The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, Stephen Blewett, has offered deep insights into the leadership philosophy that guides one of the nation’s largest corporate entities.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Personality Profile with Lexis Bill, Mr. Blewett distilled his decades of experience in the challenging African telecommunications sector into two fundamental life lessons: the impermanence of power and the necessity of genuine human connection.
Mr. Blewett, who took the helm of MTN Ghana in April 2024, emphasised that a failure to grasp these principles can be the undoing of any successful professional.
Lesson 1: You occupy the chair, you don’t own it.
The first major lesson, according to the CEO, centers on humility and the transient nature of high office. Mr. Blewett stressed that corporate positions, or any form of success, are temporary assignments rather than permanent possessions.
“Now, I think the biggest ones I learned, which I didn’t know in my first CEO role, are that you occupy the chair. You don’t own it. Be humble, because one day you won’t occupy the chair,” he stated.
He connected this perspective to a wider truth about success and adversity, noting that even “very wealthy, very successful” people can “lose everything.” For the leader of a company that is a major player in Ghana’s economy, this spiritual grounding is key.
Mr. Blewett, who is also an author, openly discussed his faith as the guardrail for his leadership: “My faith is very important to me. I’m a Christian, and it’s very important to me. So that guards a lot of what I do.”
He views his current role through this lens of temporary stewardship: “I always look at it and say, you know, even, I mean, this is a great privilege for me to be the CEO of MTN Ghana, but I only occupy the chair for the time that I’m meant to be here and the purpose I meant to have. I don’t own the chair. It doesn’t make me more better than anyone else.”
Lesson 2: Winning minds and hearts through authenticity
The second, equally critical lesson, which Mr. Blewett credits to his father, revolves around the irreplaceable value of authentic human relationships in achieving organizational goals.
He stressed that genuine connection, rather than transactional management, is the engine of corporate success. “People can see if you fake, don’t be fake, but people are what do, what you need,” he advised.
In a competitive market like Ghana, where MTN is the market leader with millions of subscribers, success hinges on the commitment of its workforce. Mr. Blewett pointed out that if leaders fail to connect authentically, they only get partial compliance.
“If you want to achieve success and you don’t have the people with you, you’re never going to do it, whether it’s your family, whether it’s your colleagues, you’ve got to invest time in truly connecting with people, because that’s how you achieve success.”
He added that in his role, where he must constantly drive performance against ambitious targets under MTN Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy, pure command is insufficient.
“So when I have to talk to my team and ask them to go harder and do more, if they’re not on my side, they’ll give me lip service, but they won’t give me their minds and hearts. And you have to have to win over people’s minds and hearts. If you don’t, no matter what you’re trying to do, you’ll never succeed, and those two things are important to me.”
About the Author
