Nairobi, Jan. 17 -- When Joe Sang, the managing director at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC)is not steering a billion-dollar corporation to profititability, he is either running a world major marathon across oceans, teeing off at the Karen Country Club - he is a single handicap - or sweating it out at the gym. All of which, he says, have one common denominator: discipline.

Although he is a CEO, Sang does not have an elevator dedicated to him at his office at Nairobi's Kenpipe Plaza. He always takes the stairs to the sixth-floor corner office. Twice or three times a week, he goes to the gym in the same building, using his lunch break for a quick but targeted workout session.

"I try to move my body as much as I can, and taking the stairs ...