The Harambe 10×10 series continues this Friday on Black Genius with Seni Sulyman, owner and managing partner at Rincon, a firm partnering with CEOs and executives to build world-class businesses and high-performance teams through a focus on strategy, people, culture, operations and execution.
Seni was previously Vice President of Global Operations at Andela, where he “contributed tremendously to lighting the spark for an entire generation of technologists”. As Seni advanced through multiple roles across the organization, including Director of Operations and Country Director, he grew global operations by 400%, and led major departments across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, and Egypt. Under his leadership, Andela emerged as the #1 Best place to work in Nigeria and Africa.
On moving back to Nigeria from the US, he wrote:
“It was the first time in my adult life that I lived in an environment where I felt like my knowledge, capabilities, character and interests had an exponentially larger impact on my experiences than the colour of my skin.“
Seni joined Andela two years after completing his MBA at Harvard, having previously built a new business jet airline in Nigeria for Bristow Group in a record 12 months. His prior career spans across roles at Bain & Company in Chicago where he helped a CPG company identify half a billion dollars in cost savings, and Hewlett-Packard in Silicon Valley, where he developed strategies to grow the billion-dollar technology services division.
Seni’s personal mission is to build an ecosystem of exemplary businesses and develop leaders that create value through ethical leadership and superior execution. In addition to his professional contributions, he writes and speaks regularly on his philosophy on changing the world through cultivating African talent. On this Medium post he wrote:
“The goal when I bought that one way ticket back to Nigeria in 2014 was to create or scale products and services that improve the quality of life for my fellow Nigerians. I wanted to feel like I had done something tangible for Nigeria, after many years of doing things for other economies.“
On Black Genius, we’ll find out how Seni’s upbringing influenced his philosophy, the secrets to his success, and the strategies he’ll be employing to cultivate high-performance businesses in his newest venture, Rincon. Tune in live on Friday at Noon EST (set a reminder here) or subscribe to Black Genius on Apple Podcasts to listen next week.
Have questions for Seni? Drop them in the comments!