NO, not Tiger Woods — we’ll wait for the dust to settle on that drama before we venture a comment (except to say that we loved the seemingly heroic rescue efforts of his pretty young wife to save him from sure and certain death by the fire hydrant). The tiger we’re talking about is Richard Byles, president and CEO of the insurance giant, Sagicor Life Jamaica, and chairman of Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited, who, last weekend, gave an address to the Jamaica Institute of Architects in which he lamented that Jamaica has no plan.

It’s rare to have a member of the private sector speak so plainly about what ails us. Our private sector is so painfully politically correct that the complaining is often left to those who have little to lose. Byles, as the man in charge of one of the most successful organisations in Jamaica, has a lot to lose, which makes his speaking the painful truth all the more remarkable — a fact which he himself stated:

“I know I have some friends in the audience who are close to one party or another, and they may be surprised to hear me speak like this, but it’s the truth, maybe it’s my age, but please, I’m tired of the political divide; what Jamaica wants is the best talent, and we have to find a way to bring that best talent to bear.”

Contrary to his low profile and easy manner, Byles is clearly no pussycat — age notwithstanding. Despite “staring down the gun barrel of a disastrous year”, as he put it earlier this year, he saw Sagicor virtually double its profits in the first half of the year, ending June 2009, to $3.1 billion. The year before, its first-half profit was $1.8 billion. Sagicor is on its way to making a profit of more than $6 billion in 2009, compared to $4.5 billion last year. And that was in a bad year. Imagine what he could do in a good year.

While his speech made the television news on the weekend, there has been little reaction to his statements since then – no doubt because we’ve been consumed with the goings-on with the other Tiger. But Byles’ speech is an important speech, and parts of it warrant repeating. I’ll use this opportunity to repeat the major points.

It was not just the absence of a plan that Byles spoke about. He proposed four “must-do’s”: four planks of leadership, teamwork, planning and communication that need to be laid in order to create an environment for Jamaica to realise its great potential.

“Leadership must step up and leadership must make the decisions expected of leaders. Leaders are not followers, leaders must do what is right even when that is not the popular thing, and if I can put my finger on one thing that we have not done very well in Jamaica over 30 years is to take that unpopular decision, bite the bullet and do the right thing and we have to lay that responsibility squarely at the feet of our leaders.

“But leaders are not everything, leaders need a team. …It has to be an all-Jamaica team because we need the best minds, the most committed people to attend to this problem regardless of whatever way they vote on election day. We need… constitutional reform (because) in some form or fashion it is required to put managers where we are managing things and put politicians in Parliament where they make policies and pass laws, not in charge of ministries that make administrative decisions.

“We need a plan, we’re going nowhere without a plan and there is no business that can be run without a plan; (and) there are some ingredients that we know must be in that plan. We have to find the resources somehow, we have to be creative and we have to find a way to begin the process of educating our young people. Secondly, we have to solve the security problem because it can’t be insurmountable. Finally, in the plan somewhere must be energy. There must be a solution to our high energy cost because I don’t know where we are going without education, without security and without cheaper energy that can drive industry for us.

“The final plank (is) to communicate. You have to communicate and communicate again and again, that’s how people understand what it is you really want to achieve. Speaking one time is one thing, doing it, speaking again, doing it, speaking again is what eventually makes people take you seriously, and I think that in Jamaica we need to do a lot more of that communication so that everyone gets on board with where we are going and how we’re going to get there.”

While his address was short on specifics, we take it for granted that were he asked to, he could come up with one hell of a business plan, for he brings to the table an enviable track record (and a degree in economics that should be dusted off and put to good use).

We commend Mr Byles for his truth and his bravery.

scowicomm@gmail.com