16 May 2022
Adrian Gore, the founder of South Africa's leading medical insurer, Discovery Holdings, is a visionary who believes a leader’s role is to shape the narrative and give people hope. “Leaders must find positive signals in order to create hope and a vision. You have to live a life of purpose. At the end of the day, that is what matters.”
When he began the business in 1991, Gore was deeply convinced about building a sophisticated health insurer based on values and people. “I didn’t have a business plan, but rather values and a purpose. I started like any founder – with a blank sheet of paper,” he says, adding, “I’m not a great business guy, but I want to make an impact. I can do that through making people healthier,” he added.
Gore was speaking to award-winning journalist Bruce Whitfield at a recent GIBS forum. Whitfield’s book, Genius, How to Take Smart Ideas Global, contains case studies of South African business leaders who were able to thrive in a difficult domestic environment and deliver their ideas to the international marketplace.
“You have to take big steps as an entrepreneur,” Gore said when asked about his journey to build Discovery into a global presence that today provides health insurance for more than 200,000 companies and close to 2 million people. The group first entered the global market in 1998 with Destiny Health, a small health insurer in Chicago. “How mad was that? We were so gutsy,” Gore exclaimed.
While the business was ultimately unsuccessful, “the learnings from experience shaped us. We still have that sense of confidence, and we learnt a lot of fundamental things, like the power of partnerships.”
Seeking optimism
Whitfield noted that optimism is a common thread running through many people who have started businesses in South Africa over the last 30 years. “The difference between optimists and people who capitulate is the ability to navigate complexity and negativity and focus on the goal at hand. While most people give up at the first hurdle, they have the ability to be persistent during difficult times and in a hostile environment,” he said.
Gore agreed, adding that the ability to be positive is a fundamental quality of successful business leaders. “It doesn’t mean you are not seeing the risks or acknowledging the issues or problems. It doesn’t mean you don’t have bouts of worry. It is a steely belief that the world is getting better and that you can make it through. I’m not sure if it’s an innate quality or a learnt ability.”
He continued: “Striving for great things is seen as irrational. It is not. Setting goals is not irresponsible. If you do those things, you will get further, even if you fail, than you would have sitting in that cubicle, typing away. Then you are destined to fail.”
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