Vindu Vichenja'nga!

 

Vindu Vichenja'nga!

Vindu vichenja'nga - Is tongue-in-cheek idiomatic phrase was coined during the 2022 general elections in Kenya to explain the changing political landscape. It captured the accompanying uncertainty among voters about which candidates would be elected to office by an electorate whose loyalty seemed to be constantly shifting. In English the phrase roughly means “things change… and then keep changing”. Puny as it may seem, the phrase does capture the essence, dynamics and nature of the global and local socio-economic turbulence being experienced in our world today. Business men and women set out to achieve clearly crafted visions with accompanying strategic plans to support their intentions. However, the next morning the government introduces a substantive new tax that in effect wipes away 50% of the companies’ anticipated profits over a five-year plan period. Simply put, in spite of the surprise, standard strategic planning tools do not allow for disruptive environmental change. nonetheless, the term “dynamic strategy” does obtain both context and meaning in a world that is constantly changing.  

Vindu vichenja'nga - reminds us that change is not static and that change in and of itself keeps changing inspiring further change. You can’t get too comfortable with where you are if you want to get through to the future. A leader must look for a transcendent vantage point, like an eagle rising above a storm to surmount and survive the turbulence in the market place.  There is a saying, “You cannot see the picture if you are in the frame”. Sitting in the frame only adds confusion to the complexity of whatever challenge it is you are facing.  Since ancient times, army generals first worked to capture high ground from which they could strategically direct the war efforts taking place in the valley below. Similarly, leaders, in exercising that ancient wisdom, need to seek out vantage points that allow them to tactically direct operations on the ground and ensure their businesses survive and thrive in today’s turbulent world. 

Vindu vichenja'nga, also presents us with a major challenge to lead changing change! We are urged to not just observe change or lead through change, but change ourselves to transcend environmental change. In other words, while things will always keep changing, we must find a way to arrive at our desired goals in spite of those changes. We cannot use change as an excuse for failure. Thus, even when the weather changes or market conditions shift and a new president is elected, we must find a way to get the children through school! But we also find this powerful change metaphor in the transcendent leadership of the founding fathers of modern African nations. They looked beyond the conundrum of colonialism to create a new moral state of existence for generations to come. 

Preview excerpt from

Leading Transcendent Change 

Scheduled for March 2024

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What is this book about?

 

Natures challenge of unchecked global warming, effects of pollution and water scarcity are forcing nations to make costly self-preserving decisions they did not consider important half a century ago. Governments are seriously talking about the weather, and urgently investing in earth stewardship policies and values they ignored as inconsequential not too long ago. International business practice is adrift with powerful undercurrents of protectionism, exploitation, subsidies and trade barriers alongside the power struggles of technology, politics and brazen survival economics. Disruptive events like wars, drought and other disasters create overnight market shifts the produce what economist call the “butterfly effect”. In theory, the flutter of this tiny insects’ wings in an isolated part of the world can cause tidal waves half way around the globe. At the local level unstable economic performance, lacklustre policy formulation, numbing poverty and a lack of foresight force political administrations to restart the economy with every election cycle rendering strategic planning a nightmare. Meanwhile, everyone in industry, businesses, traders and the stock market are looking for signals of near-term (given up in long-term) direction to get an idea where to invest their funds, determine which products to sell and yearn for stable raw material and input prices to hopefully predict realistic profit margins. The problem is the signals keeps changing. The impact of this global and local (glocal) environmental turbulence hits the leader mid-stride in the course of his or her executive duties having made a commitment to the employer to deliver the organisation goals - the board is earnestly waiting for a premium return on its investment. However, under these conditions, failure to achieve goals may not be as much due to a lack of the leaders’ competence as much as it is because the goal posts keep shifting and the world won’t stand still long enough to get a clear shot at goal.

The purpose of this book is to empower leaders (readers) with an understanding of how to navigate turbulent environmental conditions. It provides them with a tool kit to successfully navigate the ever changing global and local landscape as it impacts organisation survival and growth, business operations and profitability, leadership team effectiveness and powering employee performance in a volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. 

It is about placing in the hands of a leader skills to navigate work related business challenges that arise due to the environmental impact and fallout facing organisations in VUCA conditions. It is about developing skills to avoid knee-jerk reactions to regular and irregular organisation problems and reducing the amount of time spent firefighting crisis. It’s about studying the environment and making reflective and strategic decisions that transform a business to fare better in the face of prevailing environmental change. This book is about revising business objectives in order to realize transcendent performance. It's about people and the culture that drives them. It’s about business renewal and organisation sustainability. It’s about making leaders out of followers and “following leaders”. It is about engaging our God given gifts of ideation, innovation and creativity to resolve persistent and pervasive problems. But then again, it’s about unravelling complex problems as opportunity for growth. One could also say it is about adopting a transcendent leader mindset that enables business transformation and organisation success. In a nutshell, I would say that is what this book is about.   

Scheduled for March 2024

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Sow in the hard times, Save in the good times!

 Sow in the hard times, Save in the good times!

Wisdom unclassified.

Six Things Transformative Leaders Do

 

Six Things Transformative Leaders Do

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Abstract

This paper is a synopsis of six things transformative leaders do to ensure a business survives and progressively advances towards its long-term goals amid the volatile, unstable, complex and ambiguous environmental conditions of the 21st century. The author draws this synopsis from previous research reviewing, 1) scholarly published papers, academic literature and empirical studies accessed through online scholarly search engines and knowledge bases, dated 2010 onwards, documenting and offering theoretical, conceptual and philosophical frameworks on the emergence of transformative leadership to help leaders profitably navigate the challenges of a chaotic, crisis ridden world, and 2) analysis of published case study data on African CEOs celebrated for successfully turning around failing businesses and posting outstanding outcomes in depressed local economic conditions. The paper suggests that business survival calls for higher skill sets than simply outsmarting the competition, keeping up with evolving customers or managing the bottom-line. Rather, transformative leaders facilitate irreversible transcendent change to ensure business survival, sustainability and long-term success. While conventional theory suggests that apex leaders should take direct control of business operations, transformative leaders install a vibrant business culture where leadership responsibility is shared with empowered followers. They keep the business abreast of the evolving economic environment by maintaining a profitable, responsive and creative tension between the business readiness to change and the impact of external forces altering the environmental landscape. In this paper the researcher uses classic, contemporary and current leadership theory to anchor its findings.

Keywords

Transformative Leaders, Transforming Culture, Turbulence, VUCA, Afrocentric Business Leadership, Dynamic Strategy, Empowered Followers, Transcendent Change, Creative Tension, Ubuntu

Leading Transcendent Change

 

Essential Skills for Leaders in Turbulent Times 

We are living in turbulent times and a whole new combination of skills and competencies are required to navigate a Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world. Business leaders and leaders in all sectors of society and the economy need to bunker down and rethink their leadership approach to getting things done! The Concept of Leading TRANSCENDENT Change is not your normal change leadership program. It is based on Published Research. "Six Things Transformative Leaders Do" is based on a four years of study in search of an Afrocentric Business Leadership Model that will help local leaders ensure their business are able to survive, and indeed thrive, in turbulent economic environments. Here is the action plan; click one, or act on all THREE options below today;

1. Register here for the webinar before the 17th of October 2023,  

2. Down load the very readable research, or the best option 

3.Contact me on email and we can pick up the discussion on how I can run this program for your organisations leadership team. 

Warm regards,

   

Corruption cure

 Corruption exists because systems do not work, not because people are corrupt!

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