2026: The Year of the African Employee

 

Celebrating the Year of the African Employee

The African employee handles, manages and turns-over 95% of the continents production on farms, firms, factories, fisheries and yet owns far less than 5% of its wealth. 30% of African employees drive upwards of 65% of national economic gross domestic product GDP. The African employee provides upwards of 70% of national labor forces that prop up 35% of national economies in small business enterprises. Nonetheless, the uncelebrated African employee has lost the zeal to live in the registered economy, but remains responsible for building the nation alongside feeding and educating extended family of between five to fifteen individuals on a daily wage that is below the axiomatic poverty line. A line that shifts violently in the breeze of political foreign exchange rates. Yet the African employee is the bedrock of the society paying the burden of unserviced government taxes and carrying the future of more than a billion people in miniature wage packets. Odd as it may seem, many employees on their dream jobs, or on jobs many dream of, earning far above the poverty wage line, number among those living from hand to mouth, month on month, from wage to wage. Creating personal wealth is really not a goal or priority. Most interestingly, if you are reading this article, chances are 9:10 that you are an employee falling in one of the categories described above. Read on you may learn something about your past and gain the power to substantially change your future.

HISTORY

The African employee has not always lived like this. For more than a thousand years, the employee lived on free range enterprise in a vast land of abundant resources where expansion was purely physical and geographic. Capital was acquired by the strength of one’s arm, aspiration and will.  There were economic wars, but the land was large enough to accommodate economic exchange for all. The employee was an entrepreneur, master of his craft, owner of trade and firmly in command of his destiny. All was going well until the east and west discovered the African enterprise, enslaved its creators and plundered its resources. His independence was violently taken from him and he, a slave, became the item of trade in his own land, and other lands, in the shadows of a false millennium that would be eclipsed by colonialism. For centuries, The African employee sank deeper and deeper into the dark, dank world of slavery. A place where broken spirits wander wistfully and no souls exist. He enslaved his dignity, his virility and sense of enterprise. He became an auctionable item of labor bought by lot alongside Adverts for cattle, tools, and fuel for no pay and no identity. He became a deconstruct of Adam Smith’s inanimate economic equation of land, labor and capital for the wealth of nations. The African employee, having lost the capacity of enterprise, denied the opportunity and freedom to work for himself, had to work for others. So traumatized was the employee that he forgot how to create wealth and became a consumer instead. This memory loss caused the emigration of the employees  understanding, will and capacity to own wealth, engage in enterprise, and form capital to become a laborer. A few lucky ones were rescued by Booker T Washington working their way up from slavery. The small number returned to modest independent dignity, and the knowledge of creating and managing personal wealth. Booker let them know it could be done, but many remained still born, numb and unbelieving in the eerie mental silence of bonded slaves. For decades, The African employee remained indentured as permanent and pensionable, only later to become a dispensable contract feature, a paid unit of manpower with no soul, no goals of his own; hardly ever returning from the fields of commerce with anything to call his own.

SET GOALS

But did you know that the African employee consumes between 40-70% of any companys gross income! Where does all that money go? That money should make the employee fairly rich. The African employee needs to regain  the ground he has ceded to foreign wealth creators. All is not lost. The employee must relearn enterprise, revise his understanding of money, rekindle the spirit of work, engage information technology for production, set his own life goals, create his own wealth plans and drink deep from the well of independent creativity. To do this the employee must revisit the purpose of employment and the personal benefits it houses that can be accrued for posterity and not just wait for retirement. This year, do not steal, set for yourself One goal to create personal wealth. Do not waste your time; Set One goal to develop yourself, and increase your knowledge, skills and understanding of enterprise. Finally, do not waste your money; there is no difference between your wages and capital. Set One goal to accumulate capital, invest and control your own income streams to leverage your own and family future survival and success… then PURSUE THOSE GOALS aggressively with all the life force in you.

 

Allan Bukusi is the author of the book; How to Prosper in Employment and creator of the Employee Empowerment Seminar, a ninety-minute motivational presentation challenging employees to prioritize creating personal wealth early in their careers.

Give thanks for the day - Today!

Give thanks for the day

I took a break from my writing today to think about all the things I could do with today. The thought came to me as I woke up this morning when I realized that, in spite of the fact that I had many things on my mind last night, I had slept very well. So, I said to myself why not write down ten things I could do with today and see if I can do them all. So here goes, or here went; this is not good English, but read it anyway;

• Give thanks to God for life, health and another day. 
• Pray, mediate, and build my spirit; nurturing patience and character. 
• Write; my thoughts ideas and dreams; work out how to pursue them and get them done. 
• Exercise – yes do some exercise. Modern life is “too much full” of sitting down. 
• Eat; -  cook something, conscientiously – really well and enjoy it. How else can I give myself a treat? 
• Work; work on a project I have wanted to see come to fruition. And even if I do not finish it today. I will have made progress and developed something new. 
• Manage money- that sounds like a chore, but all chores need to get done -  if I want to live in a clean house. 
• Relate; share the day with someone; neighbor, shopkeeper, a child, a friend ... touch base with humanity it helps keep your sanity. Many things are just vanity. 
• Read, and go to places I have never been in books and the adventures of So and So. 
• Deal with the troubles of the day. Let tomorrow take care of itself. That is hard to be done, but I must learn to let it go. 
• Take a walk outside and enjoy nature. It is free. it is there for you. The stage and scene was set without you. It awaits you to show you all the wonders of creation – this is the purest gift life offers you - to be part of it -  to celebrate it- you can find it in any day – from sunrise to sunset. 
• Enjoy whatever I get to do today with a warm smile. It really costs nothing, but a memory. Just a memory. Some people say that is life.  

Only the first item really had a place value in this hierarchy. And many more things came to me quite easily as I came to the end of the ten. I could have added, “take a nap”, but that is what I mostly do at night. That made me realize that -Nobody can really say they have nothing to do with a day, today or any other day. At the end of the day you get to realize that all these things are privileges that some people never get to do in any one day. Or any other day. It is easy to take them for granted. I think the secret is in giving thanks for every day. Yes, every single day. Say THANK YOU for the day, today. I think today should really be added to the days of the week.

Allan Bukusi

The Year in Review - 2025

 

 The Year in Review - 2025

The month of December marks the end of the year on the global Gregorian 1582 calendar. It ushers in a season of pause, reflection, celebration and marks the beginning of a future that cannot be suspended or delayed. There is usually much to be thankful for, if you have enjoyed a year of divine providence, provision and protection– even if you do not deserve it. The people of America dedicate the fourth Thursday of November to observe a day of thanksgiving. Great attention is paid to family and turkey. In Africa, thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude, acknowledgement and celebration of the creator for the provision of life’s graces. It is a mark of good character and sound upbringing.

However, while every end of the year brings with it a season of festivities, these celebrations are preceded by personal reviews. The answer to the question; “What did I do with this year?”, is a nagging conscious duty that many people try hard to delete with busyness, drown with noise, or kill with forgetfulness. The question demands that we account for our time, our actions, our money and demands public accountability as one of the reasons for an end year celebration. For employees, it is a double accounting matrix; “what did you do for your employer?”, but more important, “What did you do for yourself?”. What you did for your employer may justify keeping a job next year, but what you did for yourself lays a foundation for your future!

I took a personal hike last weekend to reflect on; The Year in Review-2025. It was a tough economic and emotional year for me. There were environmental setbacks on my journeys path that popped up at odd junctions. Many unpredictable events happened in my space, beyond my control or influence, that slowed me down. I failed to make the wisest use of opportunities that came my way. I did, however, get three things half-done. The sum of these happenings amounted to a distressing score of 23.07% accomplishment. I know because I set those goals. It seemed like the universe conspired against me in my worst performance in years!  I take responsibility for this outcome. Giving excuses helps nobody - least of all me. That crucible of a weekend cried out for a complete examination of my purpose, re-engineering of my pursuits, revision of the substance of my goals, in-depth soul searching of my life intentions, and a fundamental shift in my future activities and personal engagements. I could not follow through with these later thoughts on the same weekend, but the year in review was a vital first step.

If you are an employee reading this article, taking a well-earned rest from the years’ labors, I suggest that you evaluate what those labors have amounted to. Have your labors brought you prosperity and the anticipated life outcomes you envisaged. In spite of the environmental setbacks, unpredictable life events and failures on your part, did you take full advantage of all the opportunities your employment offered you to prosper during the year? Are you, as I was, uncomfortable with your below-par performance. Did you supersede your goals and perform beyond expectation in making a name for yourself in certain spaces and places? How has this success positioned you with respect to; where you were last year and where you want to be in future? Take some time to think about these things before you begin the seasons celebrations. The Year in Review can open doors to your future success, may stop you from continuing on a questionable path, or keep you from making promises you could not possibly deliver.  

You could choose to forget you ever read this article. But, if you want to chart out a new future, the Year in Review will be an imperative beginning. You don’t have to take a hike or do it alone. You could spice it up by doing it with a good friend, colleague or coach. Other trusted persons can enrich us to see perspectives different from your own on any given matter. Take a step to make meaning of the Year in Review so that as you enjoy the roast, toast, thanksgiving, celebration and season of festivities, you can still consciously prepare for the year ahead. It is all up to you.

Allan Bukusi

The Architecture of transformative leadership

The skills leaders need to understand to leave organizations better than they found them 

A good deal too many local leadership concepts are ignored for western paradigms in the teaching of African leaderhsip theory. But then again, todays African leadership scholarship rewards the practice of western theory. This, in itself, is not a bad thing if it was taught alongside African reserch deriving beneficial lessons for upcomming African leaders. This reserch helps leaders understand the underbelly of leadership that makes a difference in organizations and leaves them better than the leader finds them. It is a very basic lesson, ,but far too many leaders miss the mark on this. Many times leaving the organization in shambles.      

Download full research here;  The architecture of transformative leadership

Abstract

The emergence of a volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment in the 21st century challenged the efficacy of traditional leadership theory to ensure business success in turbulent times. This new reality prompted a scholarly search for new transformative leadership theory (TLT) to find ways to help leaders navigate turbulent conditions and equip managers to shepherd institutions to accomplish corporate goals in VUCA contexts. The study explored scholarly literature, business models, professional best practices and case study examples to identify suitable architecture to manage transformative change as a strategy to ensure institutional survival and success in turbulent environments. The results identified the five levels at which institutions can drive transformative change as; thematic focus, business transformation modelling, leading transformative change, values driven transformation and subterranean context. The study identifies five strategies to lead change, highlights twelve elements of TLT and casts the four roles of a transformative change leader as; chairman, strategos, manager and follower. According to the study, the transformative leader must; be courageous and confront the status quo, convince stakeholders and build consensus for change, chart a navigable path through turbulence to corporate goal horizons, and collaboratively share responsibility with followers to embed a desired transformative culture transformation in the institution. The author notes that such change disrupts redundant systems and may be resisted by its intended beneficiaries.    

The Man; the Prince, the Warrior & the Lover

 

The Man: the Prince, the Warrior & the Lover

Over the past few days I have encountered men both great and small.  Each in his own turf. Each in his own city. Inevitably all men are three. The Prince, The Warrior and the Lover. You will encounter the prince the first you will meet of him. He may present himself in all his shine and royalty. But if that is all you are looking for you will fail to see his true glory. Man, while set apart from all creation, among men may appear to be nobody. And even ignoble. But not too deep within, if you scratch the surface you will see a gleam of divinity. It can only be harnessed for its value. It may be in his voice. His gentle presentation of an issue or the character of his stance, or the way he polishes the shoes of the passerby. It is in the gleam in his eye and the princely manner in which he practices his craft. No, a man is a prince, whether, professor, president or pauper. You will see the same in each of them. Each a prince among men bearing a mien of dignity, self-respect and princely arrogance. Arrogance you say? Yes, arrogance I say. The arrogance that says - I know who I am and you cannot deny me – I am a prince over a kingdom.

The prince, in humility may not present all his credentials at once, but challenge him and you will release the warrior. The warrior fights to the death. Indeed, he prepares for it. He practices and relishes that day in which he will acquit himself as a man. He fights and fights and fights and will return every day of his life to fight again. He wakes up each morning and heads to work. He makes time to learn, to train and become better at what he must do, he is dedicated to his sport, his colleagues and loyal to his calling. The man will not be found not at his post. But when he is not at his post then he must practice the art of the warrior and prepare well for the next battle – to the death. He has no patience with the sloppy, lazy or complacent incompetence. His next battle may be his last, so he must make it his best. The man, the warrior is a sight to behold. To him trust, loyalty and sacrifice are not spare words in his cold room. They are living testimony of his dedication, commitment, courage. The warrior needs no dojo or permission to be his best. He needs no whistle or alarm clock to arise at 4 am to his task. The warrior is self-disciplined and has no problem representing his boss, his son or his daughter. In subordination is not his craft. Disloyalty is an anathema. If you are any of these then you must leave his presence.  His brothers, team mates, sisters, his captain, the army, the country depend on him to be himself. The protector of the things he values and cares for. Is he aggressive. Yes, for what he believes in he will be aggressive to the last drop of his own blood.  

If you get past the prince and the warrior, then you might get a glimpse of the lover. This is not the romance as many perceive. Rather, it is the giving of himself to and for those he has selected. It is in the purity of husband and wife that demands no show of might. It is both companionship and compassionate.  It is the tenderness he reserves and chooses to extends to those he does not have to prove himself to. It is the brief time he takes to meet and mate with his chosen ones before he returns to the fight. It is a deep joy and fulfilling dreams, celebrating victory and making people happy at the party. It is found in his love for nature. In the warmth of a bear hug at the bar with his buddies. The peace he finds at home, it is the counsel and comfort he is willing to take from his father, mother and friends that is so deep and precious. It is the protected secret he shares with only one. Is that man a lover? Make no mistake, there is no man that is, that does not love deeply. Woe to those who turn his love to hate and spurn that which could never be paid for. For a man’s love is his gift to humanity. The man, the prince, the warrior, the lover. Acknowledge these things in him and live peaceably with him, antagonize these things and you will release a violence so intense it will seem the night has never been or will never be.

Allan Bukusi

Did you know that you FUND your own Employment?

 

DO you realize the IMPACT of the FACT that you FUND your OWN employment? 

Most people do not realize that they are throwing away a valuable opporunity to create wealth in employment. Most of us often want to make money quickly through "get rich quick schemes" or simply "STEALING" in its various forms. I had the opportunity to explain that the only way to WEALTH is "WORK" on a talk show recently. Listen in and share the link with a Friend, Boss, Colleague and your Enemy. The discussion might save a person from getting sacked, help another get a career back on track, or better still - it might save a family from being consigned to POVERTY for another GENERATION!  

Tune in Next Week - 14th August, 0800-0900 hrs - East African Time. on #corporatehub Hope FM... We will talk a little bit more about the skills you need to avoid living in POVERTY on the JOB! and create personal wealth on the JOB?

Allan Bukusi

By the way, If you have read the book "How to Prosper in Employement / My first job / a House a Spouse and a Cow"  and you found it useful,  do leave a comment on the Youtube video... It might help someone else think seriously about their future career trajectory... 

...the business development curve

... lets talk about Strategic Business Development 

 

...the business development curve

The development of a business has three important phases. The first, is the entrepreneurial phase. The second, is the corporate or “incorporation phase. And third is the transformational growth phase. While there are no specific timelines given to each phase of business development. Each phase is preceded by some sort of “crisis” that if not addressed leads the decline of the business.

Ideally every business should and hopes to develop along the business development curve as a going, growing and continuing concern. However, business statistics indicate that this is just not the case. unless strategic interventions are made at specific points X and Y along a business trajectory the business will with time and up at B or C. business development has to be intentional, anticipated and designed.

Almost all businesses start at A with an enthusiastic entrepreneur with an innovative idea raising the sweat energy, capital and courage to venture into the unknown with a dream. This herculean initiative is often enough to launch the business off the ground and into the market place where some dreams survive longer than others. However, at some point the entrepreneurial energy begins to flag, even if it is by reason of the age and energy of the entrepreneur/dreamer. To survive “X” and move to the next phase, the enterprise need to pass on the dream to a corporation with structures systems and suitable administrative organization to sustain the enterprise. This requires a business in the entrepreneurial stage to transition to the corporate phase through “incorporation”. In this phase the entrepreneur may step away from the enterprise, share the dreams structure the business and let others run it. This has multiple benefits, not least, a well-earned rest and reward for the entrepreneur for his or her labor. However, in this stage the business also benefits from the injection of professionalism, branding and market loyalty, moderate growth and quality service guarantees. In the corporate phase bureaucracy and systems are introduced to manage operations. This is NOT a bad thing as some people assume. Though they are initially perceived as cumbersome, they actually make the business more efficient and expand its capacity to deliver quality services and survive “enterprise fatigue”. 

Nonetheless over time corporate momentum that allows a business to survive medium term challenges turns into corporate inertia as the organization loses organization sensitivity to changes happening around it. Interestingly, this sensitivity is what ignited business success in the market. In the corporate stage, there is always a temptation to think that we are the best and better than the rest, forgetting that the market and business environment is changing. This is when the business arrives at Y and must make critical strategic decisions involving major revisions to remain relevant and sustainable in the changing market over the long term otherwise it will end up at C instead of continuing to D. And, one might say the cycle begins again - after all business is a going concern. Sometimes this is called the “S” curve, but the crucial thing for every business then, is to appreciate where the business is at on the curve and take appropriate STATEGIC action at A, X and Y to ensure its continuity through to D.

Courtesy

SEAGEM SOLUTIONS

Strategic management consultancy

TRANSFORMING BUSINESSES EVERYWHERE...

info@seagms.co.ke  

Leadership Quote of the Day!

 

frustration...

WEAK leadership is WORSE than bad leadership. Nonetheless, in all circumstances LEADERSHIP is ESSENTIAL. No organization, no one can do without it! Good leadership gives direction, energizes purpose and generates results. Bad leadership takes an arrogant, more often ignorant, position, gives poor direction, blames others and enables others to do the same. People know where the good and the bad leader stands and take action accordingly. However, a WEAK leader confuses everybody. A weak leader is absent, directionless, visionless and clueless in decision making. And, is the root cause of the worst pandemic an organization can find itself in - pandemic for pandemonium.

Salo.

Great Employees do things differently

 

Good employees work hard, Great employees employ themselves.

Allan Bukusi

The Poverty of Research in Africa?

 

The Poverty of Research in Africa

I recently attended a workshop urging and equipping lecturers to conduct research and publish their findings. The mood in the room was, “Oh please don’t take us back there, we passed our exams and got our certificates! We don't need to go through that pain again? We are not complaining we earn enough to survive - just leave us be!”. The outstanding issues were not only the lack of enthusiasm and motivation to write, research and publish, but the significant lack of confidence and capacity to do so. Nonetheless, statistics show that Africa produces less than 1% of modern global research output! If research is equivalent to innovation, then Africa is indeed poor. This caused me to reflect on why “research” so poorly cast in the attitudes of so many would be researchers. Many students view the writing of their research thesis or dissertation as the last barrier between them and graduating with a masters of doctorate degree. The purpose of research is clearly cast as a requirement for graduation. Once the nightmare is passed and the deed is done, the results are put on the shelf. Many a graduate and lecturer will have nothing more to do with either the shelf or the research. Of course university poverty and the poverty of the prevailing socio-economic circumstances also contribute to the problem. If lecturers can earn a salary by certification, let it be. So how do we get our cream of our scholars to write original papers?

One of the reasons that research has such a lowly output in Africa is because it is thrust upon bewildered students and supervisors in post graduate courses with no premonition of its reality all through their education up until their second degree. In their second degree it is introduced as a new subject and at the doctoral level it is assumed that (by now) you really should know how to do it. While the problems of poor supervision, lack of resources, student dropout rates and academic impediments to the process are well known (in Kenya the Commission for University Education CUE, has pointed them out numerously alongside many other independent publications), corrective measures to right these issues can only be described as, “too little too late”. It is only after poor enrollments in the light of rising graduate dropouts and extended terms of registry do university administrations venture to look at the problem from a financial standpoint.

But what exactly is research and why is it necessary? Research is the ability to methodically investigate the universe. It is the competence to resolve environmental paradoxes, explore and exploit hidden opportunities, create new understanding of issues and circumstances and synthesize solutions to the myriad challenges of human existence. It calls for discipline, diligence and determination without a promise of expected outcomes. Research requires the development and maturity of the capacity of curiosity, investigation, experimentation, exploration, problem solving, analysis, comparison, the courage to venture and the will to search for and create new knowledge (sometimes counter what is known) and knowhow to resolve complex and persistent life challenges. These are NOT skills you suddenly HAVE at the registration desk of a doctoral program. These skills and competencies need to have been ingrained, explained, promoted and valued long before one thinks of enrolling in a postgraduate program.

However, education systems and programming in Africa simply do not provide for the appreciation of new knowledge and know how. Knowledge in is a locked box. Nursery, Primary and secondary school programs are closed knowledge systems designed to ensure selective breeding by elimination of those who cannot recall what is in the box. Error is defined as thinking outside the box or failure to think inside the box. Students are simply not allowed to think differently. To venture a different opinion from the teacher (who obtained that opinion from his teacher) is to fail the exam! So to suddenly ask a student, who has successfully subscribed to rote learning for two decades, to think freely or independently, is to explode his worldview of himself and knowledge and deflate his confidence in the light of its presentation and interpretations of himself and the universe as logos, ethos and pathos!

Seeds of research need to be planted early and require the early, middle and long rains to obtain a good harvest late in the year. In other words, the conceptualization of theoretical and applied research and the seeds and practice of research and research methods need to begin in nursery school to inspire belief in the process of open exploration of knowledge and experimentation in primary and secondary school to develop student confidence to participate in, conduct and teach research at university. The poverty of research is hardly an institutional problem it is a systemic challenge that needs to be addressed right from the fundamental design and formulation of the purpose of education as a strategic reserve of national development. Not everyone needs to become a researcher, but everyone needs to know how to go about it to better their own circumstances.

Allan Bukusi

The ABCs of Human-Relations!

 

The ABCs of Human-Relations!

The ABC of managing human relations is about understanding where controversy is likely to arise and how best to control it. Let us start with A-Activity; whenever you are around another person it is most likely your primary engagement will be around an activity - whether you are standing at the bus-stop waiting for a matatu, doing house chores or working in the office on an assignment. The activity will most likely govern the nature and length of the relation. The trick, if you like, is to focus on the activity and not worry too much about the other person unless the activity is not going as planned, then you can discuss the activity and usually relations can continue without a hitch. Level A does NOT require much emotional investment to be performed with excellence. Nonetheless, with a select number of people like your teammates, partner and office colleagues with whom you associate in close and repeated activities level B-Being is often engaged.  Again the majic here is to understand that personhood, personality and preference has subtle, covert impact on interpersonal relations and requires a consious measure of self-awareness AND repect of anothers other-awareness competence.  At level B the balance is knowing who you are, what you like, when you like it and how you like it done with RESPECT to another person who has their own line of preferences, priorities and pursuits. Understanding that the other persons’ preferences may not always align with yours is a homing point of maturity. But creating an understanding about routines and roles in common activities or assignment giving preference to peoples strengths, interests and negotiated roles can multiply group participation, productivity, performance and enhance peaceful relations.

Then there is C-Complementarity. I use the long word to help you pause at this point! Because, while the line between A & B is close, C is a quantum leap. in another closeted space of interpersonal relations. C is a choice and should as far as is practical (is not always so) be a pre-meditated choice. It is the type of relation that is structured around expectations like business contract, marriage, professional teamwork or substantive partnership usually between willing parties. But being willing is not always enough to manage the peaceable relations, because these kind of relations require much more than comfortable co-existence. There are commitments and obligations to be followed through (happily or unhappily). The success key to C is submission to the other. In other words, in line with the agreement one willingly surrenders the power of unilateral action with regards to the commitment. Complementarity exponentially accelerates the benefits of the commitment to all parteis. This means studying others and complimenting their actions with further actions that align to common goals and agreements of the commitment. Do not enter into any contract if you are not willing to submit yourself to it. Let me pause and allow you to think about the possible positive outcomes of complimentarity in relations…

... before I tell you about the existence of D and E which I deliberately did tell you existed at the beginning. Most people (me included) do not (want) to enter relations contemplating D or E outcomes.  Relations sometimes come into D-Difficulties in a complex mix of activities, preferences, intentions, obligations, expectations and entangled commitment. One might say that such relations are headed south. Not neccesarily, but in that case they can be repaired if interested parties are willing, able and committed to working through the ABCs of managing the relations of the day or the hour. No relationship remains on a continuous high that could be achieved with a doping component, imbibing copius excessive amounts of alchohol or other self imparing or numbing substances. However, mending D-relations can take time and effort that is why it is possible to arrive at chronic or irreconcilable differences. At such a point in relations it may be wise to enact the E-exit clause.  In contractual obligations, shrewed businessmen wisely include this clause even though they are the best of friends. They realize that an exit, (sometimes not a nice option) may be caused and required by circumstances in or beyond their control. Relations form, reform, grow and change. In some cases, where irreconcilable differences prevail or are endured for sustained a period and may be injurious to one or other, it may be prudent to consider preserving the long term value, safety, health and happiness of the relations. In such depths it may be wise for either or both parties to exit such relations in order to survive and live to fight another day. Indeed, there are things that cannot be forced like love, culture, heritage or biological DNA. Anyway, at some point, anyone deserves a holiday. The ABCDE model may find use in counselling, negotiations and generally managing interpersonal relations by keeping relational boundaries marked, complexities well appreciated and personal territories respected in all spaces of human engagement and interaction.

Allan Bukusi

 

Kenya, Africa; A Fork in the Road - Political Administration of National Economics

 

 

Kenya, Africa; A Fork in the Road - Political Administration of National Economics

Every post-modern independence economy in Africa faces a fork in the road. Before we describe the fork in the road there are two paradoxes we need to dispel about national management.  The first is the claim that the “modern independence” paradigm is the beginning of African nations. It is a myth and myopic monologue that border on insulting the history and collective intelligence of the continent. There have been kingdoms, chiefdoms and fiefdoms in Africa managed by indigenous leaders long before the tribal European world wars I, II & III. The second, is the presumption that acceptance into the global economic paradigm is the object, dream and desire of all the African people and is regulated by foreign nations. Those who subscribe to this view you will dismiss and disparage every local solution to any global challenge.

This brings me to the fork in the road in the management of the economy. It is between politics and professionals.  There is no doubt that political solutions secured post-modern nationhood (having read the first paragraph you will understand my emphasis on “post” as there was a “past”). Political mobilization was, prior to postmodern independence, a primary and successful agent of change. Nonetheless, it is this success that is the bane of nations economic management. At the fork in the road of modern independence, the new nations urgently needed technocrats to run government. However, politics has been unwilling to cede power in the postmodern independence era and continues run a complex, multifaceted economy with a political administration with a blinkered focus on winning the next election. A poor man remains poor in every political dimension or dispensation as exploitable political capital in vigrously reheresed and shouted manifestoes. However, a poor man’s transformation requires technical intervention. Nonetheless, intellectuals often put frenetic energy into “defining” economies as democratic or communist. And when the findings do not quite fit either paradigm they are termed socialist (presumably a mix of both) that that somehow incorporates the primacy of the people in national management instead of the popularity of the party. If this fix still doesn’t work, Western academics have been known to extend political definitions beyond simple interpretation – adding left, right and center to the confusing nomenclature. The question one might ask is, does politics define poverty or politics define poverty?  Many in Africa still believe that politics is the cure to poverty long past the fork in the road - a fairytale that has been long dispelled by progress in the East.

Just ahead, in the fork in the road, you can tell the nations that still hold to politics as a panacea to a plethora of economic nighmares. These nations have installed limited vision political administrations to manage government pandering to myth that global advancement is a solution to local problems. In the minority, just up ahead in the fork in the road, are those nations that define advancement as the empowerment of the people and call on professional management to advance the disposition of their people. The biggest contribution of politics up to the fork in the road, was and still is, to secure the nation. But just up ahead, after the fork in the road there is a greater need for technical administrations to manage the nation.  

Allan Bukusi

Guard your Life Force

 

Guard your Life Force

A few years ago I was struck for six by a combination of socio-economic pressures that are familiar to most men and lay on my back for a while with an opportunity to consider how all of this came to be. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out, quite by accident, that I could do something about it! The first of great import, was to withdraw from unhealthy company. Although it had nothing to do with me, I noticed that the company of a good book, meditation, peace and quiet does more miracles to the restless soul than much of the unending humoring’s of men and women. While western medication concentrates on managing heart conditions, African medicine is focused on the stomach. These two theories are not unrelated. Indeed, there is a connection between the vagnus nerve and whatever emotional im/balance the body is going through. You may be familiar the term, “gut feeling”. It is something like that. Like your body tells you what is and is not working for you. Well without going into high science let me tell you what else I found out.

Second, lying down to rest is a good thing, but getting up to walk is a healing. Developing the discipline of exercise is a very powerful body relief – after the exercise that is. Before the exercise routine the thought of it is a mountain of unbelief.  If you stay down, you are out for the count. When you get up you can go another round – seriously. It sort of does not make sense, but it is profound. The third is really ridiculously basic; You are what you eat. Believe me, there is food the puts you down and food that picks you up. There is food you should and should not eat. The first thing healers put you on is a food diet. Actually, they first check what you have been eating. I discovered that meat and eggs keep my stomach grounded for hours while vegetables tend to clean things up that are stuck in the gut. You may want to listen to your body and find out what dulls your system and what peps it up. Fourth, impressively, is a good night’s sleep. Some people try to squeeze in a few hours in the day to compensate for the night. But I think there a logic to the assigned continuous nocturnal session. It used to be said that, “early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy, wealth and wise”. The most important word that wistful wisdom left out was SLEEP as a necessity, program and dedicated initiative. Sleep is about reflective calibration, regeneration, regulation and holistic rejuvenation of the whole body life force. Some people like to fight over hours. The truth is, do it enough for you. If you don’t, I guarantee, you will get out of bed with and carry a headache through the day. That will make you more tired and less inspired for the next day. Not because you did not sleep, but because you did not sleep enough. There are many reasons why people don’t sleep. Sort them out. It is too precious an energy source to lose.  

The fifth is how heavy you are. When I say heavy; I mean you could be 70Kg and too heavy and 70Kgs and overweight. There is a measureable relationship between your height and your weigh, though your gym instructor may have different ideas. But keeping an eye on your weight can do you wonders. The trick is to find out what works for you. For example, if you are having trouble carrying your body for a kilometer (this actually happened to me) or walking up a flight of stairs, that may suggest a poor correlation between your bone structure, body fat and muscle content. Amazingly, when I am lighter in weight I feel alert and more energetic than when my weight inches up by one too many kilos. Checking my weight weekly I found out that 71-73kgs works for me. Below that my trousers fall down and my shirts begin to hang, but when my weight gets to 75Kgs, I am wheezing about everything and totally out of sync. While there are weight critics who rant about getting rid of overextended body parts, I think it would be better to sell the benefits of carrying your own weight- then, at least, we all don’t have to look like superman. Sixth, is water. I don’t have much to say about this one, but your body is made up of about a 70-80% water balance. When you mess with that balance you are very likely to have toilet problems. Discipline around water consumption is a great debate. As to whether 6-8 liters, cups or glasses (where people have glasses) per day will give you the benefit of a smooth skin I do not know. But like I said, I personally, do not have anything to say here. I cannot keep a water routine. It is flat, tasteless and boring, unless I am sweating after a workout. So I drink a modest amount of non-poisonous fluid as I can during the day and use the toilet experience as a regulator for control of more or less and timings of my water intake.

Finally, seventh, because it runs through everything said before is; the work, will, purpose and spirituality in its broadest sense – based on the understanding that life is a privilege and not a past time. You notice, I started this essay with the words “combination of socio-economic pressures”. That means resolution of the complexity of addressing these pressures is far from simplistic. In the same vein that the weight you may be carrying is a combination of issues, it is important to go through the process of reflection, identification, isolation and action to address, overcome and eliminate the combinational impact of these pressures takes both time and effort. Rebalancing a life after enduring a career or lengthy season of a unique combination of socio-economic pressures is easier said than done. Not to mention the murkiness of disentangling your life from today’s sexy, manic, rapid results, artificial intelligence solution frames and belief systems like “losing weight in week”, “how to fall sleep enough in seconds”, “how to earn, without working”, “how to get your friends to like you”, “fake it until you make it” – world, is a major confusion in itself! But the real challenge here is regaining control of your life force, self-healing, restoration or body balancing, yin and yang, yoga – or whatever you want to call it. The real lasting change is in consciously managing your lifestyle. That takes personal study, application and consistency over time. A few weeks, months and years of sober application.

Allan Bukusi

Note: the author is not a medical expert and offers an opinion from experiential and social observation only.

Work through the problem

 

Sometimes you have to work through the problem and not try to solve it.

Look down from the Balcony

 

The Balcony

Most people who go to a party enter the hall through the front door and are usher themselves onto the dance floor of chitchat. They hurriedly say hello to old friends, graciously introduce themselves to new and sidestep boring associates with corner of the eye precision as they strategically work their way around the room to the real person they came to see. After that contact has been made, the party either begins or they are free to leave. Very few people take interest or make an effort to go to the balcony. After all there are energy-sapping stairs to negotiate which take energy and time to escalate - not exactly the life of the party! While this happens at parties It is much the same in the office, at workplace and even family where you go to make your connections for the day and then leave. But what really happens in the balcony or gallery? and who goes there?  

Many Leadership consultants, they also call them gurus - a more religious term, have written about the strategic vantage point the balcony provides for business organization and management. From the balcony you can see who comes in and goes out -without them seeing you. From the balcony you can observe the various cliques in the room. You can observe the systematic routine of waiters, cleaners and security personnel engaging their craft with professionalism and poise. From the balcony you can observe the lovers and those who have been forced to come. If you take your time you can tell which stories are being told in the various groups and predict with mint accuracy the collisions, collusions and consequences are going to happen next in various corners of the room within a few minutes. By sending a note to the cooks, the musicians and lighting affects you can actually dictate the mood of all the guests in the room. If you are keen enough you can influence the evening like the conductor or an orchestra or execute the vantage of a military general. For those who have watched spy movies like double Agent 007, Nikita, Luke Skywalker or Black Panther, you will notice that the best place to enter a party is not the front door, but the balcony. The balcony holds the power of intervention, intention and strategic innovation. The most influential negotiations take place there - everyone else is on the menu!

In case you think that the balcony is only for some people and not for others, you are mostly mistaken. With time we all get moved to the balcony at some stage of life and grudgingly or diplomatically take up our place in the house of lords and watch parliamentarians make laws with predictable outcomes with no power to change what may take place. In the balcony we gasp in both awe and horror with a great deal of soothsaying wisdom - some of which we could have used when we were on the dancefloor. But now as a supervisor, manager, father, mother, friend, enemy, relative or retired CEO we must watch the party from the balcony. The power to change things is gone. It is a sort of numbing experience to know that you can do nothing about your own past, wayward offspring, global warming, the atomic bomb, genetic engineering, systematic evil or world war 4, 5 and 6! It is out of your hands. But it certainly need not be a place of dead pan sorrow - DESIDERATA is quite helpful here. The party will go on until you take your place in the sand.

Here are somethings you can do though; when you are at the party, take some time to go check out the balcony. It might make you a better dancer. If you are in the balcony, periodically come down and enjoy the show. Not everyone needs to know what you know. So next time you enter a room scan the balcony. Know that there have been people there before you. You might see their pictures on the wall, but remember too that there are many more who will come after you. Take the words of a wise teacher; enjoy the moment and don’t worry overmuch about tomorrow. I heard the Chinese say, the past is gone, the future is unknown, but the present is a gift! Treasure every moment you get in the hall.

Allan Bukusi

 

Complete the MIssion !!!

 

Complete the Mission !!!

I never got to be a soldier. But maybe that was because I never got a chance to join the army when I had the right age, height and body weight. However, not being a soldier has never deterred me from embarking on missions and setting goals and playing roles as best as I could. In fact, most of my school, personal life and working career has been a series of missions. A mission is about embarking on a quest to accomplish something or achieve some simple result or difficult objective – like mission impossible! A mission is primarily a personal undertaking, but may involve others to a tertiary degree. In other words, "the buck stops with me" as the Americans would say. There are times when I have had to give up a mission, but it never felt good. The only consolation was that I gave my best and therefore I was able to walk away from the field with my head held high and head into the next battle. Life is a mission. Some people say it is a “calling”. Some people give it a funny name like “bucket list”. Guys who want to sound knowledgable talk about "purpose". It is a very fulfilling pursuit, but not everyone is easily drawn to this taxing war. Some people just never set sail – never journey beyond the comfort of the door -  never join the army.

However, as life would have it, there are enough distractors and detractors that are commissioned to ensure you do not pursue your mission; the neighbor next door plays loud music, you would rather relax than study for your exams, and then there is the interesting time consuming new… (fill in the blank) that takes you wandering away from your mission. In the army it is called ‘a walk of love” or AWOL or something like that. In such an event information somehow gets to central command that there is nothing happening on a particular battle front because a solder has gone AWOL. This is when MISSION CONTROL takes over and calls the soldier to order. Hopefully the wayward man, woman, mind, body, soul or spirit is restored with a modest admonition. Sometimes it takes more than that – a court martial. Managers are good at enforcing that, mission control, that is.

Like I said, life is a mission and at times you find yourself wandering around in circles and promising yourself that you will get back in line as soon as you have finished doing “this and that” or when you have completed “one or two things” as they say in some parts of Africa. Unfortunately, all these excuses end up using stray bullets or more accurately wasting bullets and precious other resources. And you don’t want to not complete the mission. So if you are still with me, here are the BIG FOUR; don’t lose focus! say NO a little more often! do the work- stay with the discipline, keep the faith! and ultimately, you must separate yourself to complete the mission!

 Allan Bukusi

 

from Certificate-to-Doctrate; A Corporate Journey

 

from Certificate-to-Doctorate: A Corporate Journey

The first five lessons I picked up along the way...

When I tried to enter the corporate world from a teaching job, at the beginning of my working life, I was rebuffed for more than two years! Nobody took my Bachelor of Science in Physics as serious corporate competence. Later on I would learn that some of the greatest CEOs in Kenya, such as Michael Joseph of Safaricom, had Science qualifications as their entry points to an illustrious corporate career. However, at the time the market could not read the way I was thinking and rebuffed by attempts. 

So I had to go to night school while teaching for another year to prove my competence at the illustrious Kenya Institute of Management, enrolling for a certificate in business administration. Small qualification, but it opened the door for me to join Sean G. Hawkins (we called him SGH) at KHI Training. As they say, the rest in this story! My entry into the corporate world was not dramatic, but in that process I learned some major lessons. Lesson number one; a certificate is important! It opens people’s eyes. It makes them look. I later followed that small certificate with more insignificant correspondence (todays online) courses in accounts, management, personnel & Industrial relations, time management, presentation skills... Needless to say those seemingly insignificant certificates leap frogged and fortified my position as a corporate trainer, business strategist and human resources consultant. 

Of course my mentor saw my potential long before I fully understood how the corporate world worked. He sent me on a one-week training program with real CEOs and Senior managers on a Strategy Development & Implementation course conducted by an Ashley Management College consultant back in the 80's one month after I joined the company! Lesson number two; get yourself a mentor who can see further than you can imagine! You may not agree with your mentor, but if they can see 20 to 30 years ahead of you, you will thank them later, much later, after you have enjoyed what they tried to get you to appreciate back then!  

At some point in my career, I wondered, as most people do,"how I got here?". I looked back and began to see what my mentor may have seen in me. He leveraged on my five years teaching experiences and diploma together with my passion for management and bet that I would make a trainer in time. He was not wrong. Lesson number three; leverage your background and basic skills to give you a career distinction, blend and inimitable character. 

No experience, education, exposure or expertise is wasted, unless you make it a waste of your time. I remember the one and a half years I spent working as an accounts clerk after high school in the basement of a government office. I hated the job with a passion! That was then. Later in life I would start my own business. Guess what knowledge base I pulled out of the dustbin? You guessed it. Yes, Book keeping! I am by no means an accountant, but I know enough to keep cash flows going as a lifeline of a succesful business!  Lesson number four; learn from what you do NOT enjoy! 

At some point early in childhood, I got this idea that I could be a writer. However, there was no evidence in the ungainly preteen to that effect back then. To date I really cannot boast of anything beyond a C-grade in English literature throughout my entire education.  But I was so convinced of this interest and consuming passion, that since Ms. Kinuthia’s grade 5 English class at Nairobi Primary School (NPS) more than 40 years ago, I have never stopped writing - this or that. I never gave up writing because of my grades! I wrote for the love of writing, “writing for writing sake”! Fast forward. To date, I have written a few research and academic papers, a few books and the essay you are now reading! There is a song about this, "Children hold on to your dreams", by the Wee Gees - look it up. It will inspire you and change the way you think about how your childhood aided your career! Lesson number five; Never let go of your passion. Not every skill you have can or will be certified by an education program. Some of those lateral skills are invaluable to keeping you alive on your corporate journey. It is what headhunters call , “added advantage”, like another language or interest in “swimming” if you are gunning for a career in the hotel industry. These five lessons, I think, were entry requirements. Let me know if you find them helpful. I will pen some more later as the journey continues…    Go for it!       

Allan Bukusi

Leadership Vs Management

 

...Leadership asks, "Where do you want to go?" Management answers,  "This is how to get there!"

AB

The Spirit of Wisdom

 

The spirit of wisdom

The reason why people in Africa associate wisdom with old people is not because they are old, but because wisdom itself is old. It looks down on the present and the future. Ideas may be new, repeated, fashionable and true, but wisdom is as old as the hills. If you can calculate the age of the hills and valleys, then you will understand how old wisdom really is. Wisdom is as ancient as the days of time.

Allan Bukusi

God provides;

 

God provides; the rest of us must Work.

Allan Bukusi

Woman of Faith

 

Professor Faith Wariara Nguru

Character, courage, capacity, counsel and commitment came in a deceptive, diminutively statured package that wielded power gently. Six hours of tribute was not enough to eulogize, describe or celebrate the accomplishments of a life that belies its age and contribution in time.

I thought I knew you; but, I did not know of you. Humility hid a prodigious authority under the cloak of duty, meekness, faithfulness and integrity. In you I find that loyalty has a new meaning in leadership; double deputy, assistant, secretary, commissioner, mentor, preacher, big sister, friend, wife, mother, peacemaker and professor. That testimony is not mine. It is from far and wide; in the news I heard coming from the NEWS. From important people before whom I could never stand.

A gift of light is gone in the night. No, I never really knew you. But now that it is night, I remember the light. You were so small, yet such a great soul. Gone quietly without a fight, Having done all with all thy might; for one you loved both day and night. What more could I say. Your maker must be proud of you. There is a new light in heaven. Fare thee well Woman of Faith. Fare thee well Faith, fare thee well.  

Allan Bukusi

It's Time for Leadership Beyond the Leader

 

The performance of the second generation post-colonial amalgam of modern nation administrations in Africa was tied to the experiential reality of its leaders rather than the institutional capacity of its polity. Each leader believed they were better than the former and certainly superior than the other leaving little room for the wisdom of consensus to emerge on any matter under the sun. This meant that the potential of these nations always remained greater than their performance.

This may be a good sign though, in that leadership in Africa, can only improve as demanded by its polity over time. Indeed, in another two generations it may seem quite odd that leadership in African ever displayed the political morass that is perhaps characteristic of  the present. A great hope, but a good hope nonetheless.

As both the empowerment and expectations of the people buoy each other in voice, deed and increasing demand, leadership will be forced to deliver higher levels of institutional performance rather than depend on the fragility of its leaders. This is leadership beyond the leader. Depending on the fragility of the person rather than the purpose and function of the position is bound to be a disappointing show in the short run and an ill-advised choice in the long run.

Allan Bukusi