Fight, My Friend; Fight!
It does not matter what corner you are in or where you come from. In life you must fight, fight for your life. You need a certain mind frame to fight life's battles in business, illness or whatever other inconveniences to just plain stay alive. It takes a unity of heart, mind, body and most of all spirit to engage these challenges to victory. Compromise in any one area is pathway to defeat. Fight, My Friend; Fight!
Allan Bukusi
a Passion for Shoes
I listened to a young man with a
passion for shoes. He raved about shoes from the moment we met at the junction
leading out of town. I wouldn’t have given him mind except that he knew me and
I was walking in the same direction as he. It would be a mile until our paths
parted. Save for the inauspicious ambush, I had hoped to entertain my own solitude and console myself of all the
woes I had come through recently. Nothing else mattered to this young man
except what he had to say. This young man enthusiastically went ahead to tell
me about his vision of opening a boutique shop in the exclusive arena of an uptown
backstreet alcove known only to a classy executive few. I had no option but to listen.
He was wearing designer shoes, trousers, waistcoat, croc belt and skin tight shirt that
etched out his trim figure. The kind fashion models have. This is not
to mention his in-style haircut to match the polaroid reflectors. I could hardly
not notice these things about him. He was graphically walking beside, in front
and dancing around me as we walked. I briefly wondered how long it took him every
morning to put on this designer look.
So, let’s start this lesson in
enterprise from the beginning. He knew that he needed cash to start his
business. He had a job which would help him bulk up savings cash over the next
six months. He was in no hurry to leave the job, but needed to think about his
own life and where it was going from here. So he was doing his research on
rare, quality, high definition shoes. He told me the buyers of such shoes are conscientious
bank and other institution employees who are mindful of their career image, visual presentation
and consider elegant attire as part of career development, definition and competition
on the corporate ladder. But there is another elite squad of middle and senior
members of society, mainly men, who dress by taste, choice, gold watch and a touch of class. They have a standing
budget to buy and wear the good things in life. But there is another dispersed group who buy
what they see. They don’t have to come to the shop. He called them GenZ! He
already has 1,500 following his online contacts and Instagram page. By flashing
one exquisite shoe on the net, he his sure to get at minimum 500 hits and an inevitable
sale. But what will he do if the demand escalates out of control. This is the
reason that he must have cash to back up his dive into enterprise
He has also done a great deal of
research in identifying and contacting suppliers, ancient authentic art-shoe makers,
tailors and fitters. He is lining up the back end of his business even as his
front end is clearly defined. The back end is ready to support him. His fear is
how to outsmart the competition. He has a few ideas. He needs to create an
unmatched brand. A brand woven into his persona and desire to satisfy his
customers. His greatest regret would be to let his customers down. He really
believes this is what bring down businesses. He needs to wait, but he also
knows he can’t wait too late if he is to build a regional brand before he
reaches his mid-thirties. He is confident he has made all the necessary contacts.
All he needs is cash. So I turn to him and say, “It seems you have already
started”. He says “well, yes, but catch me in a couple of years when I open my boutique.
You know, a boutique is all about location. You need to have six months’ rent
to get the shop then you have to have enough stock to pay you back before those
six months are up. That is why I have to be super careful”.
Then, at the bend in the road, he
said, “this is where I branch off, see you, and thank you so much for your book,
I guess you are going to the site? “. I said, “yes” and we parted ways. He to
his vision and me to my solitude. But, my thoughts were no longer about my woes.
My thoughts were locked on my site. In our previous meetings, I had told the young
man about my business. He seemed to have absorbed it like a sponge although in
our one mile walk I hardly spoke a full sentence without him coming back with a
direction, rebuttal and justification for his cause. Alone with my thoughts as I ambled towards my
site, I started to reflect on how much I had learned from him about enterprise!
All you need to start your business is half as much passion as this young man had. Only a few people I know have such passion for enterprise. But there are deeper enterprise questions here that demand answers. How much have you prepared the
back end of your vision for your front end impact?! If anything, it would be a
joy to work with this young man and even have him work for you as he pursues
his dreams. He is a real person. If you would like to contact him drop me a
line here… You may not think so but, this young man is living and working on his
vision. Perhaps the real question he presents us, so called entrepreneurs, is; how
much passion do you have for our own business? How much do you really know about it? What does your front and back
end look like? where is your site?
Oun Better Relationships!
The general nature of human
relationships is that they, evolve, mature and eventually dissolve at some
stage. This relationship cycle need not be consciously undertaken, though time
and circumstance has a major hand in the unfolding of interpersonal relations.
Some are for a time others are for a circumstance while others are mix of both.
While many people would call for “commitment” as a basis for enduring
relationships, there are those in which a mutually beneficial transaction is
sufficient. However, relationships need not be managed in the sense that each
party gets and gives what they want from it in turn. While this may be an
unstated expectation, therein lies the danger of degeneration of the quality of
the relationship. Indeed, toxic relationships are often based on unqualified
assumptions and unquantified expectations of one or both parties. It is only at
this late stage of disintegrating relations
that emotional intelligence and social maturity of the engaged
individuals are brought into question and critically explored. But it was not
so in the beginning and perhaps may not have been needed. Three agreed upon
things could help protect valued relationships and help us all enjoy and OUN better relationships without making them
an inflexible bureaucratic process.
Objectives: While it may be considered odd at the beginning of a social relationship to find out, “what are the objectives of this association?”, this is quite natural when considering employment. No employee would step into a job without considering whether they are ready to commit to the job objectives. Nonetheless, I dare say that after a short period of emotional dating, it is prudent to establish the objectives of the budding relationship before continuing the engagement. This little, insightful, seemingly insignificant detail allows both parties to OUN the vision of the relationship and steer in that direction.
Understanding; We are all different people with different
upbringing, backgrounds, careers and expectations. It is possible that we may
see some things from the same perspective. But there is likely to be so much
more that we don’t see from the same frame in the theatre of life. It is
therefore prudent to prod further to clarify understanding with questions
similar to; “what is your understanding of love, what are your expectations of my
performance, what are the expected outcomes in this matter and what are the underlying
assumptions of the following critical aspects of this relationship? what are we
agreed on and what areas do we differ? how do we want to address the whatever it is that is critical to the success of this relationship? This nature of questioning and interrogation is not
punitive, rather it is protective of the evolution and maturity of the
relationship for the length of its existence. Determining and establishing a
common understanding of the relationship at the beginning of a relationship can
forestall future disaster. Nonetheless, a common
understanding can also be carried by the more mature partner in the
relationship in the interest of the other over period of association. This
happens in the case of a parental relationship with a child. However, this does
NOT excuse BOTH parties from developing the emotional and social intelligence
required for long term association. The child must grow up to associate and
relate with their parent as a mature individual in their OUN right.
Nature: The nature of a relationship can be meaningfully contained
and defined by time, circumstance, context and social obligation. Some are
short term, others long term, others social others official, some are
emotional, others are intellectual or academic. Every relationship has an
authorized space of operation. Let us
say it is wise and probably more safe than otherwise to contain your
relationships in the social spaces in which they are created to exist. For
example, it may not be wise to bring up a family matter as a point of
discussion in the office during a business meeting. Though there is overlap of
relationship spaces, they need to be protected and kept apart in order to
secure every other relationship. Understanding the nature of a business
relationship will help parties ensure it does not deteriorate into a personal
vendetta or emotional crisis that cannot be resolved in the business context.
Understanding the nature of a relationship allows one to be respectful,
protective and preservative of the ethical boundaries for the relationship to
succeed. Understanding the nature of a relationship allows all parties to OUN and manage the relationship to ensure it remains valued and valuable for the term of the existence or while
the relationship lasts.
For the most part, relationships are natural function of human existence and cover all aspects of human interaction and engagements starting from childhood, upbringing within/without family, friendships, employment, enterprise, courtship, business associations, and all angles and levels of community and societal intercourse. Such relationships could be personal, private or public. We don’t always think about it until and crisis occurs, but in all relationships there are instances where the nature of the relationship could benefit from the prefabricated OUN structure of association to frame and protect its development, interaction, risk of exposure and guard the vulnerability, security and even abuse of not only the relationship, but all the stakeholder individuals engaged in the relationship process. If you are already in a relationship that does not seem to be taking any particular direction, this may just be an ideal opportunity for a discussion to take ownership of your future!
Allan Bukusi
What GENZ is teaching
the globe about leadership
There is a friend of mine who is
having extreme difficulty appreciating that an organization can be leaderless, tribeless,
formless and fearless. If you have the patience to read this article to the
end, you will understand why it is important to disabuse my friends (and my
enemies) of the notion that the group is disorganized and cannot amount to much
unless a leader emerges to champion the group cause. With the reference to the GENZ
protests in Kenya these last few weeks, my friend actually believes that since GENZ
have “no leader” that makes them an illegitimate and confused mob who will
eventually fizzle out of intellectual and material resources to achieve their
goals. However, GENZ have demonstrated a different spirit that can teach us a
few things about global leadership. In my friends’ mind, since GENZ has no philosophy, it
is simply a matter of time before a leader emerges from the group and hijacks
leadership from the mob. Traditional wisdom suggests that when the leader
finally emerges, the group will be corralled and the movement will be crushed
by the powers that be! Thus far, no leader has emerged. This has left the
administration in a clueless, colorless and callous quandary as to how to approach, engage or
negotiate with this amorphous majority polity. The administration has been left figuratively fighting the wind with embarrassing arcane methods, batons and bullets to no avail.
Leaderless?!!
How do you define a leader? The
short answer to that is; an individual. However, individuals can be many. Leaders
can be many. In this, GENZ have no conflict. They have many leaders. Nonetheless,
the long answer to that question is that leaders
are a shade between cultic (political) and symbolic (idealist) of the polity they
oversee. You can replace cultic leader quite quickly the party dies with their
demise. Symbolic leaders are hard to replace in fact they birth other leaders
and sustain movements long after they are dead. Cultic (political) leaders
demand loyalty and servitude from their followers whom they control in a pay
and benefits roll. Symbolic leaders on the other hand offer no such niceties
and invite their polity to sacrifice and service for transcendent ideals. Cultic
(political) leaders do not allow anyone to challenge their power. Symbolic leaders,
however, openly inviting everyone to take up leadership responsibility for the
cause. The reason why authoritarian political (cultic) leaders have a hard time
crushing idealistic movements is that these movements are in fact leaderless! Take
a lesson from empires that have persecuted religious movements around the
world, and nations that have tried to crush emergent ideology with sword and armor.
Tribeless?!!
A hungry man has no tribe.
Perhaps a jealous person might want to form an alliance of convenience to corrupt
the interests of others and ensure personal gain. But the power of those who hunger and thirst
for justice cannot be cured by tribal alliance, political classism or even a
covenant among thieves. Conventional
wisdom dictates that a formation of a coalition of tribes or political parties can
aggregate power to control the powerless majority. This is conventional wisdom
and there is no question that it does work particularly in the case of
unenlightened citizenry and masses whose lot is consigned to slavery. Until,
the slave, gets an education and is awoke to the fact that he was born free and
slavery is not his lot. The cause of humanity is tribeless of any affiliation. Take
a lesson from the colonialist who was expelled from Africa. Human dignity is
devoid of tribe, politics or affiliation. The call to humanity is tribeless!
Formless?!!
Political organizations and
governments struggle with form and function. Corporate business understands the need to maintain the power balance between formal and informal authority all to well. However, the search for a suitable administrative form to
champion the rule of law and order, in the traditional sense, is both practical
and popular- but far from perfect. Conventional governance relies on the myth that visible
institutions such as monarchies, government and militia are a justification
to control humanity and rule over the minds of men. But, local communities have
governed themselves for centuries without these opulent, overbearing institutions.
Without being policed, communities willingly observe ethical principles,
virtues and their own cultural values, to successfully govern community life. Functional,
formless government is possible. New testament governance is not about legality
(rule of law for the sake of law), it is about conscience; a demonstrated heartfelt
commitment to a cause of humanity. Formless governance is in the hearts of men
and women who selflessly act on what they believe to be true for the welfare of
others. Take a lesson from Ubuntu and note that the neo-colonialist withdrew from Africa
on account of the formless power of the freedom movements.
Fearless?
Fear is a tool insecure
oppressors use to maintain control. Medieval techniques of eliminating a new idea involved maiming and torture instead of its proponents. The oppressor does not have the competence to address an idea with an idea. They address ideas with violence. However, fear is also the fragility of those
in power. Fear paralyzes and immobilizes. Fear disables leaders to succumb to
blackmail, corruption, distrust and puppetship instead of leadership. While fear
itself may be irrational it is very, very powerful. It takes a “David versus Goliath”
battle to change the reality, which GENZ have embraced whole heartedly. When the
oppressed become fearless, the oppressor losses the power of intimidation. When
this happens the oppressor has something to fear, because the battle is now on
level ground. The list of the fearless is too long to name here, but the
fearless ones; Rosa Parks, Lymah Gboweh, Tsietsi Mashinini… tilted the tide of
history in the spaces they found themselves in. Fearless is not a feeling. To be fearless
is to take action in spite of your fears.
Every rising age-group, rika and generation in Africa is challenged and charged with the responsibility to protect the interests and welfare of the community. GENZ is not an exception. They are not going anywhere! GENZ have recast the paradigm of
leadership into a formless covenant against administration, bureaucracy and
laws that do not move the heart. GENZ draw on courage, conscience, community
and connectivity to deliver their message. With available handheld technology they have opened a new
frontier of leadership in digital space accessing the collective wisdom,
intellect, capacity and contribution of all its polity to sustain its campaign
in the post information age. Get comfortable with it. It speaks to the future.
Post script: Leadership is on the keyboard
Leadership has been reduced to a
button on the keyboard. Of course you will tell me, “it depends on who is
working the keys on the board”. And that is precisely my point!
I speak, I speak, O’ please let me speak,
I spoke, but you gave me coke
How can it be that you would kill my tongue
Is it because I am young
The is road blocked
The street is soaked with blood.
How can this be.
I thought you were for me
Now let it be; my hope is heaven
Truly, on earth, liars be kings
Be calm my children do not give them dreams in exchange for sweets that kill
But, I speak, I speak, O’ please let me speak - that I may live
O freedom, how long will you be gone
Will you be back today
I speak, I speak, O’ let me speak, my land, my heart, my hope; must speak
My soul is dead, yet still, I speak
The Mirror of My Life
I have travelled to many lands, nations and places in my life. But have found myself in none of those spaces. Until, I took off my glasses, sat down quietly and looked into the mirror of life.
