Integrity

The one thing I demand from all my business partners and appreciate from my clients is integrity. Integrity does not mean you tell me things I want to hear, being nice and always doing the right thing. Rather integrity is having the character to table issues and resolve them without hiding or coloring the facts. It is having the maturity to accept responsibility for the realities, outcomes consequences of agreements made thereon. This is probably the foundation of trust and commitment between two people. While this basic ingredient is a requirement in successful business practice, I don’t see how a marriage can stay on the road without developing this core competence of a good relationship.

Idai - unwanted visit

We read of the devastation in our sister countries in southern Africa with sadness. Is it not enough that there are many other challenges to be dealt with in our land. May the Lord shower his grace upon the families through this tragedy and kindle a candle of hope for us and all humanity.

Please - Do not malign your leaders

I am in no way protecting despots, charlatans and hooligans, but maligning our leaders does us more harm than good. The ease with which people sling barbs, jibes and snide remarks at leaders discredits the office of leadership. It disorients society and spreads a malaise of hopelessness among us all.  It also leads to the impression that leadership is not a noble calling and can only be obtained through underhanded dealing for office.  Mudslinging your leaders discourages those who would aspire to the noble office of social guardianship. Indeed, mudslinging leaders results in the same kind being elevated to office again and again and visits the same sins on society again and again. Good leaders will not want their name dragged in the dung by a mischievous chorus of ill-informed discourses.

Here is an assignment. Take time to celebrate good leadership, service and good governance and raise the profile of those who are doing what they can to make things better for everyone. Let us raise the office of leadership to a point that it will encourage our youth to appreciate the value of leadership and know that leaders are not a tribe of hooligans, but people who in good faith look out for the interest of others. A bank manager told me that because they only train staff using authentic currency, staff are able to quickly identify counterfeit bank notes. If the bank wastes time teaching staff about fake notes, staff will spend their time looking for fake notes! Let us not waste our time teaching our children about fake leaders and start giving them examples of good leadership!  

Leadership is a valuable social commodity essential for the success of a society. Leadership is no easy task. It is difficult and sacrificial; it is dependent on others, it is a service to humanity. We are privileged to have good leadership and good leaders need and deserve our support. We must nurture our leaders, train them and protect them from the vices of evil. Let us not be flippant and careless about it. There is no celebration in the summation of the number of corrupt leaders we find. Indeed it is cause to mourn, distress and of grave concern that our children see nothing good in our leaders, because then they see nothing good in us.  Please let our children aspire to be the good leaders they see in us. If all they see is what they should not be, there really is not hope for humanity. And may those whose business it is to bring down, discredit and disdain those who try and make an effort to lead and serve sacrificially burn with shame.    

  

Pay attention to the Hygiene factors of your job

Understanding the essentials of a job help you benefit from it in the long term and develop your career in the process. Every job has essentials that can be split into, Professional competence, work ethics and hygiene factors. Professional ethics is the most obvious and employees will focus on obtaining qualifications that suggest that they can do the job they were employed to do. Therefore an accountant will take professional exams while a driver will seek to meet all the technical requirement of the job. However, on the job performance and career development depend on the other two factors.

The answer to understanding why you were employed and what you should do to perform your job effectively is in your Job Description or appointment letter. A good sit down session with your boss should help you clarify what you are employed to do.  Because we only look at the Job description on the first day, we end up wandering and wondering through the rest of the period of employment not knowing or caring if we are adding value to the business or not. Work ethics demands that we constantly evaluate our role and employment responsibility and fulfill it. Only then can we be productive and find meaning in the work we do.

The third factor which I call the Hygiene factor is a critical element of personal success not just on the job but in life. You may not be sacked for not brushing your teeth or failing to take a bath regularly, but if you do not your associations at work (or anywhere else) will not be thrilling. Hygiene factors are the personal initiatives you take to present yourself well, put on a positive attitude and take pride in your work. If you are a driver, take the initiative to wash and clean the car. It is your tool of service. If you are the receptionist wear a smile and look interested in people. If you are a policeman take pride in helping children cross the road. Be a team player. Help your colleagues willingly. These factors are not technical requirements, but one thing is for sure they get you noticed and speak more of your potential as a person than the job you do.

When the teacher does not teach...

Last evening I got some distressing news from a network associate who told me her dream of empowering graduates with knowledge and skills to excel in their careers. She was backtracked by budget limitations. She regretted that she would not be able to carry out the good that she intended for herself and her colleagues. I could feel the sadness that comes with rejection in the tone of her email. The moment I read the script I knew that someone had threatened and tried to kill her dream. While this unfortunate incident happened more than 2000 miles away from where I was currently training in Africa, the magnitude of the dying dream struck me as incorrigible. Why must the dream have to die -was my hearts cry.

Then I read the second part of the story. After the tears and the sorrow, she said … I am called to this, I cannot let it die - the dream cannot die with me. I must let it be. There was a flicker of hope that comes with a calling. The tugging at my spirit was impossible to ignore. I knew I must stand with this dream. For her dream is part of me. When dreams die everyone suffers loss. Many of those who suffer the loss of a dream have no idea that they are suffering from the loss of a dream. This is why I must dream the dreams of others. And do all that is in my power to do. If the teacher does not teach then thirty students suffer, then thirty families suffer, thirty communities lose hope, the next generation of in that village will have to wait for another teacher to be born grow up and 30 years later sow the dream again. The nation will suffer a lack of engineers, bankers and nurses all because one teacher would not teach the class that housed the dreams of a nation.

Do not let dreams die. Never give up on a good thing. You never know how many people are depending on you to keep the dream alive. I have had the privilege of being a teacher and receiving calls from students far and wide. There is not greater satisfaction, fulfillment than touching a life, planting a seed and making tomorrow better. But this is not about teachers it is about dreamers in every profession. It is about every parent, and every friend that can make a difference - making a difference! And so a word to all those who make it their business to kill dreams I say woe unto you for you cannot live your dream.

Yoda Abyssinia... if you have never been there take a look

I visited a place where we sat on low stools in a room filled with people from all over the world; Americas, Asia, Europe and I dare say Australia. They came to see the sights and sounds that wooed King Solomon of old. There were anywhere between 200 to 300 people seated around small groups of four, six or eight at a table. The room was full of cultural symbolism and graced with the presence of past Kings and Queens of Abyssinia. On the stage sat the musicians with various forms of electrified traditional instruments aided by the power of hidden amplifiers to fill the room with sounds of tradition, history and culture. Then the dancers appeared. Their vigor and energy of the African spirit was well and truly evident. In Africa we celebrate our bodies, our strength and our togetherness as a people of promise and hope. I found the people of Abyssinia very affectionate. The tourists were dumb struck by the rhythm of expression alive in that small space. Abyssinia has a written language thousands of years old. But on that stage they spoke for the heart of Africa.  They sang Malaika Just for us…    

Our hostess made her people proud and we will forever carry memories of the traditional roasted meats, processed vegetables, injera, traditional honey beer and the flavor of great company. Thank you Ruth. Thank you Abyssinia

I have read other books but...

I have read other books on the topic how to become rich, how to be entrepreneur, how to be successful in life they were difficult to apply, but this one is simple, easy to understand and to practice.

Birtucan Demeke, 
Ethiopia