Strategy

Strategy is a meeting of minds, a summary of ideas, a definition of terms, setting direction and a plan of action.

Trainers

Trainers are the only people who replicate and multiply themselves. What they know they pass on to the faithful who train others.

Trainers

Trainers will never lack work because every organization lags behind its environment. Therefore there will always be a need for training.

Training

Training is the difference between Education and Industry.

Trainers

Trainers are leaders. They influence people.

FRIDAY

FRIDAY

Friday is the most popular day of the week.  It is an ending. It is when people stop doing one thing and start another thing.  Some stop working, others stop thinking. Some start drinking while others start spending. Some people think of worshiping, while others are happy with sleeping. Friday is unique because everyone expects something to be happening. If it is the "end of the month", there is general rejoicing, but every Friday always ends with a "ing".  Have a great weekend!

Leaders & Knowledge

Leaders & Knowledge

Leaders should have knowledge because they have authority. Otherwise, they will frustrate those with great knowledge and little authority. They are also likely to offend those with little knowledge and no authority, as they see no difference between the leader and themselves.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE OR CUSTOMER COVER UP

CUSTOMER SERVICE OR CUSTOMER COVER UP

One construction company does roaring business rebranding dilapidated company offices. They pledge to give the company a new look and a new beginning. They believe that such a makeover will attract new customers for the business. Indeed it does. However, what this company does is not reconstruction. They measure wall space and obtain an equivalent amount of brightly colored paint to give the building a new coat of paint. This usually excites their shortsighted clients who pay millions for the single coat paint job that lasts about six months.

I have recently been asked, by a client, to cover up their business incompetence by conducting a course on customer service for staff. Try as I might I could not convince the customer that customer service is not a "cover up" operation. I tried to explain that it is an outward expression of an inward commitment by a business to provide quality services. This means that a client needs to attend to all the organization, management and service delivery bottlenecks before crowning this exercise with training staff to maintain customer confidence. I lost the job. A painful experience for anyone who wouldn't mind a little extra cash. But a gainful one for you because you will not fall for the tricks of the said construction company.

Allan Bukusi

Consultant to Client

It is my business to tell you what to do. It is your business to do it.

TEACHING NEEDS TO CHANGE

 

TEACHING NEEDS TO CHANGE

The more I teach, the more I feel students have changed. Students no longer respond very well to the demands of a fixed curriculum. I find that I am no longer teaching "local" students. Rather, I find myself working with global learners. There are good reasons for this.

The goal of a student ten years ago was to be local professional. Today, learners are more interested in global opportunity. The level of learner (self) awareness today is much higher than it was ten years ago. Many students already know what they are taught in the first eight years of school from the TV, internet, news media and politics. This may be the reason for the high level of boredom and poor behavior in some of our schools.

In the old days, a certificate supplied a job. Today, only character secures a career. In the old days, we were punished for poor grades. Today the only viable reprimand is for poor character. However, no single curriculum is able to meet the needs of the new global reality. In our school, we combine several curricula and learning content to meet the needs of global learners.

Teaching needs to evolve from schooling in a curriculum to learner development programs. This will make sure that teaching remains flexible enough to prepare learners for global life. I suggest that the school, and not curriculum, should be the centre of education.  And that teachers should be free to select aspects from a range of (relevant) curricula to prepare learners for global life. Teachers in every school, should not prepare pupils to pass exams, but should be given the power to train world-class citizens.

Allan Bukusi

Realize your full potential

SEVEN STEPS TO REALIZE YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

It does not matter whether you are six or sixty. You can realize your full potential and achieve that which will satisfy you and make your life fulfilled. Learning the rules and ropes of how to make your potential real will empower you to be all you can be and inspire to do more than what you are doing right now.

The first principle is Choice. Many of us do not choose to succeed. We go to work because others go to work. We go to school because others go to school. We go to church because our mothers tell us that it is good to go. We do most things for others. The magic happens when we choose to do something for ourselves. Suddenly it does not matter if anybody else is doing it. Doing what I want to do empowers me more than anyone can motivate me. Choice draws out the deep reserves of power in you that you don't know exist. Consider the energy and focus and that is released when anyone makes a choice (or decides) to do something.

Second, you must have vision. You may have it but maybe you have never used it. Sight is the ability to see things around you that need doing and then doing them. Does your desk or bedroom need to be tidied up? Many people walk into a dirty house or office every day and do not see the need to do anything about it. How many years have you been going through life without seeing the need to improve yourself? You may not own a home today, but if you see the need for it in the future, you will begin to build one now, long before you retire in public interest. That is vision. Vision gives you the power to walk out of your comfort and create your future.

Third is Potential. None of us knows how much we have. That is not the problem. The problem we have is that we do not use it. You will never know what you can do until you try to do something new. You will never know how far you can run until you start running. Many of us strike ourselves out before the ball is thrown. We lose the race before we enter it to race. We lose the match before the game is played because we don't know if we can make it. Our responsibility is not how much potential we have, but to use the potential we have. You will never access your potential until you put it to the test. To realize you potential, you must try. Using your potential releases power to achieve goals.

Fourth; Goals. I don't need to say much about goals because I know you know that you cannot claim to achieve anything without having set them. You also know that, "you always achieve your goals even if you have none". Setting goals directs the energy you have to achieve them. Set goals for life.

Fifth; set up a project to absorb your potential. If you want to own a house. Make it a project. Projects break activity into phases that use your energy in stages. When each stage is complete, you gain energy for the next phase. You cannot build a house in one day. But if you work out what you need to do, you can do it in phases. You cannot win a marathon by making a decision today, but if you make it a project, you will train daily, progress monthly and run the marathon successfully in a years' time. Break it down lest you get discouraged. Eating a cake whole will choke you, do it in bites.

Sixth; work. Work is a principle of life and the key to all success. Whatever you "win" without work is at best lottery or at worst, stolen. Work requires you to apply yourself and change the state of yourself and the things around you by your (own) effort and initiative. By applying your potential things change in the direction you want them to change. However, work is a discipline that must be mastered to realize your full potential.

The final element is the principle of potential itself.  Your potential is named "potential" because we know it is there, but we don't know how much or what it is. Another thing you need to know about your potential is that; the more you use it, the more of it you discover. It is as if you create it as you use it. Never have any fear that it will ever get used up or finished. People who achieve outstanding success often make statements like, "I never knew I could do this". You may have said similar words yourself – that is your potential speaking. Even you don't know what you are capable of. It is your job to use your potential, discover it and explore its limits. The only limit to your potential is what you set your mind to do.

Allan Bukusi

Your Goals

You always achieve your goals, even if you have none.

Don't Fire Yourself!

DON'T SACK YOURSELF

Sacking yourself is not as hard as it sounds. It is easier done than thought. Up to 80% of the people who are sacked, fired or let go, save for a changed job role, do it to themselves. They don't do it willingly; they just do not know they are doing it. Having said that I have to explain myself.

I am always amazed at the passion new staff have for the job. This show usually lasts as long as the probation. Once the hiring process is complete, work settles into the routine mode. So long as one gets paid, the job gets done. Then suddenly, the challenge is gone. When the familiar trip begins, it signals that the end is near.  The familiar trip can last as long as the search for another job, or as short as the bosses work fuse. It is a tug of war between the two.

Staff do not think that the boss knows about job cycles. But as surely as a farmer knows when it is about to rain, the boss can tell how long who will last. When things become familiar, people give little signs that they want to leave. They drop the ball, come in late and argue for ways to reduce their workload. They do one days' work in two, three or four days. They think the boss has no idea of what they want to do. In the long run, it does nobody any good. So the boss gives in, takes the cue, and sacks you. The boss knows that he will look bad to you, but so do you.

Allan Bukusi

WALK THE ROAD TO HUMILITY

THE ROAD TO HUMILITY

They say humility is a virtue. They say it is worth having. However, because it is so rare, I am not sure enough people develop it. Those who discover the process normally prefer to remain as they are. The path to humility is humiliation!

Few things strike terror in the soul of a person as to be humiliated. In some parts of the east, people would rather kill themselves than face it. In the west, public disgrace and loss of wealth has made some give up life. In other places of the world, shame has made great men cry and women deny that it is happening to them. This is the path to humility.

Humility is when you realize, "I am no better, no more brilliant and no more necessary than any other thing". And that, "it can happen to me, at any time". Humility is to know that I am no more in control of my future than a flower by the road or a feather riding the breeze. I do not know when and if my turn of suffering will come. Someone else is in charge. Humility is to know that all men are equal, and that before God, none has a right to stand. Humility is to submit to fate without hate and bow to divine will.

I know one proud man who lived in beautiful home beside a small stream. He though himself rich. One night, in the dry season, the stream rose to a flood and washed away his house. In his eyes, he stood naked as his neighbors dressed and fed him. There was nothing he could do. He was no longer in control. What he had was gone. There he stood, humiliated by a small stream. Did he become humble? Well, some people simply rebel. But the person I am talking about is not him; it is you. Do you become humble after you are humiliated or do you rebel?

If you want to be humble, know that the path to humility is not designed by you. You are not in control. Humiliation is a place where people go, find or face themselves. Some never return. Some return humble while others come back angry, loud and proud. No wonder most people would rather be anything else than humble.

Allan Bukusi

EVERYONE IS IN LEADERSHIP

EVERYONE IS IN LEADERSHIP

Everyone is in leadership. You are a leader, a follower or in the opposition.

Thinking

Thinking is Hard Work! most people prefer entertainment.

Teach Students or Train Staff

TEACH STUDENTS OR TRAIN STAFF

I have the joy of being a schoolteacher and a business trainer. I train managers on programs such as time management. What I find interesting is that staff needing these skills often have a clear trail of trouble in prioritizing work and missing deadlines. This trail, not only dates back a number of jobs, but also goes all the way back to their school days.

When a manager says, "I work best under pressure" or "I can only work with deadlines", I can see a student who worked hard only because their parents forced them to.  I can also see students who sat down to study only because the exam was not going to be postponed. Strangely as I have also taught students who "forget" their homework. Others were not able to finish their work because they took more time to do what interesting than what should have been done. In these students, I see "budding customers" for my business training.

I have just taken the case of goal setting and priorities, as an example. But I could give many more examples of students who undervalue the advice of their teachers and pay for it years later. May be all teachers should become trainers. That way, they will get a second chance to guide their former students in the business world. On the other hand, may be students need to take those teachers seriously and finish with time management training in school rather than wait for my very expensive business programs.

Allan Bukusi

LEADERSHIP IS WAR

LEADERSHIP IS WAR

Early this morning I met with a group of staff, in a business, to talk about "what is leadership" and "the role of employees in leadership". By the end of the session, it was quite clear that leadership is war. And that staff have a very clear role to play in winning that war.

When people talk of leadership they use terms such as planning, strategy, logistics and goals freely. These are army terms. Though most people will agree that leadership has military roots; few think of leadership as a campaign, or war.

When you declare war on something, you call for leadership to fight that war. If you declare war on poverty, disease or terror, you call for leadership to defeat these things. When you call for leadership, you call for initiative to overcome a foe. Leadership is the ability to fight and win. It is the skill you use to attack and defeat the enemy.  

People call for leadership to win liberty, to advance their position or solve a problem. Leaders mobilize leadership to bring these things about. But there is a difference between a "leader" and "leadership". In the famous story of "David and Goliath",  we are told that the King (the leader) sent his army into battle to fight a fearsome foe. The army would not fight for fear of the enemy's prize fighter named Goliath. However, David (a civilian)took leadership and won victory for the army by fighting and defeating Goliath. The King may have been the leader, but it was David that took leadership to gain the victory for his people.

Your role is to fight for victory in your job to achieve the goals the business has set. This takes courage, commitment and initiative on your part. You also need to develop skills to get these tasks done. As a member of an army, you need to realize that there is a war going on. The outcome of that war will be a win or a loss. In war, you are either a leader, a follower (soldier) or the enemy. The idea is to eliminate the enemy and advance to victory. Leaders may give direction, but it is the followers who fight. Therefore,  know the ultimate purpose of the war. Determine your goals very clearly. Clarify your role. Be courageous. Take initiative. Engage the enemy and fight with all your might!

Allan Bukusi

 

DEATH

DEATH

Everyone dies of death. Nothing else.

LOOK INSIDE A BOOK

LOOK INSIDE A BOOK

Whenever you want to do something, look inside a book. It is very likely that someone has done something similar before. They wrote it down to bless you, inform you, and speed you on your way.

Allan Bukusi

Love is

LOVE

Is favour.

Leaders are

LEADERS

Some describe leaders by their followers. Followers do not define the leader, nor do they diminish his or her stature. A leader is a fore-runner; one who goes ahead. Followers come after the leader has gone ahead.

Allan Bukusi

Efficient or effective?

EFFICIENT

Efficient, costs less than effective, but is meaningless without effect.

Character has limits

CHARACTER

Character is the limit of your achievements at home and in school. It will be the measure of your performance and promotion on the job. And form the borders of what you accomplish abroad. Character is the measure of a success in life. This puts success within that reach of everyone.

Allan Bukusi

Are you stubborn?

 

Meekness lets God shower his love; stubborn lets him show his power.

KOFI ANNAN

KOFI ANNAN

WORLD GENERAL

Top bureaucrat. Diplomatic general. Where there was war, there was Annan. Upper class upbringing and foreign education allowed placement as a civilian cadet shuffling papers. Much later he would be sent to war for peace. His diplomatic studies served him well in navigating the corridors of international civil service politics. The mark of success being to remain in office. He could have worked a standard government career, but settled in the largest bureaucracy in the world.  He did not come into his own until close to retirement. A compromise vacancy saw him elevated to full general.  A leader is made by his calling or by the situation. Annan found himself between a rock and a hard place when wars not started by him, placed him in conflict with his sponsors. Walking the tight rope between popular opinion and official duty revealed the man. However, that is what leadership is all about, managing expectation and satisfying everyone. Ironically, he found himself defending the humanitarian cause in the midst of wars. Perhaps the mark of the man is peace. His exterior presence inspires the feeling that something will be done. Leadership is a balancing act between bureaucracy and reality, between law and war. What one can't do the other will try, but in between there must be peace. Charisma is a leadership winner, but calm is what leaders need in a crisis.

Allan Bukusi

HOW TO BE A CEO

HOW TO BE A CEO

True Story

Learning to be a CEO is not an easy task. However, I give credit to two CEOs who taught me two ways to go about it. The western approach emphasizes strategy, marketing and targets. The eastern approach is one of cleaning machines. Both appeared to be concerned with people, but I noticed that cleaning machines got better results.

When I joined the car tire factory, the CEO called us in for a "black tie" meeting. "Black tie" was another word for "senior management". He gave us a talking to, and a dressing down that indicated that if things did not change soon, we would all be fired and better managers hired. This was long before trumps program was aired on TV. He had hired me as one of his new managers to show how serious he was. Six months later, nothing had changed. The marketers had marketed. The producers had produced, and the sellers had sold. Nevertheless, the revenue took a slight dip.

The directors sent the first CEO packing and brought in a new CEO. We all survived, but silently wondered for how long. The second CEO held one meeting with us, the top brass. He asked us two questions and issued one directive; "What is our business?", "Making tires" we answered. "Where are tires made?", "in the factory" we said. "From today, we will all take turns to clean the factory machines every day". We, the black ties, left the room stunned. Some of us had never been to the factory floor before. The CEO led the way by cleaning the machines several times a week. All this cleaning made us feel meek, but we did get to meet a lot of new people on the floor.  Within six months, production tripled, sales tripled and revenues rose exponentially.

The first CEO sounded in control. But what we didn't know then, was that his job was on the line. I never got to know the second CEO by name, because the first time I met him was the last time I talked to him and I left the company before I could master his unusual name. All I have is a picture that reminds me that the easiest way to improve performance is to clean machines.

Allan Bukusi

HOW TO BE

TO BE

Some people are always going.

Others always take time to be.

Most of us are always catching up.

While some of us have never been.

Allan Bukusi

MANAGE YOUR TIME

MANAGING TIME

A day has two parts; morning, afternoon and evening - if you are strong!

Grow in Grace

GRACE

It sort of works out naturally that;

If you talk a lot, your friends will talk less.

If you are proud, you will only work with the humble.

If you are neat, your spouse will be far from it.

If you keep time, nobody will care.

If you don't care, somebody else will.

If you do the work, others will get the credit.

If you have money, someone else will need it.

If your boss is right, then you are wrong.

There is a balance to most things.

All this happens to you and me so that we can grow in grace.

Allan Bukusi

Life

Life, is to find out who you are!

Life

Life, is finding out who you are!

GET A PERSONAL MISSION

CRAFTING A PERSONAL MISSION

This afternoon I went to help a friend craft a mission statement for his new business. He did not turn up for the meeting.  It turned out he went to do something else. On a normal day, I would not dream of dealing with an organization without a mission statement. However, today, it began to bother me that I  don't seem to have any trouble dealing with people without a personal mission every day.

No employee I know makes a long-term commitment to an organization without a mission. And I don't know of any lady who makes a commitment to a man without a promise of love (or other value). A mission is a promise of engagement, it is a commitment to achieve a goal.

As I sat there, I realized that it was my fault that my friend skipped the meeting. I had not told him about the importance of a personal mission, before trying to craft a business mission. If his business was indeed his personal mission, he would have been present.  I also realized that without a mission, nothing could be counted as an achievement. At best, it would just be a incidence of fate.

The power of a personal  mission makes you employable, predictable, reliable, loyal and committed to your goals. If you find yourself lacking in these qualities towards anything specific, you lack a personal mission. Surprisingly, I find that only one out of ten employees has a personal mission. And maybe only one in a hundred has it written down.

Your lack of personal achievement in life, thus far, may be due to the fact that you lack the focus of a mission statement to guide you. In the absence of a personal mission, what employees call achievement in life, is in context of the employer's mission. Their life and career is guided by the goals of their employer. When such employees lose their jobs, they flay about in search of a reason to live. And set up a business because everyone is setting up business, and not because they have a mission to accomplish. If you want to achieve something of your own, on your own, and for your family, you should have a personal mission.

 So how do you craft a personal mission? That is the easy part. All you have to do is decide what you want to do and then spend all your time doing it. The moment you do that, you become a man or woman with a mission. And that's it!

If you write down what you want to achieve, you can keep refining it as you go along. It does not have to be a perfect statement pinned up on the wall. Hanging a mission on the wall does not achieve anything. It just uses up space that could be used to put up a pretty picture. A mission is activity not words on a wall.  Consultants, like me, like to complicate things by telling you HOW to go about it. But in reality if you know what you want to achieve, you don't need me to tell you WHAT to do.

Allan Bukusi

LEE KUAN YEW

Lee Kuan Yew

LEADERSHIP FROM THE EAST

Raising a Tiger, on an island, in the ocean, without water or government, under the threat of war,  in one generation takes more than just a little imagination. To do it without material resources takes vision. Vision translates ideas into reality. Lee had an idea. Creating a nation without a fighting force and mobilizing colonized people to receive a future combines a dynamic skill set of politics, economics, engineering, food science, education and military genius. That enough of these should be found in one place, at any time, in any nation to take it from third to first requires extraordinary leadership. That one man should captain this initiative is the mark of an outstanding leader. Evaluating the context in which this success was achieved reveals a wise mind, master strategist, team builder and nationalist who could have made it anywhere in the world on his own, but chose to take his people with him. The national pillars built to empower Singapore are the virtues he passes on. A leader leaves a legacy . A nation is not in its resources, but rather in its virtue. Powerful leaders are able to dream alone, empowering leaders ensure the dream goes on.

Allan Bukusi

 

A Mistake

A Mistake

Think of the number of times your mistakes have led (later) to the benefit of yourself or another. And you will see that a mistake is just a painful or costly alternative course of action that does not have to be a permanent condition.

Allan Bukusi

Good Grades

I encourage my students to get good grades in school. But I've found that it is good character that makes them a success in life.

 

Of Trees & People

Trees are wise; they watch and wait. People do things until it is too late.

Your Response

The quality of your response tells me more about you than its content.

POWELL

COLLIN POWEL

A SOLDIERS SOLDIER

Built by bullets in the battlefield and drilled in the mind with military precision. Powell stands as a role model of loyalty, dedication and professional discipline. His rise to the top of the American fighting machine was more a mark of confidence from his peers than a mark in favor of the times. Serving five governments in senior positions meant that he had to keep off politics to inspire trust in his leadership. Politics is not leadership and leadership is not politics. His unique diplomatic exposure allowed him to develop a worldview rather than a local view of global issues. His learned philosophy of disengaging ones ego from a position is one every aspiring leader should note. Powell's leadership is more the stature he built than the wars he won. Collin reveals the detailed mind of a leader on a journey seeking to serve his people. His physical picture of unassuming power and control inspired security for those he was over all. And foreboding to those who would step out of control. One does not need to despise academics, but without character in leadership, no achievement is worth it. Leadership can be a career.

Allan Bukusi

Character

Competence will take you to work, character will take you everywhere.

Complaining about Work

A DONKEY STORY - A TRUE STORY

A man who lives next door to me and whom I know well found himself without work. At first, the shock of losing a job nearly killed Dan. He hid himself in bed for quite a while. Then when people began to enquire of him, he decided to pray instead. To ward off the peoples concern, he sat outside his house as people went to work.  He asked them to look out for a job for him.

One day a harried neighbor, who had not bought his daily water, threw Dan a jerry can and said, "Please get me some water, I will be late for work if I do", as he rushed by. Dan felt quite insulted and sat looking at the 20 litre can the whole day. He got his neighbor some water in the evening from the nearby community tap. In the evening, his neighbor thanked Dan and gave him a dollar.

The next day, another neighbor hollered, "Dan please get me some water and I will give you a dollar". "Word is getting round" he thought, but I can't do that because I don't have a jerrican. Just as he was going back to bed he remembered, "but I do have a dollar".

The next morning he took three orders for water with his new water can.  Soon he was selling water to the whole block. One night, it occurred to him that he had prayed for a job, but now he needed more work, so he prayed for that too. The next morning a friend asked him to repair a wheelbarrow at eh local welding shop. To test if the wheelbarrow had been repaired properly, he put three water cans on it.  With a wheelbarrow, he could do three times as much work. He was now so thankful that he could supply all the other blocks with water too. Nevertheless, he got very tired at the end of the day.

Then one day a friend told him that if he got a donkey and a cart, he wouldn't have to work so hard because the donkey would do the work for him. True to form, he got a donkey.  The donkey and the cart did a splendid job. Then the cart needed repair and the donkey needed feeding. He wasn't getting tired carrying water, but he was getting tired caring for the donkey and repairing the cart. Finally, after complaining for several weeks, he sold the donkey, the cart, went back to bed and prayed for a job.

Allan Bukusi

My Personal Struggles

MY PERSONAL STRUGGLES

My personal struggles are very different from yours. You will not find the answers to yours here. However, struggles are things we can all identify with. They are what others think of us and what we think make us. That is what makes them struggles. Sometimes we become them and, at other times, they become us. When I think of the many struggles about me, just three will do. May be you can help me. I really want to be good at what I do. And I wish someone would show me how to make more money. Then, maybe too, you could please explain to me who I am.

Allan Bukusi

WHY THE eBOOK WILL WIN

WHY THE eBOOK WILL WIN

The eBook does not have much of a following in many parts of the world. But the secret of success of the eBook does not lie in its following, it lies in its power to reach more people. Most readers still believe in the "printed" word" rather than the "written" word.  That makes publishers, who have the power to print the word, the industry kings. The main cost of the printed word is the printing and distribution process. This bulk cost is passed on to the reader by the publisher. The ink, that makes up the text, is just a fraction of the cost of the book. The publisher also decides what the reader will read. And if a book is out of print – it is out of print.

When readers realize that the "written" word costs less and is easier to access than the "printed" word, the revolution will be complete.  The success of the eBook will not be because it is cheap – nobody boasts about cheap things. It will be because the eBook eliminates all other costs to the reader save the "text". Readers will only have to pay the writer for writing the text (eBook). The eBook shifts the balance of power from the "printer" to the "writer". The writer's income is only a small fraction of a publisher's expenses.

The implications of this last paragraph are huge. Publishers know these facts, but it's the readers that need to realize it.  Writers who have been submerged because their works were judged unprofitable will emerge. Books that were unprintable will soon be freely available. New levels of creativity will be required to remain profitable in the new industry. Established writers will compete, on equal footing, with self-published artists. Quality standards will change from book packaging to content and from content to thought.

There are real fears surrounding the eBook. I gave up printing one of my books because one excited reader confessed to me that they had really enjoyed a photocopy of my book. The fellow had also photocopied the book for the rest of the class. Everyone was doing it. The eBook provides massive opportunity to violate copyrights and intellectual property. If enforcing copyrights on hardcopy is nearly impossible, how will copying "softcopy" be contained. Strange as it may seem the answer to these violations may lie in "deregulation".

Much as self-publishing is a welcome idea, it does not guarantee readership. It promotes expression, but it does not imply consumption. I think good writers have nothing to fear. While good readers have more opportunity to read good writers, poor writers will get more poor readers. With all its challenges the eBook has the capacity to exponentially multiply readership far beyond the reach of the hardcopy. Multiplied publication, multiplied print, multiplied titles, multiplied availability, multiplied distribution, and multiplied readers.

I like the fact that the eBook restores power and income to writers. And I am as concerned, as is anybody, that the eBook brings with it real industry challenges. But I am aware that it is a new industry. It is no longer the "publishing" industry; it is now the "word" industry. By the way, though the eBook will win, it will not eliminate the hardcopy immediately. Cell phone text messages have not eradicated letters or parcel post; some would like to add, yet! However, the moral of this story is that, "books may pass away, but words will remain forever".

Allan Bukusi, 2012

DRUCKER

PETER F DRUCKER

A man I met in the 70's. By then he was already an effective executive. He may have led in a few boardrooms and classrooms, but more specifically, he led managers.  Managers are not always leaders, but managers are always in leadership. Perhaps his biggest contribution was to lead virtual teams in search of paradigms to manage the future. His godlike talent to translate trends into techniques changed the world of business several times over. His influence on business minds is still being measured. The fact that he thought to put his ideas on paper is his gift to the world and will make him relevant for many years to come. The fact that he evolved in time from "planning is in" to "planning is out" indicates a remarkable leader willing to question his own beliefs. And change them if it will help the people achieve a noble goal. Leaders think and change in order to lead change and the way people think.

Allan Bukusi

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

"What motivates you?"  is probably the most frequently asked question by family, friends, coaches, teachers and employers. The answer to this question is the key to love, joy, hope, peace, purpose, careers and a lifetime of opportunity. The answer to this question is the key to your soul and opens the floodgates to a purposeful life. Yes, your answer to this question is more important than the question "who are you?" or "what is your name" because it answers all three.

What motivates you is unique to you, like the way they walk. It is more specific than your fingerprint that can identify you but not define you. It is more important than your picture, because your picture does not tell us much about you. What motivates you tells us everything about you, and tells you who you are.

Your gift is the value that other people to enjoy about you and want from you. Your abilities enable you to work and earn a living. Your interests will drive you, even we they don't pay you. Your interests wake you up in the morning and never let you sleep at night. Your talent makes life easy for you, because you do it without breaking a sweat. These things will motivate you, because they satisfy you, because they are you. You will never find out who you are until you find out what motivates you.

Allan Bukusi

FIVE TRAINING RULES

FIVE TRAINING RULES

I have gathered these rules from a thousand hours of training staff of corporate clients, professional groups and student audiences around the country.

1.       MAKE YOURSELF VULNERABLE IN THE FIRST 15 MINUTES

This does not sound sensible until you realize that the moment you step up to the podium you are the centre of attention. Within those first few minutes, the audience makes a decision to be “for” or “against” you. You need to position yourself as “acceptable’ as quickly as possible. Some people start with humour, others with an impressive recital of their CV or a story. This is all good, if it works, but most of us do not naturally exude outstanding qualities that make us listenable, attractive or charismatic. What I have found works well all (most) of the time is to reach out to the audience. Do not discredit or demean yourself, but identify with the people in the pews with a touch of humanity. Let them know they are no different from you and that you have something to say that will interest them. Sometimes I volunteer to answer a few questions they may have about me rather than tell them what I think they need to know.

2.       UNPACK YOUR MESSAGE

Obeying rule number one does not excuse you from packaging your product well. However, trainers often have great material and knowledge of their subject, but deliver it carelessly.  It is important to unpack your message and clothe your listeners with it piece by piece. Some trainers pull out the “clothes” from their “case” and throw them about the room and expect the audience to make sense of it.  If you clothe your audience with the essential first, the over clothes next and the top coats last, they will not only leave the room fully dressed in the new fashionable clothes but they will also show them off to anyone. If you don’t unpack your message properly, your audience will leave the room half dressed.

3.       READ YOUR AUDIENCE

It is distressing to see a facilitator rambling on and an audience rambling too. This happens when trainers believe that their material is so important that it will naturally get the attention of the audience. This is a mistake. You can tell when a trainer is reading his audience by the changes of pace, inflection, diversion and examples they “add” to the presentation as they go along. You will find that these “additions” by the trainer were not in the original written script. The trainer, however, keep an eye on the audience and responds to them, so as not to lose them. What the amateur trainer does not know is that a sudden change, any change, always draws and refocuses participant attention to some detail.

4.       MAKE SURE YOUR AUDIENCE HAS SOMETHING TO DO.

Every audience will always be doing one of two things; listening to you or not listening to you. Build in interaction to your presentation with a question or an activity. Use word like “think”. “imagine” “discuss” or “write this down” to help the audience draw the greatest value from your presentation. This gives them something to do. Most audiences love it and think you are very smart because you made them part of your presentation. Contrast this picture with that monotone college lecture.

5.       STOP ON TIME

Always be ready to start on time, but always keep the allocated end time, whether you started on time or not. Stop when your material is finished or stop when the allocated time is up whichever comes first. If you must go on, ask your audience for their time. Don’t bargain. Every audience values their time and there is always a visible sense the relief when the show is over - whether they enjoyed it or not. If you press for more time, you may diminish the gains you’ve made, and lower your personal standing in their eyes.  One of the most “stickable” memories of a great presenter and presentation is being “released” on time. 

Allan Bukusi

Do you have vision?

VISION

Do you see things? It is easy to identify a person with vision. They pick up litter. They tidy the room. They make their beds and plan their time. They enter a room and look around to see what can be done, needs to be done then do it . They plant trees. They see needs and respond to them.  They see things. They build houses and come up with ideas. Visionaries make things, others break things. Visionaries talk about tomorrow. They talk about improving things when others see nothing wrong. Those with vision bring in the future while others live in the past. For the most part, others do nothing and see nothing at all.

 Allan Bukusi

OBAMA

BARAK OBAMA
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A leader tuned to his time. A dreamer with the audacity to ride the crest of a wave into the white house. He must now stand the tide of time. His charismatic entry is colored with the mystery of his origin. The question of ancestry is central to leadership because it touches on the principle of loyalty; a question which the migrants aboard the mayflower settled many years ago. A leader does not have to be perfect, but does need to be in perfect position to win the vote. If leadership is a competition then winning is everything, but if leadership is achieving, then winning is just the beginning. The white house takes in one family at a time. This means that a leader has a guaranteed but limited term. Greatness depends on what happens in the world while you are in office. If nothing significant happens, you won't be remembered. If you get two turns at steering the ship you will get more than most, but only time will tell its worth. By all accounts, Barak Obama will always be a first, and that is both a mark and quality of leadership. To lead, never be afraid to be the first.

Allan Bukusi

Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson

ELLEN SIRLEAF-JOHNSON

Madame President

It took 150 years to get her into office in a land called freedom. From that point of view, leadership does take stamina. She led from the beginning to the end. She led from the inside and out, from within and without. Away from home and at home, she was always a leader. Perhaps a born leader. Leadership is more than a testimony; it is a testament. To be president may not be as significant as what you want to achieve as president, because you may not get time to do it. But leadership is important because it breaks the known mould and recasts the future. Her most significant run may be the fact that she has pushed further open the door of possibility to half the population of the world to aspire to top office. Greatness is in patience and persistence to realize the goal for those who depend on you to win. Leaders have many struggles within, but in the end, a leader is not their own, but what the people own.

Allan Bukusi

Greatest Achievement

Your greatest achievement will not be how much you get from other people; it is in how much other people get from you.

Tit for Tat

Tit for Tat leads to Rata-tat-tat.

MARTIN LUTHER KING Jnr.

MARTIN LUTHER KING Jnr

One would think that a third generation preacher would turn out to be no more than a third rate teacher. That he turned out to be a global leader is something to think about. That he brought (arguably) the most powerful nation on earth to re-examine itself, when it did not need to, is worth reading about. That he hoped to change a nation that had not moved forward in 100 years would make him a dreamer.  He did not preach violence, but he did teach not to take offense. No, he did not preach sacrifice, but he certainly did not teach cowardice. Who would have thought that civil disobedience could lead to the legislation of justice, or that moral courage is greater than an armored carriage. He learned passive resistance from another teacher and used it like a preacher. His style of leadership was to talk to whom you call the enemy and find out if both of you have anything to fear. It is not enough to heed the call; a leader must stay the course until everyone is free at last.

Allan Bukusi

JESUS

JESUS

The Christ

The amazing story of Jesus the Christ is believable only by the corroboration of recorded history. His documented leadership is of only 12 men. That such a small story could survive, in such detail, for so long after his death, is a remarkable feat that tells us more about the leader than what is written of him. He attracted attention through extraordinary deeds that the people attributed to God. His chosen instrument of leadership was sacrifice and his philosophy, love. Ungainly as these qualities may seem, his influence continues to spread long after his public burial. Ironically, he promised his followers life. It did not matter that he led in obscurity, had no office or had no home.  Jesus leadership was based on virtue. Influencing a few or influencing many does not measure your success as a leader. However, the success of your followers does indicate the greatness of your leadership.

Allan Bukusi

Poverty

It is better to develop potential than empathize with poverty.

MAHATMA GHANDI

GHANDI

THE MAHATMA

Ghandi is a person who excels in a second life. He begins where most of us begin, in the shadows of another and lives half his life in pursuit of things that occupy most of us until death.  By the time he came into his own, he had lived in three continents. I think his perspective of life was shaped by his experience and by a deep religious discipline that he was not born with. He tempted fate to kill him many times, but it was a religious bullet that set free what the British Empire could not contain. The power of the human spirit mobilized 200 million people and galvanized the world to pay attention to the detail of "birthright". It is impractical to think that a half-starved man could change the world, or that it is possible to use the power of the human spirit to free people from generations of oppression. But that is just what happened when Ghandi was done. In each one and everyone is the power to change the world – If I be the change I want to see.

Allan Bukusi, 2012

 

THE PERFECT EMPLOYEE

THE PERFECT EMPLOYEE

I once worked with a perfect employee. He came to me with nothing more than an ID (or social security number). He was referred to us by his uncle who works with my wife. His uncle needed to do his sister a favor. The young man really wasn't much to look at, he was small and underfed.  I hired him as a farmhand to "hold things" and make sure "nothing gets lost". He was a normal employee and soon began to damage things that are generally "undamageable". The hoe would break, and walls would crack when he passed by.

After a while he started to "want" do things. This was a dangerous sign.  But he went ahead and asked me for permission to do those things. He wanted to build things and make things at my expense. He made some of the most terrible pieces of stonework you could imagine. He used my cement and bricks to build a water tank that looked like a large, rusted, open cement vase. Amazingly, this guy was not ashamed to show me what he had done. I didn't have the heart to tell him that some of his early works were like a child playing with clay in kindergarten, and that they cost me several hundred dollars for each experiment.

Now this guy had that rare thing in employees called determination. It is one of those things generally driven by a disadvantaged background and deep personal aspiration. His view of life was quite different from mine. What I considered pathetic, he considered privilege. What I thought was a job, he understood to be opportunity. This was the beginning. I will fast forward to get to the heart of the story that made this guy special.

This guy could not be put down. He saw opportunities for what needed to be done and gave me the job of supplying what he needed to do them. Brian began to learn and learn he did. He learned from the builders how to build. He learned from me, how to manage money and leaned to drive from me, in my car! He learned from the church how to sing. He learned from other people how to do other things.  Other people began to hire him. At some point I am not sure he worked for me. Everyone in the community owned him. There was no job too odd, small, or big for this small town boy. Brian would fix it. Even though he still worked for me.

What I did not know was that this "small town boy" had become a celebrity in his village. He had built himself a house with his pay and took care of his siblings and widowed mother. He was also steadily winning the hearts of all the young ladies in the neighborhood by his work. Brian never asked for any "thing". All he needed was a chance.

Brian died on the job. Loyal to the end. But when I think about him, I don't think he worked for me.  He worked for himself. He worked for everybody. All he needed was a chance to be. He came to me with no schooling, but by the time he died, I was thinking of getting him an education and making him my personal assistant. That is some career distance for a small town boy with just an ID.

When I think of the perfect employee, I don't think I want someone who works for me. I would rather have someone who works for himself. To be sure the beginning does not tell you much; it's the process that reveals the person, from there you can easily tell what the end will be. The perfect employee is not in a degree, but in the character and integrity to be. There is more to an employee than skills and knowledge, the perfect employee is someone I would like to be.

Allan Bukusi, 2012

MANDELA

MANDELA

The powerful leadership personality of Nelson Mandela is one of undisputed courage; willing to use force and reason to win moral victory for his people. His long walk to freedom took him to torture of soul and depths of despair few of us will ever know. Having given up his life for what he chose to die for, it is amazing that he forgives those with who he lives. Brought up in a royal court, he is a value of loyalty and deep humility. In a world where success is measured by what we do for ourselves, his success comes from what he did for others. He fought for a greater gift than wealth or property. He lived for the dignity and freedom of the human soul. When I think of Mandela, I think of Hope, Justice and Right. But I also know that no man can imprison me, because no matter how long it takes, I am free!

Allan Bukusi

STOP PAYING RENT

STOP PAYING RENT!

Paying rent does not make cents (sense), and it should certainly not be a life goal. However, most employees work to “pay the rent” or “earn a living”. If you ask me, these two responses are really one, “I earn a living to pay my rent”. For many people, paying rent is actually a “career objective”.

90% Employees believe that to pay rent is the right thing to do. They take this role so seriously that it is the first payment they make on payday! Let us examine this four-letter word in some detail, not because it is wrong or bad, but because most employees don’t really know the impact of this “responsible” payment on their life.

Rent adds no value to your net worth. Rent pays for your convenience but will not make you rich! After paying rent faithfully for 20 years, you will walk out of that apartment without so much as a “window” as a token (of appreciation) from the owner. It really does not matter if you live in Beverly Hills or a slum in far away udoland, if you don’t own the house, your net increase in value is zero! Surveys show that paying 30-40% of your salary, as rent is a reasonable sum to part with for suitable housing. Tell me, what is reasonable about losing 40% of the money your earn? Rent is probably the single most important reason why you don’t have any money in your pocket right now.

I have absolutely nothing against house owners who work hard to ensure that needy people have houses to rent. But, I do have a bone to pick with employees, living in false comfort and believing that where they live defines them. Most people believe that living in a good neighbourhood makes them rich while living in a slum makes them poor. The maths is really quite simple, if you pay rent for the house you live in, you are losing a lot of money that could make you rich.

The sensible thing to do is to own the house you live in, recover 40% percent of your income and use the money as capital to create wealth for your family. It is a down to earth way to get you out of poverty and into owning property. However, it will mean that you need to take some hard decisions today to ensure you become wealthy tomorrow. Some people take a mortgage; others buy houses, while others build their own homes. Do what works best for you in the shortest possible time, because the bottom line is, you need to stop Paying Rent!

Allan Bukusi

Allan Bukusi, A Writing Profile

Allan Bukusi, A Writing Profile

 

Allan writes from the heart. He draws inspiration from his family, corporate experience and a goal to empower employees to honor God, create wealth and realize their full potential. As an entrepreneur, he runs several businesses, conducts training for corporate organizations, provides human resources and management consultancy services and gives motivational talks to employees, professionals and student audiences. He talks realistically about life and uses humor to inspire listeners to think about their (personal) circumstances and better themselves in life. His writing and talks have earned him credibility as an author and recognition as seminar speaker around the country.

Allan believes in correcting failure and is not afraid to improve his scripts. He believes that success is measured by how much other people benefit from you. In this regard, he may be considered a generous writer. While most people would bask in the praise of admirers, Allan is keen to listen to his critics. Getting published in Africa is no easy task and nearly no writer makes a living off writing. Most of the money in the writing industry goes to publishers, printers, distributors and bookshops. However, Allan urges all writers to share the wisdom they can afford, even if it means publishing their own work. One day, he believes, the sacrifices made by writers will be handsomely rewarded.

Not every one of Allan's audiences knows that he has written other books on leadership and personal development topics before and after How to Prosper in Employment. They are often surprised to learn that he has more than seven other titles to his name. This discovery makes readers and listeners wonder why he does not seem to have an active publicity strategy, though he has been writing for close to 20 years. At the moment, he says, he will reach out and touch as many lives as read his writing on leadership and life around the world.

 

Researched by Winnie Miriti, 2012

           

HELP

Sometimes people don't want your help. All they need is appreciation.

Quality Customer Service

QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE

 

Quality is the extent to which the customer appreciates a product or service. Quality involves supplying customers with what they want, to the standards they want, and at a price they are willing to pay. In the face of competition, organizations find they have to give something extra to win customers. However, quality is not found in a fixed set of product features for added services, but (also) in relationships with customers. In other words, business must think about the quality of service that they are "offered" to their clients.

 

Customer-driven organizations develop processes to listen to customers. They develop structures that enable them to build a relationship with their customers so that they are able to keep track of changing customer tastes. "Praise" and "problems" brought to the attention of management by customers are looked into and action taken to ensure that the clients don't take their business elsewhere.

 

Organizations are formed by a group of people pooling their resources and skills for the purpose of achieving given objectives efficiently and effectively. It is therefore important that coordination and understanding of how each individual affects the other and how everyone eventually this affects the customer is appreciated throughout the whole business. Quality in the eyes of the customer is much more than the technical quality of the product; it must entail the relational quality of the service as well.

 

Allan Bukusi

 

TRAIN FOR LIFE

GET THE MOST OUT OF TRAINING: TRAIN FOR LIFE

 

WHY TRAIN?

 

Good question! Why spend time and effort and sometimes money when it could be shunted into other areas of "better" value? We need to justify the investment in time and energy required of the trainee, the trainer and organization as a whole.

 

Training is an investment in an individual that should yield productive results in the near term for the individual, the business unit, immediate associates and wider social contacts. Training on skills such as "time management" can have far reaching results in organizing the environment of the person applying himself to practice the acquired skills.

 

Training adds value to the individual through enhancing; competence, ability, appreciation, knowledge, skills, attitude, wisdom, exposure, experience, life perspectives, capacity, latent potential as well as the ability to perform better at work. Training makes staff more valuable and "indispensable" to employers. An individual taking training or a course of study enhances their market value. Employers place a higher value on the trained and competent employees.

 

Other reasons to train stem from an organizations recognized internal need of skills to overcome performance and production barriers in areas such as communication, management styles, work procedures, accounting, customer care, business culture etc.

 

However satisfactory or unsatisfactory the reasons for training may seem, training is primarily an INDIVIDUAL benefit. The capacity developed during training is an individual asset. No one can take it away from you. And no one else can make it work!

 

Business

 

Why do businesses look for trained personnel to? Why not just pick one of those many primary secondary and college graduates flocking after jobs? The truth is that employment skills are very different from academic training. Much academic training has little work skill content. Even college graduates need to develop work skills. Employers of every kind in providing opportunity for employment are in the same act committing themselves to train and develop staff for themselves and for organizations that may employ them later. Trained staff contribute far greater worth to the organization over a shorter period of time than untrained personnel.

 

The training environment at work is created by; specific procedures, interpersonal contacts, communication modes, unique production methods, organization, structure and industry standards. Staff are expected to learn and master a host of different systems and utilize them to make a useful contribution to the business. In this way, they justify their employment. Employment skills are about technical competence, interpersonal skills, decision-making and information processing. Training is an effective tool to ensure organization systems are utilized efficiently and effectively.

 

ATTITUDES

 

Attitudes have a special place in all training. Training undertaken with a negative attitude invariably has negative results. Attitudes exhibited during training reflect on the outcome of training efforts. What should the attitude towards training be? Training should be approached from an open standpoint where, "there are other ways of doing things… improvement is possible… there are things even I do not know! …I could learn something from this program". A negative attitude, like a bad experience, can raise an effective mental block to stifle any learning effort and can actually destroy any progressive initiative thereafter. 

 

Learning

 

Much as there are great teachers, nobody really talks about great learners yet, to produce a great teacher you need a great learner. The function of learning, which is what training aims to effect, has always been the preserve of the trainee. No matter how much effort the trainer puts in, if the trainee refuses to switch into "learning mode", the program will be of no effect. Because learning depends on individual ability, experience, exposure, aptitude and talent participation in group training because individuals learn from each other. The group itself is a learning resource. But in order to benefit from any form of training the trainee must exercise the option TO LEARN!

 

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

 

Training is about changing perspectives. During a training program expect to wrestle with new ideas or other approaches that you may not have utilized before. It is all too easy to state " We just can't do things that way!" Without a change in perspective, nothing changes. In a good training session, expect to build a new operational framework, which may tear down some established and hardened beliefs, concepts and work habits.

 

New perspectives and approaches are often resisted not because they are new, but because with the change a new level of responsibility and accountability is placed on the individual to adjust to the change. Most people don't like change for this reason and those who face change often fear failure. Training helps manage this resistance and fear by a) defining what to do b) how to go about it and c) setting practical expectations and performance standards.

 

Before perspectives are changed, there is often a battle of wits or a "denial" phase where the real issues are hidden under clouds of dust, digressions, excuses, complaints and long explanations as to why things can't change. In one way this battle is good because it makes us reexamine the value of any form of training. But if this stage is not quickly and effectively dealt with by appreciating that training has something to offer it will cloud the entire training program and take away a great deal of energy from individual and group commitment to put training objectives into action.

 

BENEFITING FROM TRAINING

 

In order to benefit from any form of training try to understand the underlying principles and objectives of the training program and identify specific areas of personal attention to impact your own development. During the training, identify intervention areas that you will need to begin working on immediately. The rate of decline of recall is exponential unless the knowledge gained is made practical and utility oriented.

 

Training should make you a better person or make you understand others better. That is why training is not to be attended for selfish reasons. It can be a powerful means of learning about and with others. Training is an experience out of which you should come out richer having added value to yourself and having the capacity to bless and assist others.

 

Implementing Learning

 

If you have undergone training by yourself on some individual/external program, implementing learning can be a struggle especially where you need executive muscle to implement learned strategies. Expect this. Expect resistance. Remember your colleagues did not attend the training with you and may not have the renewed perspective that you have developed. Implementing learning is parallel to introducing change. You will need to set goals and realistic targets to address current problems and define steps that will enable you to ensure the desired change takes place. If you do not have the administrative authority to put your learning into practice you may have to seek audience with your superior and together work out how your new perspectives can benefit the organization. Sometimes organization structures may obstruct the implementation of positive change and this may need to be pointed out for management review.

 

After in-house training programs use the group momentum gained during the training session to implement changed approaches to work. Call each group member to account for learning and maintenance of new standards. In this way, you will help maximize the impact of training throughout the organization.

 

TRAINING FOR LIFE

 

Training is about learning and learning is about life. No experience is a waste of time. All experiences form a part of life so make use of them effectively. The accomplishments you will be recognized for in future are the sum total of all the learning and instruction you put into practice today.

 

Training is a personal effect. By making good use of your training, you will be able to positively influence your work mates, colleagues, friends, family, business associates for good. If you learn to plan at work, you can apply the principles of planning to influence the quality of your life and that of your environment.

 

Human beings from their first day on earth are expected to grow. At some point physical growth stops, but they are still expected to continue growing intellectually and even when that reaches its limit the result should be wisdom and spiritual strength which is nurtured, developed (trained) throughout life. So take your training seriously and apply it.

 

Allan Bukusi

Adapted from a training marketing article (2000) by the writer