no way outsiders will understand what you are trying to achieve if internally you don’t win,” he said. He called upon CEOs to have a strong vision that can easily be understood by their people so that they can believe in the cause of the drive.

He said communication is also very important because someone should understand the reason as to why he or she needs to perform a certain task perfectly.

“As I talk, we have Next Media talks, we have weekly departmental meetings, we have WhatsApp groups. we have one on one. You cannot tell someone to do something if you don’t explain why,” he said ,urging CEOs to always engage the employees .

He advised CEOs to give the immediate supervisors power to lead, saying that allowing other people to make the right decision is very instrumental and can yield results. This he said will help them to learn and become better.

“We need to plan and create short term wins, celebrate wins but also celebrate some mistakes. We need to consolidate the improvement and know that you still have a lot to do for you to achieve the changes desired to achieve. So those improvement plans are very important,” said Kariisa.

He also guided CEOs to ensure proper institutional structures for them to be able to achieve the desired changes.

Veronica Ssentongo, the Chief Change and Innovation Officer at DFCU said she learnt a lot from the summit and the journey to success which she hopes will greatly be helpful.

“What inspired me more is the fact that he (Kin Kariisa) is not taking the credit over to himself, he is trying to see that he works with the team to be able to deliver excellence,” she said.