Ineke Botter is an author, consultant and a thought leader on the topic of leadership. In this interview, she shares insights with The Industry Leaders about how to navigate uncertainty as a business leader.

Could you please share a bit about yourself, your background, and the journey that has led you to become an entrepreneur? What makes your perspective unique on the subject of leadership and navigating uncertainty?

Part of it was pure luck; I was in the right place at the right time. The mobile industry had just started in earnest when I entered the telecom space in 1991, as Business Development manager. Our first project was UMC in Ukraine (now Vodafone). Most people in the West were still very hesitant and didn’t believe that people would pay a lot of money for a mobile phone, hence shareholders didn’t put huge amounts of money or big teams in, yet. Our Dutch team consisted of only three people and we had to do everything ourselves. I worked extremely hard under very difficult circumstances, but having said that, it was also a huge learning curve that prepared me for management positions elsewhere. I loved the industry, its enormous impact, and continued working in other countries at CXO level and from 2000 onwards as CEO/MD.

Over the years, more and more people said that I should write about this journey, but I really didn’t have enough time to do that. Still, I had given it a first hesitant try, but lost part of the story when my laptop was stolen. Logically, I was a little demotivated. But when Covid came, I finally sat down to write seriously. I was ‘trapped’ in Amsterdam in an apartment for 10 months, on my own, so plenty of time, and also a good time to touch base with a lot of former colleagues and get their feedback and input, it was fun. To me the book, my memoir, is especially about creating awareness of the huge global impact of the mobile networks in only a few decades. Without these networks we wouldn’t have survived Covid, or found people in the rubble of an earthquake, or kidnapped children etc. Having survived many challenging situations I developed a good understanding of what uncertainty, and danger, does to people. These lessons are really valuable and I have given many examples in my book, ‘Your phone, my life’; examples that might be helpful to people who find themselves in critical circumstances, especially the first time. The best preparation for disaster is to start with taking stock of the situation ‘as is’, next think about the most likely risks that can cross your path and then start working with your team to formulate ‘what if’ scenarios. Not having an emergency plan is not an option. You simply have to, that is the reality of life, even in the Western world now.

In the end, it really all comes down to being prepared as well as you possibly can, and for anything that can hit us. And almost always unexpectedly, like the conflict in Lebanon that developed to a full- fledge war within 24 hours. Luckily we had our plan that we could invoke immediately. Yes, it takes time to put it together, but without that plan it would have been very hard to stay calm and manage through such dangerous situations.

You and your business have presumably faced some interesting challenges and changes over the years. Can you describe a key moment when you felt uncertainty was at its peak?

There have been many moments where I had to manage through uncertainty but I think that July 12, 2006 was the worst day in that respect. I woke up at about 4am with Israeli fighter jets breaking through the sound barrier, people screaming, shouting and fleeing the apartment building I lived in and me thinking about the companies’ employees and my own faith. Would we survive this? My office was on the top floor of the HQ building and when I arrived there – having called an emergency meeting to start implementing our disaster plan – bombs were dropped on areas less than two kilometres away. I could see it all from my window. A mobile company being so strategically important could easily be a main target. I had to understand the strategy, what was at stake and would we be the next target. After about 2 days I understood that only sites with multiple use (mobile telecom, TV, radio transmitters) were the target. The plan turned out to be absolutely crucial, we had proactively identified who had to come to work, when and why. We, the Management Team, had several mobile phones and used different networks, in case part of our network would go down, which happened several times. But the plan was in place and the very resourceful engineers fixed the problems temporarily, with little means, but it worked ! We supplied SIM cards, airtime, answered urgent questions and ran the critical parts of the operation with about 15% of our, very well trained, personnel. My training, experience and character also helped me, I’m organised and I was well prepared. Two points that allowed me to be quick and decisive, which is critical. You have to be able to act immediately, there is absolutely no time to fiddle around.

From your experience, what are the core principles or values that guide a leader during uncertain times?

Be aware that you, as the leader, can’t panic or lose the plot because that means that people get confused and that will cause real chaos. In other words, try to be calm and composed. Get your facts together, as soon as possible. Be decisive and if necessary trigger your plan that should describe all steps to be taken; like the one in Lebanon when we had described five phases of disaster and identified all jobs that were necessary for the operation to run, in each of those phases. Make sure you have a ‘ward system’ in place; this means that you have predefined teams of about seven people. Number one calls number two, who calls three etc. and then the loop is closed when number seven calls number one to inform that all is OK with everyone. Hide your concerns but don’t take unnecessary risks ‘just to be brave’. Protect but also keep faith in your people, always and everywhere.

How do you cultivate a culture of resilience and adaptability within your team? Can you share a practical example where this culture made a significant difference?

It is important in any circumstance that people understand where they stand, and that becomes even more critical during a calamity. That is why detailed plans need to be in place and rehearsed, so that people get a grasp of what can happen and what to do. It helps us to be resilient. If people know what is expected from them and in what phase, they feel better prepared and it allows them to adapt quicker to serious situations. It’s like the Japanese proverb that says ‘Be like bamboo, it bends but never breaks. It’s flexible, yet firmly rooted’. When I arrived in Beirut after a turbulent time in war-ridden Kosovo, Lebanon looked so nice and quiet. But shortly after my arrival, the bird flu was coming our way. We immediately started to work on our emergency plan, which involved analysing every function in the company, who would be needed and in what situation. We never used it for its initial purpose, as the bird flu ‘flew over’, but when the 2006 war arrived we immediately implemented it, with very few changes only.

Many aspiring leaders struggle with the fear of failure, especially when the path ahead is unclear. What strategies or mental frameworks have you developed to overcome this fear and embrace uncertainty as an opportunity?

It was my father who was my coach sometimes, who taught me a great lesson when I wasn’t sure what to do in a particular challenging situation. He said ‘You’re smart and experienced, you have common sense; out of 100 decisions, 95% will be straightforward, 5% you need to consider carefully and 1% might pose a problem, but not taking decisions means that 100% will pose a problem, just keep that in mind.’ This ‘rule’ helped me to always analyse situations, prioritise and make decisions, some of which were creating opportunities in the future. The mere fact that you train yourself to do the analysis is already a positive.

In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes leaders make during uncertain times? Can you offer a real-life example where recognizing and avoiding such a mistake led to success?

Leaders who don’t have their plan in place are not well prepared and logically vulnerable. If they have a plan but have not taken the time to rehearse it with the employees it will be only half effective. If, on top of that, they don’t have an agreed stakeholder communication plan, that’s it. Recipe for failure. ‘The world’ never seriously considered the possibility of an epidemic like Covid and I think many companies suffered more than necessary. Those who did have a fall-back plan, including trained people and the tools – like fast internet connectivity – for personnel to work from home, were in a much better place, their people more resilient and the company more competitive.

Looking towards the future, how do you plan to continue evolving your leadership style to meet new uncertainties and challenges? What advice would you give to others looking to do the same?

As I’m semi-retired now, I think my contribution lies in the fact that we – Wyze2 – support people in challenging situations or when they meet obstacles on the way. We assist them in structuring and restructuring operations. Then I serve on Boards of Directors in East Africa and coach a FinTech start-up there. I’m also a speaker for BookTalks in the Netherlands, which is a boutique agency for seasoned leaders who have a real story to tell and are willing to share their experience in Board meetings, Master classes or lectures. All these activities mean interaction with interesting people, or as the Americans say it is ‘a way of giving back’ and I really enjoy that.

You’ve clearly demonstrated a willingness to learn and grow through experience. Are there any books, mentors, or resources that have particularly influenced your leadership style? How would you recommend others to approach their leadership development journey?

First and foremost my father, who always encouraged me and never said ‘you can’t’. He was my coach when business coaches didn’t exist yet and taught me many important lessons like the one I described earlier. And, then I had a very good boss in Prague, Bessel Kok, a famous telecom CEO. He is very pleasant and friendly, and knows exactly how to motivate his crew. I watched him conducting his business very efficiently, and I used all those lessons in my roles as CEO over the years. I certainly recommend you try and find mentors in the company or your immediate environment, people who you can watch and learn from. Actively participate in courses, attend webinars, like our free monthly webinars (Topics from ‘Your phone, my life’) and consult an experienced business coach when you want to spar about a certain issue. As for books; when I worked in London, the company invited Barbara Minto, a McKinsey partner, to talk to us about her book, the ‘Pyramid Principle’. This was a very long time ago now, but I have used that principle throughout my career. She explained how every situation can be captured into a pyramid: put the most strategic points at the top and those then cascade down into smaller and smaller issues, or actions. For non-business books, I’d love to read ‘War Stories’ by Jeremy Bowens and ‘Alone in Berlin’ by Hans Fallada, again. Both books give another perspective on war situations.

For those who want to learn more about your leadership philosophy or explore the products and services offered by your company, what’s the best way to connect with you or find out more about your work?

Telecommunications infrastructure is a busy sector, with more mergers and acquisitions than ever. At the same time, mobile operators are selling off assets, and investment firms are keen to invest heavily in those assets.

It’s something that has fascinated us at DCD, and something we have covered at great length.

Big-name telecom companies such as Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone have completed deals to sell tower assets in the past 12 months, generating billions of dollars in capital as a result.

We’ve seen a big data center sell-off in years past, as telcos got out of owning facilities. Now, we’re seeing a great telecom tower sell-off. But why?

This feature appeared in the latest issue of the DCD Magazine. Read it for free today.

The significance of telecom towers

It’s worth first understanding the importance of telecom towers or masts, sometimes called base stations. They have electronic equipment and antennas that communicate with phones and other devices. Without them, we’d struggle to keep connected.

Typically they are tall structures, either guyed or self-supporting, and may also be found on rooftops. The size of each site varies depending on the generation of connectivity.

Operators have traditionally built and owned these assets, seeing them as strategically important to their network coverage.

But many have begun spinning off their “TowerCos” into separate units or companies. Deutsche Telekom set up its GD Towers unit, then sold a majority share to Brookfield and DigitalBridge for a cool €17.5 billion ($19bn).

Other operators have sold these tower assets outright, with leaseback deals in place that still sees them lease at least part of the towers for their networks.

Industry veteran Ineke Botter, a former CEO of telcos in countries such as Azerbaijan, Haiti, Kosovo, and Lebanon, explained the importance of these towers to mobile network operators (MNOs).

“I’ve run operators in the past that were owned privately. At the time, it was not an option to sell [towers], because the competition was based on coverage,” said Botter.

“When the first mobile operators started, the name of the game was to get as much coverage as possible, and the best quality of course, with the least disruption.”

So why are operators selling them now? According to PP Foresight telco analyst, Paolo Pescatore, it’s all about efficiencies and pushing new revenue streams.

“All telcos are struggling to generate new forms of revenue. Margins continue to be squeezed due to the rollout of next-generation networks and people are reluctant to spend more on connectivity. We are in a golden era of connectivity. Therefore it represents a good time, better than any, to sell off what was once a prized asset.”

Other analysts that DCD spoke to echoed these sentiments, saying shareholders are pushing operators to cash in their towers.

We are in a golden era of connectivity. Therefore it represents a good time, better than any, to sell off what was once a prized asset.

Short-term gains

James Gray, formerly of Vodafone and Three in the UK, says that operators can make a lot of money in the short term.

Mobile coverage among operators now, in a country like the UK, is relatively evenly distributed, so tower infrastructure isn’t the big differentiator that it once was, back when coverage was king.

“This infrastructure is a big cost for the operators, but it’s not a big differentiator anymore. So you could see why it’s appealing to maybe try and outsource that cost,” explained Gray.

“The costs continue to grow as we deploy new standards, such as 5G and from there, you’ve got to keep on investing in the network.”

It takes work and resources to maintain such infrastructure, and Gray says it makes sense for operators to sell this infrastructure to tower companies who lease it back to them as a managed service, enabling them to still make money.

“It’s easy to see why it’s appealing for operators to do this as they can make a lot of money selling all that infrastructure to companies or whoever it might be in the short term. It will enable the operators to move away from thinking like they are infrastructure organizations and start thinking about being customer-centric organizations that are focused on driving the brand and driving ARPU [average revenue per user].”

Christopher Greaves, a researcher for TowerXchange, explains that the networks don’t make telcos a huge amount of money. He says the move for telecom companies is a “win-win.”

“With the arrival of 5G and with the digitization of our economies towards cloud and IoT, there’s a lot of capital that needs to be deployed to advance our economies to provide more services.”

Operators want to deploy capital where they can make money, and the network is not such an area: “So for operators, it’s sort of a win-win for them because they can free up capital to invest in new verticals, whilst at the same time they can reduce their existing opex costs by stepping away from their tower infrastructure.”

Christopher Antlitz, principal analyst at Technology Business Research, describes MNO’s tower assets as real estate, which they must fully utilize in order to provide the best service.

Rolling out 5G has become so expensive, Antlitz says, and tower sales can fund spectrum acquisition.

“We need to remember the context here, which is that the telcos are heavily levered,” he said. “Most telcos are in a lot of debt. They have had to buy spectrum, they have to fund capex, and they have to fund dividend payouts. They have a lot of expenses. So the towers are an asset that they have had for decades that they can repurpose and free up capital and that’s what they are doing right now.”

Repurposing assets can help operators reinvest

Vodafone sold off some of its Vantage Towers business in November 2022 to a new joint venture with KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The transaction valued the Towers unit at €16.1 billion ($17.65bn), and Vodafone got €3.2 billion ($3.5bn) in cash, which it used to pay down its debt.

Andrea Dona, chief network officer for Vodafone UK, says it’s a necessity for the operator to offload these assets, in order to keep pushing forward with network upgrades and advancements.

He says towers are high-value assets and form the background for connectivity, but it doesn’t make sense to spend “a lot of money on the passive asset network infrastructure in an environment where operators are struggling with revenue growth and margins.”

Like everyone else, for Dona, it’s about realizing money, so Vodafone can invest in its “core business which is customer experience, innovation, the rollout of technology, network quality, digital skills and services beyond connectivity.”

In the Philippines, PLDT said offloading tower sites could fund expansion and ease mature debts, while Globe Telecom sold off over 7,000 towers to raise over $1.2 billion to fund its own network expansion.

Not all operators though

In France, however, things seem to be different. Orange’s CEO Christel Heydemann has called MNOs spinning off their assets “weird.”

“When you see companies selling their towers [or] using financial vehicles to continue to invest in infrastructure there is something that is, maybe not wrong, but something weird going on in the market,” Heydemann told the Financial Times in February.

For context, Orange’s Totem tower subsidiary is fully owned by Orange, and operates around 27,000 towers across France and Spain, two of its biggest markets.

An Orange spokesperson told DCD that Europe remains a key market for the operator.

“The European tower market remains attractive due to long-term contracts indexed to inflation and the coverage densification and the roll-out of 5G on the continent, which remains a key growth opportunity,” said the Orange spokesperson, stating that Totem is vital to its ambition to become a trustworthy European TowerCo.

Orange have no intention of selling tower assets – Getty Images

Tempting investors

There are operators that own the towers, and there are TowerCos that specialize in the infrastructure. But there are also investment firms that have a strong interest in this industry. Why is this?

Carl Gandeborn, a former executive at Ericsson and Nokia who also worked at Helios, says it is because tower assets come with very little risk.

“They offer very steady cash flows for investors. They are no risk, because the companies that you would have on your books are a certainty. So if you’re a pension fund, you can go and you put capital and you invest into our company and get steady returns. It’s like a steady rental business and it’s long-term contracts.”

Alessandro Ravagnolo, a partner at Analsys Mason, agrees: “TowerCos have a business model that is very attractive for infrastructure funds because the technology risk is extremely low, if not absent.”

“There are high barriers to enter and exit and you have long-term contracts which all contribute to a predictable cash flow, so this makes them very attractive for investors. There’s a continuous need for investment to expand the networks, plus there’s obligations attached to these contracts too.”

The growth of The Tower Co

What about the TowerCos themselves? While mobile operators have traditionally built these assets, many independent tower companies have been established in recent years in regions such as Europe and Africa.

In recent months we’ve seen a flurry of acquisitions completed. Spanish telco Cellnex recently finalized the purchase of CK Hutchison’s tower business in the UK.

This was part of a deal that also saw Cellnex snap up tower assets from CK Hutchison across six European countries, including Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden for a combined €10 billion ($11bn).

“This series of agreements with CK Hutchison not only strengthens our position as the leading pan-European operator but also bolsters our relationships with our customers and opens us up to new opportunities and perspectives for collaboration,” said then-Cellnex CEO Tobias Martínez in November 2022.

“In essence, this rationalizing of the infrastructure managed by a neutral operator like Cellnex will create the necessary incentives to accelerate, improve and expand mobile coverage, including 5G, in these key markets.”

The company, which operates around 53,000 tower sites in Europe, continues to do deals.

It most recently took full control of OnTower Poland, paying €510 million ($556m) to buy the remaining 30 percent stake from Iliad Group.

A booming market – Africa’s TowerCo push

London-based Helios Towers operates over 13,600 towers in nine countries across Africa and the Middle East.

Group Commercial Director and Regional CEO for Southern Africa Sainesh Vallabh says TowerCos were created by the movement from the market towards shared infrastructure: “Network as a competitive advantage has become less of a feature for mobile operators around the world.

“That coupled with the regulatory drive to have an efficient and more sustainable investment in the market so we don’t duplicate infrastructure and waste resources has driven the advent of TowerCos looking to acquire these assets and operationalize them much better, in order to create the efficiency and sustainability to benefit both the telco and the mobile operator.”

Africa has seen a flood of investment in tower infrastructure. In 2021, Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) was one of three key investors in Eastcastle Infrastructure, developing new towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire.

Patrick Kouamé, an investment director at AAIM, repeats that infrastructure is no longer such a strategic asset: “Telcos main value is to manage the customers.”

Also, he points out that regulators are increasingly making it mandatory for telcos to share infrastructure.Network as a competitive advantage has become less of a feature for mobile operators around the world

Tenancy sharing

It is more sustainable for operators to share tower infrastructure, says TowerXchange’s Greaves: “TowerCos are by design sustainable because they encourage tower sharing. By sharing tower infrastructure, you are reducing the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of your network, so it’s more efficient.”

It’s also lucrative, says Antlitz: “You can increase the tenants on the tower. Historically, you would have one tower owned by one telco. Over the years those telcos would sub-lease or rent out space on their tower if they have extra space to another telco or to some other entity,” he explained.

“As for investors buying the towers, there is much less of a competitive angle and there’s more of an emphasis on the sharing model. With multi-tenancy, every tenant you add to an existing tower site, your cash flow and your margin structure gets very lucrative.”

This can give investors a profitable long-term revenue stream.

Challenges for the industry

There are questions. Gray thinks operators may be selling too many of these assets for an initial quick cash bonanza, without thinking long-term. “After the initial money made from selling the infrastructure, operators will have to pay to use it.”

By selling these assets or spinning them off as TowerCos, mobile operators have also “lost control over an important part of their value chain,” he says.

“In some cases in Europe, operators have kept a 51 percent share and so they’ve got a bit more control,” he says. “They’ve probably pleased some investors with the initial sales, but longer term they’ve got this ongoing cost, and are no longer in control of that cost. So that’s going to need to be watched.”

But challenges differ from market to market. Africa has infrastructure issues, such as the problem of aging grid systems in South Africa. For 12 months the country has been hit with regular rolling power cuts, with the country’s state power utility Eskom warning that outages could last for as long as 16 hours this winter.

Vallabh says that the lack of infrastructure in Africa is the biggest challenge for the continent right now.

“None of our markets in Africa actually have a 24-hour grid availability. In the past, South Africa used to have 24 hours, but with the load-shedding program, it’s reduced substantially.

So alternative forms of energy are critical for ensuring that networks stay up and running when the power goes down,” he says. “Mobile networks are critical infrastructure, and it will cripple the economies of these markets if they don’t remain up.”

He’s not wrong. It’s estimated that load-shedding in South Africa has cost the country’s GDP five percent.

Once they’re gone, they’re gone – Getty Images

When will it end?

Is it sustainable for mobile operators to keep selling their assets?

Ravagnolo thinks there are some sectors like Central Eastern Europe and maybe the Nordics, which have seen fewer tower acquisitions, that might follow in Western Europe’s footsteps.

But overall, there is a limit, he says: “There is a natural ceiling to the market if all the operators spin off their towers, then there is no more to spin off right?”

So, when 6G is being rolled out, will telcos still be spinning off assets? Maybe not. Because by then, they might not have any left.

Source: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/the-great-telecom-tower-sell-off/
August 15, 2023
Author: Peter Lipscombe

Ineke Botter was born in the Netherlands and studied corporate and international law at the University of Amsterdam.

Her recently published book ‘Your Phone, my life’ starts in communist Kiev and tells us how her work in mobile telecoms took her first to other countries in the former Eastern Bloc and then to Western Europe, Kosovo, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and Haiti. As CEO, she was in charge of mobile network operations in all these countries and managed them through periods of political unrest, war, bomb attacks and other serious obstacles.

There are just under 1,000 mobile networks globally and Ms. Botter was one of very few female CEOs in the mobile industry. Semi-retired now, she works alone, or with her business partner Gavin Jeffery, offering Management Services globally mostly to technology-related industries.

You’ve recently written a book ‘Your phone, my life’, what was the inspiration behind writing it?

About 5.5 billion people switch on their mobile device before they even have breakfast, but they have no clue of ‘how that phone landed in their hand’. The mobile phone is the biggest game changer of the past decade. Plenty of technical books have been written, but strangely enough no-one wrote about the adventures of how we built all those networks.

Everyone just takes for granted that the phone – the mirror of your life – is there, but very few people realise what a miracle it is that the world is connected the way it is, and what the people who made that happen went through – the real adventures.

Without these networks we wouldn’t have survived disasters like Covid or been able to find missing persons in the rubble of an earthquake, or kidnapped children. So many people asked me to write a book, but it wasn’t until the Covid-19 pandemic that I finally had the time to sit down and actually do it, with the help of colleagues.

Who does the book help and how?

The book is my account of survival lessons from some of the toughest places on earth. I was leading strategically important telecommunications operations through civil unrest and war, post drastic political changes and the aftermath of natural disasters.

It is my own memoir and I have tried to write it in a way that it can be read by anyone who is interested in international business adventures, and not so much as a woman leading very critical and capital intensive operations in a male world. But I can imagine that women who aspire to have an international career could pick up some useful lessons whilst reading.

Aside from writing the book, how else do you support businesses?

Since I retired as CEO, I help and coach young start-ups, mostly in East Africa. I participate in Boards and offer management services via Wyze2 with my business partner. All these projects are technology related, often in the telecom space itself or industries that use mobile communication as their platform, such as fintech initiatives.

And, of course, I spend a lot of time trying to create more awareness for the ‘mobile history’ via social media, webinars, podcasts etc. also in co-operation with the UK based Mobile Phone Museum, a great initiative that also tries to document and safeguard our mobile history.

We’re constantly bombarded with stories of ‘instant wins’ and ‘unicorns’ but, for most business owners, their journey simply doesn’t work like that. So now, I want to get your real-life perspective of what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur today.

I find that young people often have great ideas that could be very successful but they lack the understanding, or experience of how to actually build a business. As Wyze2 we are there to support companies to build and restructure in a way that they will survive, long term. That means that we assist them in laying what I call ‘the foundation of the company’, i.e. financial, legal and HR functions are in place, the IPR is registered and the business processes are clearly described. Next step is to develop all ‘technical’ aspects of the business and only then start the commercial activities. This means that the marketing, PR, sales and distribution activities have a solid base to work from and to enable growth. Many times I saw great ideas dwindle or a young company go bankrupt as the foundation was not in place. Founders of the big tech companies always had business people next to them and followed their advice. Great ideas need great support !

Can you share with us a time when you failed, and what you learned from that experience?

My failures are mostly caused by my optimistic character. Sometimes I have overestimated other people’s willingness to do the necessary, probably because we are so seasoned that we almost automatically assume that there is no problem and that all problems can be solved. For example my business partner and I joined some people to start a vehicle that would organise finance and support young companies and start-ups in Africa. That went south…. Promises made were never delivered and my business partner and I became more and more frustrated. The lesson for me was that we should have done more ‘due diligence’ or better never start a cooperation like this anymore.

How do you define success, and how do you measure it in your business?

Success in my role today is different from my success in the past. In the past I had to measure my success mostly in monetary terms. The mobile industry is a very capital intensive industry, hundreds of millions of dollars investment that need a defined return to be able to rapidly expand and reinvest in new technology. Still, my personal measure of success in the countries I worked in was more than just money, it was also the investment in the employees and our CSR programs for children in need. Today I measure my success more in how we are able to make other people successful by guiding them through the pitfalls of setting up and restructuring their businesses.

How do you stay motivated and focused on your goals, especially during the tough times?

In the countries I have worked in – and really everywhere – no solution is no option. In other words, I’ve had to juggle the balls endlessly, but as you take the responsibility for people, you have to try to protect them, that’s a given for me. That also means that you have emergency and disaster planning in place and that you’re well prepared when the ‘shit hits the fan’. Concentrate on your goals.

What do you think are the key qualities that every successful entrepreneur should possess?

Work alongside your employees whenever you can, show interest in what they are doing. Offer them help, training and support as loyal and well trained people are your best chance to succeed.

Be open to advice, as life is the best university. Experienced people are very often willing to share their stories that can be very helpful for you as a beginner, or later when you find obstacles on the road.

Walk the talk; never promise more than you can deliver and always practise ‘KISS’ or Keep it Super Simple.

Now I’d like to look at what makes you stand out from the crowd. What role do you think technology and digital innovation play in the success of businesses and how do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends?

As CEO in the mobile industry I have logically been very close to these developments. The investments are so enormous that you need to be fully updated, constantly. The way I used to do that was to chat with my engineers, participate in conferences, visit suppliers’ labs and read mobile telecom news. Nowadays it is no longer crucial for me to be so close to these innovations, but still, I follow it every day and with interest. Very useful as Wyze2 is active in technology related sectors, like FinTech.

The most important organisation in the mobile industry is the GSMA, i.e. the global organisation that unifies the mobile ecosystems to discover, develop and deliver innovation that helps businesses and society thrive. The GSMA publications are very good as they cover the worldwide developments in all areas of business.

You’ll be surprised how much each person is dependent on mobile technology, even those who consider themselves well connected. Fancy finding out for yourself, try this quiz, https://mobileuk.outgrow.us/LiveBetterConnected, from the UK’s MNO trade body, Mobile UK, which is part of a wider awareness campaign, Live Better Connected, built to raise awareness about this crucial technology.

What do you think sets you apart from others in your industry, and how do you plan to continue to differentiate yourself in the future?

What set me apart was the fact that for a long time, I was one of the very few female CEOs in the world who moved from country to country, mostly the most challenging ones. Today I am sharing all lessons learned, together with my business partner who was on a similar journey. And as long as we are able to, we as Wyze 2, will be there to support companies with our knowledge and experience and we are happy to share our ‘management lessons’ and open to Board and advisory roles.

Are you working on anything specific that people should know about?

My team and I are busy creating more awareness of the history of mobile communications, by educating people on how mobile phone networks were built, often under extremely difficult circumstances. It’s a story that was never told. You’ll find plenty of technical books, but no memoirs of ‘how that phone landed in your hand’. It was a huge adventure for many ‘mobile telecom nomads’ and really interesting as the mobile industry changed the world as we knew it, in a very short space of time and with enormous social impact that we experience every day.

We are very active on Linkedin. We organise webinars and appear on podcasts to tell our story, increase awareness and encourage interested people to read ‘Your phone, my life’, which can be ordered on Amazon. And, I’m sure my PR lady would love to speak to streaming service providers too!

What does the next 12 months have in store for you, the book and your business?

We will continue to offer management services, and my ‘book’ team and I will continue to attract attention, via social media, for the mobile history and its impact on today’s life. We were too busy building networks, but the Covid-19 pandemic gave me time to finally write. The feedback is very good I’m happy to say, from: ‘I never realised’ to ‘The story is an eye-opener, exciting and adventurous. A real Netflix story !’

How should people connect with you to find out more?

For the book, you can follow us via the Linkedin page ‘Your phone, my life’ and subscribe to the monthly webinars ‘Topics from Your phone, my life’.

If you have a business challenge or you meet an obstacle on your way then feel free to contact us via www.wyze2.com . We are there to support.

Source: https://www.theindustryleaders.org/post/memoir-of-a-ceo-your-phone-my-life

Be aware that you can’t panic or lose the plot because that means that people get confused and that will cause real chaos. Try to be calm and composed. Hopefully you never have to work in serious civil unrest and war situations like I did in several countries.

Aspart of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ineke Botter.

Ineke Botter was born in the Netherlands and studied corporate and international law at the University of Amsterdam.

Her recently published book ‘Your phone, my life’ starts in communist Kiev and tells us how her work in mobile telecoms took her first to other countries in the former Eastern Bloc and then to Western Europe, Kosovo, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and Haiti. As CEO, she was in charge of mobile network operations in all these countries, and managed them through periods of political unrest, war, bomb attacks and other serious obstacles (see www.yourphonemylife.me )

There are just under 1,000 mobile networks globally and Ms. Botter was one of very few female CEOs in the mobile industry. Semi-retired now, she works alone, or with her partner Gavin Jeffery, offering Management Services globally, but mostly to technology related industries (see www.wyze2.com ).

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in telecoms?

Many thanks for your invitation. I’m happy to share my experience with your readers and talk about ‘Your phone, my life’.

When I graduated, I worked in the investment department of an insurance company in Amsterdam that later seconded me to their Headquarters in London. The work was interesting, more of a Business Development job really. When my two-year contract was up there was no suitable job back in Amsterdam. My father suggested I should talk to a friend of his who was in charge of the International Department of KPN, the Dutch BT. I liked the idea and was hired as a Business Development Manager. My first project was in satellite communications and soon after I was asked to join the ‘mobile team’ and off we went to Kiev. And that is where the book starts; Ukraine was still part of the USSR but on its way to independence. Very poor, famine, but very exciting times. We were there on the night of independence and I‘ll never forget how happy people were.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Yes. This story was fun, but as always, only afterwards ! When I went to Ukraine for the first time, back in the summer of 1991, I travelled in jeans and luckily, a nice jacket. I arrived at Kiev airport in the middle of the night but my luggage did not. So, I had to borrow shirts and underwear from my colleague as the water in the tap was rusty and dark brown, not inviting to do your laundry. Lo and behold, when I went to see the same colleague in Southern Africa much later, he had to rescue me again. Same story. The lesson: as first impressions are important, make sure you have some extra clothes in your hand luggage, certainly if you travel somewhere where you can’t expect fancy shopping malls to buy new business outfits.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My kind and wise father, and ‘the English’. My father was my ‘business coach’ even before the world invented business coaches as a profession. Unfortunately he died quite young, but still I learned many lessons from him. Especially about decision-making.

‘The English’ is a wide term, I know, but working with many English colleagues throughout my career has been good for me. They have a different way of looking at peoples’ capacities and skills than we have in continental Europe. Combining both business cultures gave me many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your industry started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

When we started in 1991 in Ukraine, when it was still a communist country, the Minister we negotiated with took a huge and courageous step forward to open up the country and issue a licence to build a mobile network that would connect people. Communism didn’t allow individuals to just speak to each other on telephones, those were only for party members.

That vision of connecting people has been the mobile industry’s vision since its birth in the late eighties. We are not selling network capacity or phones or any device; what we are really selling is connectivity, anywhere and everywhere. That has changed the world one hundred percent. Your mobile device is always with you and ‘the mirror of your life’. It means that even with Covid, or other big disasters, the world can still function.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?

When I arrived in Beirut after a turbulent time in war-ridden Kosovo, Lebanon looked nice and quiet. A beautiful small Mediterranean country, nice weather, lively people, great food etcetera. But shortly after my arrival, bird flu was coming our way. We started to work on a detailed disaster plan, but apparently there was a sign at the border ‘No sick birds allowed’, so we were safe.

Not much later though, the 2006 war with Israel arrived. Within a few hours of unrest, full fledged war. Luckily we had our detailed disaster plan in place, defining all steps to be taken, especially who could stay home, who had to come to work, when and where.

Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?

Not really, the ‘captain cannot abandon the ship’ especially not in difficult situations. You are in charge, the company and its people are dependent on your decisions and your life is not worth more than theirs.

Having said that, you never know how you will react if you don’t have experience with such situations, only after the first serious incident do you know if you are able to manage. If so, you need to stay for as long as your shareholders allow you to. Which is a very important point; besides your detailed disaster plan, you do need the full backing of shareholders.

I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?

Absolutely. When I worked in London, the company invited Barbara Minto, a McKinsey partner to talk to us about her book, the ‘Pyramid principle’. This was a very long time ago now, but I have used that principle throughout my career. She explained how every situation can be captured into a pyramid: put the most strategic points at the top and those then cascade down into smaller and smaller issues, or actions. Your ability to quickly eliminate ‘nonsense’ and to go back to the most critically important points is crucial.

For non-business books, I’d love to read ‘War Stories’ by Jeremy Bowens’ and ‘Alone in Berlin’ by Hans Fallada again. Both books give another perspective on war situations. It’s never black and white. Just now I’m finishing a wonderful little novel set in East Africa ‘The river between’ by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, describing the impact of colonialism.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

When there is serious trouble, most people have difficulty absorbing information in one go. As a leader, it is your task to make sure you have a well thought-out communication strategy in your ‘backpack’ too, so you can communicate in a way that stakeholders understand, as well as employees, board members and shareholders. Communication needs to be factual, clear and delivered with empathy.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

In my experience it’s best to stay on the ground, with the people, and lead by example. Don’t convey your concerns; just give factual information, that could also include ‘unknowns’. As long as you’re sincere and honest that is not a weakness, it’s a strength that most people appreciate and that inspires and leads.

What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?

Difficult news quickly gets to people, it often becomes very personal. So I try to think about the people or the team first; what are their strengths and weaknesses? How can I tell them the news without harming their confidence or causing anxiety? Is there a positive element that I can add to the message, something that they can actually do to help improve the situation ? In other words; ‘This is not going well, but let’s think about that. Maybe there is another option to look into ?’

How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?

Take stock of the situation ‘as is’, then think about the most likely risks that can cross your path, then start working with your team to formulate ‘what if’ scenarios. The bird flu disaster plan turned into a war disaster plan within a few minutes. Not having a plan is not an option. You simply have to, that is the reality of life in the western world now.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

‘Be prepared and stay calm’.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

Not having a disaster plan in place. Not having rehearsed the disaster plan and not having an agreed communication plan. All of these points can be easily avoided. Yes, it is work, but it’s absolutely necessary to put that effort in upfront. Also, don’t fire people when they are most vulnerable in the midst of a disaster, it will cause so much unnecessary uncertainty for the other employees.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.

First and foremost you need to get your facts in order as soon as possible. Be decisive and if necessary, trigger your disaster plan; whenever a car bomb went off in Lebanon, I had less than two minutes to act before the network was congested.

Be aware that you can’t panic or lose the plot because that means that people get confused and that will cause real chaos. Try to be calm and composed. Hopefully you never have to work in serious civil unrest and war situations like I did in several countries.

Make sure you have a ‘ward system’ in place. This is something I learned whilst working in Kosovo, it means that you have predefined teams of about seven people. Number one calls number two, who calls three etc. and then the loop is closed when number seven calls number one to inform that all is OK with everyone. It should be part of your disaster plan too.

Hide your concerns but don’t take unnecessary risks ‘just to be brave’. I feared sometimes that some of my field engineers in war situations took too much risk repairing damage when bombs were still falling around them, but I have to admit, they did brilliantly.

Keep faith in your people, always and everywhere.

Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

For me as a leader, I realised early on that it is really simple, ‘if you sneeze the company is ill, if you laugh the company is happy’. Always laugh, it is the universal glue !

How can our readers further follow your work?

My team and I are busy creating more awareness of the history of mobile communications, by educating people on how mobile phone networks were built, often under extremely difficult circumstances, and sharing the lessons we learned on the way. It’s a story that was never told. You’ll find plenty of technical books, but no memoirs of ‘how that phone landed in your hand’.

It was a huge adventure for many ‘mobile telecom nomads’ and really interesting as the mobile industry changed the world as we knew it, in a very short space of time. People are now free to talk, can do their business without hassle, pay and send money instantly even to the remotest areas, learn a language, consult a doctor, order a taxi etc. etc.

We are very active on Linkedin. We organise webinars and appear on podcasts to tell our story, increase awareness and encourage interested people to read ‘Your phone, my life’, which can be ordered on Amazon. And, I’m sure my PR lady would love to speak to streaming service providers too ! (please contact us via www.yourphonemylife.me),

Apart from that, I continue to work with my business partner, offering management services to companies that need our expertise, mostly with building and re-organizing technology based companies in challenging situations, worldwide (www.wyze2.com).

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Source: Ineke Botter of Your Phone My Life On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Uncertain & Turbulent Times | by Authority Magazine | Authority Magazine | Sep, 2023 | Medium
March 16, 2023
Author: Authority Magazine

An industry veteran and one of the few female CEOs in telecoms, Ineke Botter has held integral roles in the build-out of Europe’s mobile ecosystem – a story which she tells in her new book, Your Phone, My Life.

Having been stuck in Amsterdam in the midst of Covid-19, Ineke Botter decided to continue working on her book, which she had made little progress on prior to the pandemic. Botter had left the Netherlands 35 years before, so now faced being alone in what had become unfamiliar territory.
“I was totally alone in two periods [during the pandemic], for the first time, for around three or four months, and the second around seven months,” Botter says. “But I’m used to being on my own: as a CEO, you’re always on your own.”
Your Phone, My Life: or how did that phone land in your hand?, tells how the world’s mobile networks were built over the last 30 years from the perspective of a female chief executive who had entered the industry in 1991.
Botter’s telecoms journey began in Ukraine, in 1991, as the country freed itself from the USSR. As part of a wider team, she took part in negotiations with the minister of telecommunications of a country with virtually no telecoms infrastructure.
Ukraine’s government declared the country an independent state in August – and Botter was present when Ukraine’s citizens confirmed the country’s independence in a referendum held on 1 December, and the USSR imploded 25 days later. Since then, she has managed country’s mobile networks through periods of political turmoil, unrest, war and bomb attacks.
Botter has held positions in senior management, including chief executive roles and directorships, in Ukraine, Hungary, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Kosovo, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Haiti, and currently East Africa.
Given the world’s reliance on mobile phones, Botter laments that the history of a device so integral to society is not well known. This, she says, was her primary motivation for writing her book.
“For me, it was acknowledging the people who worked their socks off to get this realised, and in my own sort of way, to say thank you to them,” she says.
Today, the mobile telecoms industry provides 10 billion connections, contributes almost 5% to global GDP, provides more over 30 million jobs, and pays US$500 billion in taxes worldwide. And Botter notes that it enables famous tech companies to exist and virtually everyone in the world to work, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of very few
Botter has been one of the very few female CEOs in the industry, which manages less than 1,000 mobile networks globally. But she does not believe that female CEOs being rare in this industry held her back from holding prestigious positions across the world.
“In the telecoms industry, being female wasn’t a consideration, it was rather having enormous experience,” she says.
Botter says that she found it more difficult to work in Western Europe than in countries such as Lebanon, where half of her middle management team of 55 colleagues were female.
She found countries she feels are “extroverted” were her favourite places to work, as they suited her personality.
“Every country has positive and negative points, but I look at it more from a cultural point of view,” she says. “I think if you’re a very extroverted person, then there are certain countries that will suit you.”
Botter namechecks London, Hungary and Lebanon as the countries she loved working in, despite the latter being “dangerous”.
African promise
Although Botter was in France for this interview, she spends most of her time in Uganda where she helps local businesses and start-ups.
Botter has travelled to several African countries, which makes her better placed than most to see the vast potential the continent has to offer, particularly around its telecoms industry.
In recent times, she says, Africa has been seen as a “playground” for operators to try new things to increase mobile penetration because of the freedom on offer.
“But it is also the case that the penetration of laptops or computers is very, very low due to a lack of disposable income,” she says.
Botter believes there are several challenges facing African operators as they build out sustainable networks, just like in Europe many years ago.
“4G and 5G networks are so expensive to build, the question is, are you going to build it in rural areas even with 4G?” she points out.
Botter thinks that the continent will look to satellite connectivity in a bid to bolster its networks as a whole. And while Africa’s economy continues to grow at an accelerated pace, the continent is facing several challenges to enhancing its satellite network.
Despite these issues, satellite is showing more promise, especially as improvements to its technology and new opportunities and benefits become available with new constellations.
But Botter has already put in the hard years in Europe, and now enjoys her role as a board member for several companies across the world.
Looking back at her career she says, “I’m happy our efforts made it that people are able to stay in touch, no matter what.
 
Source: https://www.capacitymedia.com/article/2beqo2kgc7a084q5cncow/big-interview/a-day-in-the-life-of
March 16, 2023
Author: Saf Malik