Page 77 - KZN Top Business LEADERS-eBook

MICHAEL KEATS

M ichael Keats is the KwaZulu-Natal regional The greatest accomplishment for himself as a PEOPLE WITH INTEGRITY

director of the Goscor Truck Company.
business leader in KwaZulu-Natal was to get
Commenting on the best advice he has ever
through the Covid-19 pandemic, which he says
Michael was born and bred in KwaZulu-
Natal and is a Northwood High School was extremely challenging for the company, for received Michael said that was just ‘to be honest
and to be humble’.
their staff and for their customers.
old boy who matriculated in 1992. Following matric,
He explained, “In life and in the service industry
he studied business at the Institute of Marketing He added that to navigate through the Covid
I’m not negotiable on those qualities. If you’re
Management (IMM). The first job he took was a bank pandemic without any casualties and in a way in
teller at Absa in Durban where he worked for a which they were able to support their clients and honest, you’re humble and you work hard, the rest
really falls into place and I think everybody that
couple of years. that they ‘didn’t drop the ball was a big feather in
one interacts with, whether it be a staff member
mine and in the team’s cap’.
As Michael saw an opportunity in sales, he decided or customer, deserves at least that from others. So
that he wanted to change direction and go into this “Covid taught us how to stick together and how to that’s what drives me incredibly hard.”
field. He started out by supplying goods through navigate difficult times,” said Michael.
“I’m inspired by honest people with integrity.
newspaper adverts and by selling houseware
goods out of a catalogue on the street. ALL-INCLUSIVE CULTURE People that work hard from a personal perspective.
That’s very important to me. People with family
He commented, “Believe it or not, I quite enjoyed This was not the only challenge faced by Michael values are of vital importance and I respect them. I
sales. It was tough, but I cut my teeth there.” and his team as other examples from KwaZulu- also am inspired quite a bit by innovation; forward
Natal include the looting that followed Covid and thinking and preparing yourself for the distant
An advert in the newspaper for a forklift salesperson the floods, which caused much upheaval to the future from a business perspective.”
caught his attention, and he successfully applied business. “In fact,” added Michael, “I found that
for the position. the floods were the most damaging to the local GO-TO PARTNER
economy of all the challenges.”
Michael joined Goscor Truck Company as a junior Michael’s vision for the Goscor Truck Company is
salesperson when he was 22 years old. He added Having to continue to face difficulties was to grow a bigger footprint in KwaZulu-Natal. Over
that he has enjoyed the years he has spent at the extremely challenging, demoralising, as well as the next five years the company needs to expand
company, which have allowed him much opportunity demotivating for a lot of the staff. However, the its product range in order to cater for most of their
for growth in his career and seen him progress business was able to get through these times customers’ growing needs. Artificial intelligence
through the ranks to become regional director for the successfully. and automation play key roles in the company’s
business. Michael has now been with the company space and in order to grow their support base for
for over 25 years. “To be able to keep everybody’s heads up high and their customers and to keep them ahead of the
to navigate through as a team and produce decent
times, they need to expand in these areas.
PEOPLE-CENTRIC results, was testament to a good business and a
strong team,” explained Michael. However, said Michael, “The goal is not market
Michael is strongly people-centric and exerts
leadership. The goal is to be the preferred and
his influence within the company by serving the To motivate his team, Michael operates on the chosen supplier and go-to partner in the market.”
people that he works with as well as Goscor’s basis of an all-inclusive culture in the business. All
customers. He says that he believes that he is in employees are part of one team, and everybody Michael’s motto to live by can be found hanging on
a position where he can influence other people’s has a role to play. a wall in his office. It’s a quote by Nelson Mandela
lives in a positive manner. which states: ‘It always seems impossible until
“There’s no hierarchy and as a result when the it’s done’.
“When you have a certain amount of influence, chips are down, if things are difficult, we’re in the
whether it be in business or in whatever sphere of trenches together. We motivate one another and “I am firm believer in never quitting. You’ve just got
your life, if you can exert some of that influence and we give one another a sense of security especially to keep going until you get the result that needs to
make other people’s lives better, then, I am all for it.” when you have to dig deeper in tough times.” be got,” he concluded.

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