Strange things Whitney Houston taught business

Even though Whitney Houston has won 415 awards in her career with two Emmys, six Grammys, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards, which made her the most awarded female of all time, be it in music or in sports, the funny thing is that the world was not shocked when the announcement came that Whitney had died.

May be it is because it was not the first time such an incident has happened in the world given the recent saga with Michael Jackson. But, when I was watching the funeral ceremony on CNN, there were some strange things that Whitney taught business that came to my mind. Let me share the top five.

Weird public opinion

It’s strange, but public opinion is weird. The world adored her as the sweetheart of music. She grew up in a church environment as a singer in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark.

Mother Cissy, a well-known gospel singer deciding that Whitney must get a Catholic high school education, and she went on to become the most admired female musician of all times with the movie Bodyguard becoming a box office hit.

However, later on the brand Whitney Houston was quoted as a person who could not handle the pressure and resorted to drugs, including crack cocaine. Until the day she died, for almost a year she was ridiculed by the world, but after she was found dead the world once again adored her. In fact there were more celebrities at the funeral service than at the Grammy awards last week, according to CNN reports.

Whitney 1

This is so true in the business world. People loved the brand Maliban at one time, but today Munchee has taken market leadership and has been the choice of people for almost five years in a row. I guess when a brand does not change with times and it does not innovate to the changing lifestyle, public opinion and choice moves away. That life and that’s the reality in today’s fast track life.

Right love

Some say that Whitney Houston was a victim of her love for the wrong man. They go on to say that Bobby Brown made her the person she finally became. We do not know the exact details but we know for sure that they were not good for each other. I guess it’s easy to point a finger when we see celebrities and people in the public eye driving behind mirages.

Whitney 2

The latest business ethos is making your work place your playfield. Some go on to say ‘enjoy life via the work you do’. This cannot become a reality unless the right love is found between who you are and the correct type of company and culture.

Just like Whitney being referred to as a product of Bobby Brown, you will also become the end product of your company. So take time and ask yourself if you love the work you do and how you do it. If not, you may be in the wrong job/vocation. We have only one life so let’s not regret later.

Say no

Even if Whitney Houston was into drugs by the time she met Bobby Brown, the fact of the matter is that she did not say no. Finally she ended up dead in a bathtub in a plush hotel in LA.

Whitney 3

We must learn to say no not only to drugs but even to alcohol, cigarettes and kickbacks. At the end of the day, all three are illegal. We cannot say that this is the world and we must learn to do what the world requires.

We all know that today’s global financial collapse stemmed from the greed the business world created. Let’s remember that the hardest word is no, but it is the simplest. The good news is that today, the corporate world is turning to sports – be it at a gym or at Independence Square. Let’s learn to say yes to sports, zumba or kickboxing. We sure can make the world a better place.

Good at

Whitney Houston was not the greatest songwriter in the world. But she had the most unbelievable pipes that a handful of vocalist could ever posses. She had the talent to capture the attention of thousands of people for 45 seconds unaccompanied by music, which is a rare talent even a legend like Michael Jackson did not possess.

Whitney 3

The pickup to business is, stay with what you are good at. Be it a tailor turned male fashion retailer like Hameedias or a tea taster turned to making Akbar and Dilmah top global tea brands originating from Sri Lanka.

So the ethos is, if you are good at it, focus and develop the skill to be the best in the world. At the end of the day, that’s your calling by the world and one must accept it. Do not try be a person that you are not, as the world sees through. But this requires lot of discipline and years of hard work with little support from the general public.

Lead by example

As Jay Caspian Kang mentioned at the funeral oration, a key characteristic seen of Whitney Houston was her ability of showing the world by example what a human being can achieve. She showed a child that there is no natural limit to what can be accomplished, provided you have the vision to chase after it. I guess the 413 awards she won was not way below her expectations of life that the world will never know.

 Whitney 4

This is so true when it comes to what organisations like MAS or Brandix have become today. Every time the apparel industry was on the brink of collapse, be it when the multi fibre agreement ceased to exist or when the EU GSP+ was removed or when the US trade concession fell apart, the apparel industry re-engineered and became stronger.

Having insight into this iconic industry, it must be noted that there was a lot of pain and hurt internally that included retrenching and layoffs. But the top walked the talk and that’s why the journey was easier. The apparel industry has demonstrated a 26% and 32% export growth in the key markets of US and EU in 2011.

Comeback

When Whitney died she was on her way back to the limelight. She had just done a global tour and returned and was about to complete her latest movie but time ran out.

Whitney 5

I guess it’s never too late to come back strong. I yet remember when so many taxes were imposed; the manufacture of white goods was almost impossible with companies like Singer going through tough times.

However, the brand fought back and returned with such a strong performance and for the seventh time in a row Singer has been selected as the ‘Brand of the Year’ at the People’s Award conducted by Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing in association with the research company Nielsen.

(Rohantha is the Head of National Portfolio Development – Sri Lanka and Maldives to the United Nations. He is an alumnus of Harvard University, Boston. The thoughts expressed are strictly personal and are not the views of the organisation he serves in Sri Lanka or globally.)