Son, it’s your job to get everyone on the same page

When I was growing up, I’d help my father do what he loved. I helped him with the health camps he’d organize and run. He would do these free health fairs in Southern California that would providw blood tests, dental services and even mammograms to anyone who walked in. Each of them would get organized with just a couple thousand dollars in donations and a few dozen volunteers. On a peak day they would see over 200 people. Since then, my father has organized and executed countless free health fairs all around the world including surgeries.

Here’s a picture of one of his latest trips that was to Ndola, Zambia: (the city where I was born)

Ndola Central Hospital

My time volunteering at the health fairs has had a lasting impact on me and how I think about running a company. As I started to scale my companies and I knew I’d have to hire more people, I asked my father for his thoughts on organizing these health camps with only volunteers and very little money.

I asked him: How do you do it? He simply said,

Son, it’s your job to get everyone on the same page.

That’s the main guiding principle he had as he organized and ran these health fairs. It’s the same principle that has guided me as I start companies, hire people and scale the businesses. It’s one of those statements that sounds so simple but yet is an endless job that I’ve found myself working on constantly within my companies.