Charting a course

I once read in a business book that one of the reasons someone might want to run his or her own company is that it gives them the ability to control the company's destiny. Without shirking the responsibility of directing Discovery Foods, or being personally responsible for the decisions ultimately resulting in its success or failure, some of the recent tragic events around the world make me question whether we can truly influence destiny.

It is certainly true that running your own business gives you the opportunity to set its strategy and the responsibility of deciding where the company is heading. For many visionaries, ownership might be the only way to get the backing to pursue a dream - the story of James Dyson and his revolutionary vacuum cleaner comes to mind. Ownership allows you to set standards and values of your choosing and to meld them into the ethos of the business. It also gives you the chance to recruit your dream team to help make your aspirations come true. And, financial success and support team permitting, you might even get to choose the hours you work and live the lifestyle you desire.

It is considered wimpish to consider external events that have material effects on a business and point to those as excuses for failure. I have little sympathy for victim-like excuses. But, having witnessed the extraordinary aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and its environs, I am humbled when I think about mitigating circumstances like those following destruction by nature, acts of terrorism, and even Mad Cow disease and other food related scares.

I think it was Harold McMillan who once said: "A term in government is determined by events." Perhaps, in truth, our success or failure in business is not determined so much by controlling our destiny, but in the responses we make to current and potential threats to our business. Running a business is closer to captaining a ship - with the responsibility of determining your destination and plotting your course, instructing your helmsmen, and needing the good fortune of a favourable wind and not too many storms to cause you to abort your journey.