Dr Frances Wright is responsible for the overall management of Trinitas Consulting (Pty) Ltd. Frances has a BSc Honours in Industrial Technology, a diploma in operations management & a certificate in production management. Frances completed her MBA at NorthWest University in 2007, where she was honoured as the top Operations student. She was awarded her PhD in Entrepreneurship at North West University and acts as a business mentor and trainer for Business Partners and Enablis. Frances has written many published articles, is an accomplished speaker and also stars in the YouTube channel “The Wright Solution”.
My Definition Of Success | Success means to fulfill your dreams, but that should be in all spheres of life. It doesn’t help to be successful in business, but allow your family to fall apart at the same time. The term success has a different meaning to every person. For me, success means to help people be successful and to assist others in learning from my mistakes so that they don’t have to make the same mistake themselves. To live in a well-organised environment, have no debt and do what I like to do also spells success to me. Furthermore I want to be a successful Lecturer and consultant.
I Am Driven By | A need to feel like I am leaving a legacy and having a positive impact on the world around me.
My Highlights | My biggest pride is my children and grandchildren. The highlight of my career is when I achieved my PhD. Throughout my career there has been ups and downs, good things and challenges. I made mistakes and had big breakthroughs. These events rolled into one, to bring me to where I am now. I lecture and consult and the biggest highlights are when I make an obvious impact on a client’s company or a student’s life.
The Difference Between Good And Great | People who are great at what they do understand their higher purpose in life. They don’t just do work to earn money, they develop their careers to make a difference. Great people continuously learn and are focused on an exit strategy, teaching and preparing the next generation to take over from them. Successful people think big.
A Key Talent | Leadership and being a good student. I never stopped studying and now even though I have my PhD, I still continue to do formal research. The ability to know when to lead and when to follow is what made me successful in my career. To replicate this is to continuously learn and to develop the ability to read people and to know when to take leadership in a situation and when to stand back and follow. It is also important to listen. Often in sales people talk too much, instead of listening to what the client wants. To be really successful is to be focused on others’ needs instead of just your own. That is not to say that you must be a servant to all. You have to still look after yourself, but the only way to leave a legacy is to have a positive impact on others.
The Characteristics Of Success | Tenacity. Someone once told me that I am like a bull-dog and that once I get hold of something, I don’t easily let go. Determination, compassion, continuous learning and especially the ability to learn from my mistakes. Most of all, truly and honestly wanting to assist people in being successful.
Principles I Live By | Being honest and committed. Believing in God and living my life so that I can stand before Him without regrets.
Critical Skills I Develop | Sales, Social skills and Leadership
How I Use My Mind | I truly believe and hold to the fact that all things work to good. If you truly believe that, it takes risk out of life. No matter what is going on in my life, I try to focus on the positives, learn from failure and try to recover as quickly and effectively as possible. I try to not inconvenience others, but I also do not let people walk over me. As I said before it is a combination of leadership and servant hood. When I am serving a customer, I make sure that I put everything into it. When I love my family, I do it with everything in me. I like to see myself as a bit of a fixer and have therefore spent my life developing a broad knowledge of business and life. I can integrate all aspects of business and apply in-depth knowledge within all aspects of a business.
Lessons I Have Learnt | Family comes first, no matter what. In whatever you do there has to be a narrow focus. With each job, focus, get in the zone and do it with commitment and dedication. Overall in business, every really big success recipe I have seen had a narrow focus to which it sticks. There are more entrepreneurs who have failed due to having too much opportunity than those who have failed from having too little, because they end up losing focus.
Dealing With Doubt | I was brought up not to be fearful. So there is not much that I fear. At first with public speaking, I used to feel nervous before I went on stage, but practice makes perfect and as I got more and more used to it, I’m now just excited about the opportunity to have an impact. So the lesson is that if something makes you nervous, just keep at it and the nervousness will eventually go away.
There was a time when a lot of politicking and personal agendas broke out in my company and somebody spent a lot of time politicking against me. That did a lot of damage to the company. At the same time a failed sale of a portion of the business did additional damage. I kept on trying to see what I did wrong and how I could have avoided it. Eventually I realised that it all worked to a point where I was free of having to manage staff and being able to have one on one contact with a select couple of clients again. I am now in my perfect space where I help entrepreneurs and business and teach some wonderful students. So again, all things work to good.
Performing At My Peak |
Being self-disciplined
Being aware of my higher purpose
Being passionate about what I do
A desire to make an impact and being successful financially
Resources I Use To Stay Inspired | As often as I can I go to a small town in the Cape. It is just the most serene, wonderful environment, with great friends and neighbours and therefore when I go there I can get rid of all the poison and regenerate effectively. Even when I have to do work in there, it feels good and relaxed.
I read some fiction, to take my mind off everything. Being a consultant you don’t just carry your own problems, but also that of your clients. So it is important to read and watch material that can occupy your mind and get you completely out of the space.
I am not a good gardener, but I love planning my garden and buying some plants and seeing them grow. I love my dogs (got 3) and spending time with them. They love so unconditionally. I love to read Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers and I love watching crime series like CSI.
My Future Dreams And Ambitions | I want to be totally debt free, but other than that I am happy in the space I’m in at the moment. All my children are graduated and have post-graduate qualifications. They are all launched into their own careers. I am well settled in the academics and have some wonderful clients that I work with. I can comfortably live the way I am now for the rest of my life. When I cannot work anymore I would like to be able to comfortably retire.
I have an opportunity to re-write my thesis in book form and have it published. I would like to finish that project and get the book into the market and do more research. My field of study is ‘factors that impact on business successes, so the more I can research, the easier I can make it for entrepreneurs to make their businesses a success. That is my ultimate goal. Entrepreneurship is the only real fix against poverty. In South Africa only 3.6% of businesses grow and become sustainable, so I hope to make a contribution towards improving that statistic.
The Meaning Of Life | To serve God. To understand that His Grace is what saves us and that nothing we do or cannot do will change that. It is a free gift and we just have to receive it and extend it to others.
The Best Advice I’ve Received | Not to sweat the small stuff. To stay committed and focused on the task at hand. When there is too much to do, to take it one project at a time, focus and get it done without getting distracted.
Advice On Building Wealth | To think cash last. Find your higher purpose and what makes you happy in life. Prepare yourself well and stick to it.
On Inspiring Others | Every person needs a mentor and coach. Be careful in choosing the right person for your needs and personality, but once found build a working relationship. Always have people around you that will give you the truth. Respect people who work with you, treat them like you want to be treated.
I Am Inspired By | My husband introduced me to the world of business. He has inspired me and never once complained about the time I take with studying or working. He is always there for me. That inspires me. It might sound strange, but my children are my role models. I watched them develop into adults and develop characteristics that I never instilled in them consciously. Now I watch them and see how they do things. It is also how I stay up to date on trending issues. It is easy as you go into your fifties to get stale and start thinking “old”. My children keep me on my toes.
The Legacy I Would Like To Leave | To have impacted many people and to have helped many companies to be successful. I love moving into a chaotic situation and build order. To see that order in many places is all the legacy I need.
