The Founder, former Executive Chairman and Honorary Life Chairman of the Shacolas Group of Companies, Nicos Shacolas, who has died at the age of 99, was recognised with the CCCI Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th CCCI Business Leader Awards in 2018.
In an interview with GOLD magazine at the time, Shacolas talked about the qualities he considered to be most important for a leader and also revealed the people who had influenced his own successful professional path the most.
Nicolas Shacolas was born in Karavas in 1927. His entire career from 1953 to the present day (December 2018) has been characterised by his involvement in a wide variety of sectors and industries, from exports of agricultural products to the representation and distribution of global brands; from department stores and Cyprus' first shopping malls to insurance and telecommunications; from ship owning to the founding of the international consortium Hermes Airports.
He established the Shacolas Group, one of the leading and most diversified business groups in the country and one of the biggest employers in Cyprus. At the same time, he is a generous philanthropist and benefactor who has been decorated by six countries, and remains a tireless creator and a respected leader.
Leadership
"In my opinion, good leadership is a natural charisma that you are born with. However, the abilities that can make an individual influential, inspiring and effective must be developed through hard work and experience. A successful leader needs passion and patience. He is able to recognise his mistakes and has the courage to admit them."
Influences
"One of the very few people I would cite as influences on me was my grandfather, Hadjimatheos Hadjistavrinos, a local merchant and landowner from Karavas. I admired him from the age of four or five because of his wisdom and his excellent advice on how to take care of myself, but also because he taught me to carry out certain tasks efficiently and successfully.
I would also mention Giona-Michael Pietroni and Zenon Severis, two outstanding personalities and businessmen who had a great influence on me during the early stages of my career."
Leaders I admire
"I was inspired by Sam Walton, the founder of the American multinational retail corporation Walmart, because of his outstanding leadership style and the methodical and organisational skills that enabled him to build one of the largest enterprises in the world.
Outside the business community, I would mention Alexander the Great, who had Aristotle as his mentor and personal tutor, for his exceptional strategic leadership abilities, and Sir Winston Churchill, who inspired an entire nation during the most difficult years of WW2 and led it to victory."
Essential skills/qualities of an effective business leader
"Common sense and sound judgement, decisiveness, commitment, willingness to go the extra mile, perseverance and dedication, always accompanied by honesty.
Determination combined with flexibility, enabling a leader to make the necessary changes whenever circumstances require them.
A good leader also needs creativity and vision in order to create long-term value."
This interview first appeared in the December 2018 edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.
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