10 Business Lessons My Mother Taught Me

The one who gave birth to this author Mrs. Dainah Mapuranga (nee Mabaya Madoro), never attended Business School neither did she attend formal primary school education because of the culture which discouraged fathers from investing in the girl child as “she would be soon taken away anyway on getting married”. I remember her making an attempt to attend Adult Education classes where she learned basic reading and writing. That is how far she went but the intelligence of that woman was unfortunately never given a chance to manifest. I have come to realize the combined genetics of intelligence from my mother and the resilience coming from my multi talented father makes me who I am today. My focus today is not just on my mother’s CV but on mothers in general as there are important Business Lessons to draw from the experiences of a mother which relate directly to Business Life. No offense to the fathers at all as they too play a vital part in the conception and supporting of the child from birth to death. I am drawn towards mothers today. For every mother reading this know one thing, even if your children will not be bold enough to tell you, I choose to speak on their behalf and say “Thank you mum for all you have done, the love, tende ess, care, encouragement, example you set etc”. This goes out to those who have also played motherly roles even though they did not have biological children. I wish this day called Fools Day was a second mother’s day so that mothers receive double honor in one year. Today I draw a parallel between a natural child and a child coming out of one's mind (vision, dreams, aspirations). 1.Sacrifice & Sensitivity- A mother would rather eat last, after her Vision has eaten. Your vision must take precedence over your own comfort and satisfaction. There will come a time when you will not need as much effort as in the beginning especially when the vision becomes more and more independent, no longer relying on you, the mother for its day to day activities and planning but on others that come along the way e.g wife, friends etc I remember I would eat fruits and all my mum would do is demonstrate how to eat the banana by taking a bite. Much as she needed the comfort in tasting and filling herself with the fruit, she sacrificed for the growth of her vision. Be sacrificially sensitive to the dictates of your own vision. Mothers pay attention to detail and do not leave anything to chance. They are sensitive to the point of being able to sense the child is sick even if the child can not talk. Know the state of your own vision as it relies on your ability to sense its condition and prescribe solutions. 2. Patience & Principle Based Approach to Life - Mothers are synonymous with patience and solid principle base. It is not easy to teach someone a new language or even all the processes at infancy like how to use toilet etc. The mother has so much belief and value on her vision that she invests her patience in it. Sometimes one vision takes longer to do exactly what another vision took less time to manifest e.g. speech development, mortal, skeletal functionality. Sometimes a mother births a child who is disabled but she is patient with him or her to the point where she sees potential that no one else sees. A mother is principle based enough not to neglect her own no matter what to go for a preference based approach where it is about what she "feels"like. I have learned about Principles and Leadership Laws such as Law of Lid from my own mother - For a period of time I was limited to the "places where mummy went with me". This mother takes off this lid as the vision becomes more independent. As new partnerships come ( marriage, churches, friends, college etc), the vision suddenly expands and embarks on new territory, the lid falls off and more principles come. The vision is no longer limited to the one who birthed though they can remai Founder and CEO. 3. Loyalty & Loving to the end - Loyalty to the vision is to say "no matter what, I will never leave my vision at the mercy of others but I will stick by it regardless of how others see it". No matter who we become in life, mothers are loyal and loving to the very end. I have seen mothers whose children were jailed, called names but mothers remained loyal. Mothers have opportunity to abort their vision at any time from conception to birth and no one may even get to know about it but they hold on. If they choose to abort, it only takes minutes and the vision is history. How many times have you felt like quitting on your vision and letting go. It is always too soon to quit your own vision. If your mother quits on you too soon, you will manifest attributes that show neglect at a later time in life. My self esteem is high because my mother loved me enough to affirm me even though the world around ridiculed me. "You will be somebody one day Rabison". This proved to me how valuable a mother is at every stage of life. 4. Timing - Everything happens within the confines of perfect timing. There is a time for everything. When a mother carries a vision in her, she does not expect to birth it in 2 months, She counts nine months from conception. Mothers know timings by when their child is expected to walk and talk. She knows perfect timing to start her first speech lesso "dadada". Likewise, know what your vision calls on you to do at any given time or season it could be in. Understand there is a time-frame from conception to manifestation - no cutting of corners or shortcuts lest you birth a pre-mature vision. Incubate and nurture your vision. This teaches the Law of Process. You then get to understand that it is not an ove ight thing, from conception to independence is a long winding process where sometimes the vision seems elusive and beyond control. It is a process to learn the vision and guide the vision towards greatness and influence 5. Trust and Transparency - Who can safely hide anything from a mother. No matter who you turn out to be in life, your mother loves you as you are, with or without money, education or whatever others would consider success. A mother trusts her vision so much she sometimes can be the only one who keeps the deep issues of the vision to her own heart. While other people would create a comedy out of the same vision story, a mother chooses to keep her confidence and maintain trust. In the same token she never hides anything that will build her vision away from the very vision. She is always willing to let the vision learn from her own mistakes. She is that transparent. No sacred cows or secrets between her and her vision. 6. Security and Self Worth - A mother teaches and demonstrates how her vision is safe and secure in her own care. She makes her own vision come to terms with its own capacity, own ability and own self worth. A mothers does everything in her power to ensure her vision is secure. When she is carrying the baby in the womb, no matter what pressure the mother comes across, the vision is nurtured and secured in an environment conducive for growth separated from exte al pressures and challenges. 7. Customer Care - Whatever her vision requires, a mother is specific enough to ensure those needs are met in the shortest possible time. Sometimes the need is met by her pulling out her breast to feed her vision directly. Sometimes she pulls out her wallet, to purchase the things her vision cries for. "mmuummy, sweeeettss, tooooy" the list goes on. While those things may not be useful to the mother, she knows they are of great importance to her vision hence she fulfills the customer's needs perfectly and sufficiency. Someone once defined caring to me as "anticipating a need and meeting that need before it arises". It is a statement that gripped me many years ago. If you care for your dream, you will attend to the demands even if it costs you. 8. Investment - My mother taught me the value of investing in a vision even when the outcome is not so clearly defined. Mothers invest financially, materially, psychologically, socially you name it. The outcome of the vision depends on the level of investment and risk the conceiver is willing to put in. I am where I am today because my mother put in so many hours coaching me, training, correcting, shaping, guiding, counseling and comforting me. I do not take those lessons and investments lightly. When all is said and done, it is the words of your mother that ring in your mind for many years even after she is long gone. Mothers teach that business is about legacy, what you leave behind when you are gone. Long after they have died, their vision lives on and it is generational as the vision births more vision etc. Mothers understand the idea that you reap where you have sown. Mothers may not tell their vision openly but there is an obvious apparent "expectation" that once the vision is on its feet, the mother must enjoy the fruits of her investment. Have gratitude and honor the investor publicly or privately. In my Shona culture I like the idea of “one good turn deserves another”. In Shona language we say “chirere chigokurerawo” 9. Faith & Futuristic Hope - Mothers are always hopeful that their vision comes to a point where it not only just exists but does exploits. Even though sometimes it does not really turn out the way they desire, mothers are carriers of hope, they see the invisible from their own vision and actually delight as they believe in the "impossible". Mothers see potential where the vision itself is not mature enough to see potential in itself. They are futuristic in their dealings as they put in so much today believing for a harvest in the future. Faith happens to be a substance of things hoped for and an evidence of things the eye has not yet encountered. 10. Responsibility & Reliability - Mothers are very responsible. I have learned that the success or failure of a vision should always remain the responsibility of the one who birthed it. A mother takes responsibility to ensure her vision is clothed even if it means it is at her cost. A mother is reliable just as you as a vision carrier needs to stand out and be counted among those that your own vision can rely on. You will not desert your vision because things got hard, you will not sell your vision to those who were not party to its formation. You remain the major investor hence the vision can count on your as a permanent shareholder whose input is genuine and can be relied on. A mother will not do anything to manipulate the vision. She is reliably solid and responsible. This teaches the Law of Process. You then get to understand that it is not an ove ight thing, from conception to independence is a long winding process where sometimes the vision seems elusive and beyond control. It is a process to learn the vision and guide the vision towards greatness and influence