Andrew Kirby – business leader of the year
Max DePree is quoted as saying, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant".
2022 was supremely challenging for Toyota. First, there was the riots, then the floods. But with innovative leadership, he and his team achieved the seemingly impossible – full production by September of this year.
This achievement won him the 2022 Business Leader of the Year at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies Awards.
“The mud was between 0.6 and 1.8m deep over the entire 87-hectare site, causing extensive damage to electrical, mechanical, and IT equipment. TSAM had to order just over 100 000 new equipment parts to replace the damaged ones, while around 4 300 flood-damaged vehicles had to be crushed.”
In his acceptance speech, Kirby said, “I really believe that the challenges that we faced during the pandemic from a manufacturing, retail, and export point of view – and then, of course, the riots in July – helped us to be prepared for what happened this year. It is not something we’d ever wish on anyone, but it helped us to grow and develop our capabilities and resilience, as an organisation, to be able to survive and even flourish…
“This recognition is a tribute to everyone at Toyota South Africa, the executives, management, and the entire workforce who displayed remarkable resourcefulness, commitment, and perseverance to achieve what can only be described as a small miracle.”
Source: MotorPress
