Courtney Campbell, VM Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has issued a call for business and civic leaders to take focused action at the community level to ignite a national transformation.
Campbell was speaking to business leaders at the St Ann Chamber of Commerce Directors’ and Committees’ Retreat, at the Cardiff Hotel & Spa, Runaway Bay, St Ann on Saturday February 3, 2024.
He pointed out that Jamaica has had no shortage of investment capital, yet, he said, despite some meaningful successes, the nation is not operating at a level required to realise its 2030 vision.
“The country knows which path to take, and it has the institutional structure and the funds to implement these well-articulated policies. It has simply bungled the execution,” he said.
“It is time for us to stop bungling the execution. We need more effective action to ensure that we deliver better outcomes in our schools, offer better service in our hospitals, have higher detection rates in our police force, and higher standards in our public infrastructure. We need better customer service and greater social standards and interactions. And, you know what? The change we need can start right here at the community level,” Campbell added.
The CEO urged the leaders of the St Ann Chamber of Commerce to consider what they could do immediately to bring about change. “You have an opportunity, in fact, you have a duty to lead by example within your community. Your leadership in St Ann and its environs can inspire the entire nation. We need this. We need a transformation,” he said.
Campbell pointed to education as an area that needed immediate attention and urged the leaders to do whatever they could to help improve outcomes in their communities.
“Remember that education is not one-dimensional. At VM, for example, we place very strong emphasis on providing financial education to our members because we know that this is a powerful tool for empowerment. We are not in business to keep what we know to ourselves. We see it as our duty to share information so that as many people as possible can make wise financial decisions to uplift themselves, their families and their communities,” said Campbell.
“What kind of knowledge can you share within your community to help empower others? Is there a school, or even a classroom at a school in your community that your business could adopt? Could your business provide a scholarship for a tertiary-level student living in your community? This could have a real impact, given the high dropout rates at the tertiary level. Could you volunteer to serve on the board of a school in your community? There are many ways that we can ignite a transformation from relatively small actions at the community level,” he added.
Campbell noted also that the nation needed a cultural transformation, which could be instigated in communities before expanding across the population.
“The crime beast, the hatred, anger and deviance that have troubled us for too long cannot be allowed to become part of our culture. We should never accept this,” he said, noting that VM Group has been undergoing its own focused cultural transformation.
“We know as the leaders of VM that we have the responsibility of shifting the culture. In many important ways, VM is being successfully transformed, and a big driver of that is the transformation of our culture into one characterised by greater ambition, urgency, collaboration and ownership,” he said.
“One might say you may be able to transform the culture of a business, but it is impossible to transform a national culture. I say it may be more difficult, it may take much longer, but it is not impossible. ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done’, said Nelson Mandela. I believe that, as leaders in this parish, you have the responsibility to shift the culture in St Ann,” said Campbell.
“Across nations and ethnicities, it has been proven that culture impacts socio-economic outcomes – so culture produces results at the community and national level. Can’t we then agree the type of society that we want – the results – and agree the values that residents of your St Ann communities, and Jamaicans as a whole, would need to display – how we would influence and incentivise people to think and act – in order for us to achieve those results? You can start here and become a model that others are motivated to follow,” Campbell added.
He urged the business leaders to be bold about making changes in their communities. “We need new actions that are appropriate for our stormy present. I encourage you to do the reflection and prepare to do the work that is needed to ensure you are being the powerful leaders who bring people together. Let us, community by community, transform Jamaica,” he said.
