Dis-Chem Group CEO Rui Morais on his leadership philosophy: 'I knew I wanted to lead'
Morais opens up about his leadership journey and how to bring out the best in his team.
Stephen Grootes chats to this week's 'Shapeshifter' Rui Morais, CEO of Dis-Chem, about his leadership philosophy, career journey, and the company's transformation into a healthcare ecosystem, focusing on expanding access to primary healthcare and reducing costs.
Rui Morais grew up in Johannesburg and attended Jeppe Boys High. His mom was an educator, so he was raised with the expectation that 'you did things the right way.'
"I can't always say that I conformed to that, but I certainly did have that expectation of doing exactly what a model student would do."
- Rui Morais, CEO - Dis-Chem
Did he always know what he wanted to do?
"It sounds cliched, I guess, but knew fundamentally that I wanted to lead something. I had always felt that I was good at it, if for no other reason than that I participated in different sporting teams and throughout my schooling career I had always found a passion for leadership. it was always something that resonated for me. I knew I wanted to lead."
- Rui Morais, CEO - Dis-Chem
His father and brother are chartered accountants, and he too went into accountancy, but says it forced him at a young age to be exposed to the commercial decision-making process.
"In my opinion it fast tracks your ability to lead."
- Rui Morais, CEO - Dis-Chem
He says he then developed a love for retail, and later on, a love for healthcare.
His career path took him from Chief Financial Officer to Chief Executive Officer.
He talks about his two fundamental in leadership style:
"In my experience, the fundamental traits that I think you need to hold true to yourself as leader - you need to make a decision at an appropriate time. There is more danger in not making a decision than making the wrong one."
- Rui Morais, CEO - Dis-Chem
"You also need to unpack the 'why'. So you need to be able to harnass the team and get to know that the team see the 'why' the same way that you do."
- Rui Morais, CEO - Dis-Chem
He says that while one serves many stakeholders, ultimately the most important one is serving the customer and "that really is your why", he adds.
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