'You know how it is, you climb a hill, you get to the top, and from there it's all the way down.
You can dress like Tiger Woods, swing the best clubs money can buy, and still walk off the ninth hole with nothing to show for it, says Michael Njogu of golf.
"Because the game, like the rest of it, punishes distraction and rewards patience in roughly equal, unpredictable doses," he says.
He says golf is the game of life, though he’d rather you didn’t ask him to prove it on the course. It gives you, he says, “instant satisfaction and instant disappointment in equal measure.”
Lose focus for a second, and it’s gone. It is a fitting philosophy for a man who turns 50 this week, in the same seven days his company, Sense of Africa, a destination management company and a division of Tourvest Holdings, South Africa’s tourism group, hosts its annual corporate golf tournament, the one he built almost from scratch.
He is Group CEO now, but he did not start there. Under him, the company has grown from a single Nairobi office into a regional operation spanning eight African countries, 10 times the size it was when he arrived, weathering a pandemic that nearly finished off an industry already at the mercy of forces no CEO can control.
It’s a great time to be turning 50 for Njogu, having just collected the group’s CEO Award, given not for seniority but for being the best performer across the entire group.
But ask him what the next decade holds and the golfer in him surfaces immediately: “the climb is over, you are at the top of the hill,” he says, and from here it is all the way down.
He is only beginning to wonder what that descent looks like, for his business, his industry under siege from AI, his teenage daughters, his own mortality, and a marriage and family he has spent 25 years learning to balance against a job that rarely allows for balance.
A little bird told me you're turning 50...
Yeah. [Chuckles] On Saturday. It's a big five zero, so I'm excited. I don't know what it brings, but I hear stories from those who are beyond that age. It also coincides with our corporate golf week; we sponsor it every year. Wednesday was Junior Golf, Thursday is club night, Saturday is our corporate day, and that evening my birthday. So it's a full week before I even get to blow a candle.
What mountains have you moved to get here?
Largely building this business. When I came in, it was small, relatively unknown. I rebranded it, grew the footprint, and I'd say it's easily 10 times the size it was when I started, even with the bump we took during Covid.
Tourism is a tough industry, especially in our part of the world. You are affected by things nowhere near your control.
What do you look forward to in your 50s?
Two ways to look at that. Professionally, I want to pivot this business into something future-proof, because our model is under siege from AI. If you want to go to South Africa or Dubai now, you just ask ChatGPT and you're home and dry, which means somebody in my industry has lost a penny.
So, we're investing a lot in AI, but even as people lean more on systems, on holidays and happy times, people can't depend on machines. If you're landing in Nairobi from London, you still want a smiling face in front of you.
Personally, I'm a family man. My wife Evelyn and I have three children, two daughters and a boy; the girls are teenagers now. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them before they go their way. And I count myself part of that family too. I have to look after myself and stay healthy. You cannot run a healthy business if you're not healthy yourself.
What anxieties come with crossing the midpoint at 50?
You know how it is, you climb a hill, you get to the top, and from there it's all the way down. That's the only way now. So, I begin to wonder what that's going to be like.
I worry about how my children will turn out. The biggest fights I have with my daughters are about their phones. We try to control how much time they spend online, but you know you can't do that 100 percent.
Health is another one. I've seen a lot of people around my age with all sorts of ailments. A golfing friend died last week; found in his house. He was a healthy man who'd played the week before and had even booked to play at my tournament on Friday.
We buried him before the tournament happened. I try to keep fit, do a bit of jogging, riding and biking.
Professionally, it's imagining what the next five years look like. The world has been so disruptive lately that even planning five years out feels long; there are just too many unknowns.
What's your identity beyond work, father, husband?
I have friends. I have my golfing buddies. I enjoy travelling, and I'm fortunate that travel is part of my work too, so it's seamless. My friends find me fun to be around, outgoing; we do a lot together. I like sports generally, even if I can't play, I go out to watch. At the end of this month I'm off to Cape Town for the Springboks and All Blacks, the greatest rivalry in rugby.
Beyond the professional, I have a good network of friends. I love life; I've been fortunate to explore some awesome places. I consider myself a fun person. [Grins]
What have you discovered about yourself while playing golf?
I have played golf for nearly 20 years. I've never brought my handicap down to where it should be; I'm playing off 10 now. I always wanted to go single so I could tell my wife I'm single and married at the same time. [Laughter].
But I consider golf the game of life, because it gives you instant satisfaction and instant disappointment in equal measure. You lose focus for a moment, and it's gone. You can dress up like Tiger Woods, play the best clubs in the world, but if your mind isn't there, you're doing nothing.
If there's one thing golf has taught me, it's to be patient and stay focused no matter what happens. Even if you run into a brick wall, take your strides and move on. Just like in life, sometimes the things that disappoint you are the least expected.
What city would you not want to be in?
London. There's just so much going on there; a big, rich city, though the weather isn't the best. All that rain. But also, a lot of these European cities don't want us; that's a reality.
Immigration has become such a big problem, and everywhere you go, especially in Western cities, they don't want people like us despite their beauty and wealth. They may not tell you to your face, but every time you watch the news, what do you see?
Madrid, in Spain, on the other hand, I'd be in a heartbeat. I love Madrid, maybe because it was the first European city I ever went to, but people there are jovial, very much like us; they enjoy their food and drinks, and they're happy people.
How was your childhood like?
I grew up in Riruta, went to Holy Ghost Primary School for Precious Blood. I have an older sister and two younger brothers. One is closer to my age, but the last born is my junior by more than 20 years, so there are no memories of growing up together, really. I was more like a second dad to him than a brother.
My other brother lives in the US, Wisconsin. I have good memories playing football with my brother and sister. I was on the school team, kicking a ball wrapped in paper and thread. It was a very different time. We were raised in humble beginnings, not much in terms of big holidays or fancy stuff.
My dad worked for Citibank, my mum ran a clothing shop in town and later became a pastor; she still is one today, so I'm a pastor's son. We grew up very straight because she was strict. Both my parents are still alive, my mum had me at 20, and she's 70 now. My dad's in his late 70s, they're upcountry, so we don't see each other that often.
What are you less certain about?
Our political environment. It’s very worrying right now going into the elections. We’re doing a lot of work managing our clients abroad, helping them understand this has nothing to do with them; these are internal affairs that will be resolved. Fortunately, there are a lot of problems in the world, so everybody’s focused on their own.
What's your biggest disappointment?
Before this company, I worked for a big Swiss company for about eight years. I was commercial director, and all indications were I'd take over as MD. It didn't happen, and the only reason was that I had the wrong colour. They wouldn't tell me to my face, but the reality is they went out and looked for someone who had the right skin colour.
That was a very big disappointment for me, but also a big learning curve; a realisation that people aren't always what they say they are. As long as they know what they're getting from you, they'll be your best friends, until it's their turn to eat; that's when you realise you've been by yourself all along.
What has been your biggest challenge in running a business?
People. There are great ones who come focused and intelligent, but there are those who just look for loopholes; guys who wake up every day looking for "ways to eat." That's usually my biggest disappointment, because I tell them, think of it as your own business, the company is rich because somebody put in their own money. It's not manna from heaven, somebody invested and deserves their return.
Is there such a thing as a perfect work-life balance?
That's a good question. There is no ideal, is there? Something has to suffer. Maybe in utopia there would be a perfect balance, but I don't think I've achieved it, so I couldn't tell you for sure if such a thing exists.
Describe the kind of golfer you are, temperament-wise.
Golfers are very humble; I'd never come and tell you I'm a really good golfer. But golf is all of it: patient and chatty in equal measure.
You play a flight of four, and after you hit the ball you walk to the next shot together, so you have to be chatty. But when someone's playing, you don't say a word; you let them play.
When they play badly, you don't remind them how bad the shot was. When they play well, you commend them.
You have to know when to say something and when not to, because if someone's excited about their third shot, needing just one putt for a birdie, and they miss, ending up two over instead, you don't say anything that'll infuriate them further. It's a balance.
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