Building channel success through people

Tidiane Lo of Westcon-Comstor discusses why trust, partner development, and commercial discipline remain central to effective channel leadership across Africa and the Middle East.

Effective channel leadership requires more than meeting quarterly targets. For Tidiane Lo, Vice President, GTM, Westcon-Comstor Middle East and Africa, sustainable growth depends on aligning vendors, partners and teams while developing the capabilities that help the wider ecosystem succeed.

Speaking to Tahawultech.com, Lo reflects on the relationships and market experiences that have shaped his career across Africa and the Middle East. Drawing on themes from his book, Preparing for the Next Opportunity, he discusses the value of mentorship, curiosity and integrity, and explains why developing people strengthens commercial performance and prepares the next generation of channel leaders.

Interview excerpts

How has your experience in technology distribution shaped your understanding of effective channel leadership?
Distribution teaches you very quickly that you cannot succeed alone. You sit at the intersection of vendors, partners, customers and your own teams, often with different priorities that need to be aligned. Effective channel leadership is therefore not simply about managing a number. It is about creating an environment where the ecosystem can win together. Over the years, I have learned that the best distributors do much more than move products. We create markets, develop capabilities, connect opportunities and help partners and vendors execute their strategies. That requires commercial discipline, but also trust.

In the channel, relationships matter enormously, but relationships alone are not enough. You still have to execute.

What role have partners, mentors, and colleagues played in building your career across Africa and the Middle East?
A fundamental one. One of the strongest themes running through my book is gratitude because very little of what we achieve is achieved alone. Throughout my career, managers gave me opportunities before I necessarily had all the experience. Mentors helped me understand situations differently. Colleagues challenged me. Partners and customers taught me markets that I could never have understood from an office. Africa particularly taught me the importance of listening before assuming you understand a market. What works in Johannesburg will not necessarily work in Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar or Abidjan and the same applies across the Middle East. My career has therefore been shaped as much by the people I met along the way as by the positions I occupied.

How can channel leaders balance commercial targets with developing people and creating lasting impact?
I don’t think they should be treated as competing objectives. Sustainable commercial performance comes from people. If you develop stronger leaders, better salespeople and more capable teams, performance becomes more repeatable and less dependent on individuals. Of course, numbers matter. We have targets, shareholders, vendors and partners expecting results. But leadership cannot only be measured by the quarter you just closed. One definition of success that has become increasingly important to me is very simple:  If the business grows while the people around you are also growing, taking on larger responsibilities and eventually creating opportunities for others, then you are building something much more sustainable than a good quarter.

Which leadership qualities will be most important as the regional technology channel continues to evolve?
Adaptability, curiosity, integrity and empathy will be increasingly important. Technology will continue to change quickly, so leaders need the humility to accept that what they know today may not be sufficient tomorrow. Curiosity keeps you learning; adaptability allows you to act on what you learn. Integrity becomes even more important in an ecosystem built around relationships and trust. And empathy matters because transformation ultimately happens through people. I would add one more quality: the ability to be comfortable with being different.

The Middle East and Africa bring together extraordinary diversity: nationalities, cultures, generations, languages and backgrounds. The leaders who can turn those differences into strengths will have a significant advantage.

What advice would you offer young channel professionals preparing for their next major opportunity?
Don’t wait for the opportunity to start preparing for it. Learn beyond your job description. Understand the technology you sell, but also understand your customers, your partners and how your company makes money. Get close to people who know more than you do and ask questions. Build genuine relationships before you need them. Make your work visible without making everything about yourself. And don’t assume you need to know everything before accepting a bigger responsibility. Some of the biggest opportunities in my career arrived before I felt completely ready. Preparation doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means building enough knowledge, credibility, relationships and confidence to take the first step when the door opens. That is ultimately what Preparing for the Next Opportunity is about.