At 2:00 am, a hospital I advised once went dark. Hackers had slipped ransomware into their system through a junior doctor’s personal email. Monitors froze. ICU machines stalled. The ransom note blinked: “Pay in Bitcoin.” They had invested in firewalls, yes, but no resilience plan. It was like locking the front gate while leaving the windows wide open. Patients almost paid the price. This is the tragedy of many leaders. They think cybersecurity is a one-off project. Buy software, tick the compliance box, and move on; that is not resilience, that is hope, and hope is not a strategy. Cyber…
A birthday beyond strategy
Birthdays often come with cakes, candles, and well-wishes. But this year, mine came wrapped in something more enduring: love expressed through thought, effort, and symbolism. My daughters, Lisa and Melyn, went beyond preparing a meal. They created an experience gift that spoke directly to my heart. What they gave me was not just food; it was a reminder of who I am, and more importantly, why I do what I do. They baked cookies that spelled out the words Mr. Strategy, a nickname I have earned over the years for my work in strategy, leadership, and transformation. But to see…
When control kills execution
I once entered a manufacturing firm where everything seemed stuck. The CEO’s desk was a traffic jam. Managers queued with forms for his signature, procurements, leave requests, and even the replacement of a cleaner. On paper, it looked like discipline. In reality, it was paralysis. Managers stopped leading. Staff stopped thinking. Execution was no longer a rhythm of ideas. It had become a ritual of approvals. This is the disease of top-down micromanagement. Leaders mistake control for accountability. I have seen it in hospitals where every procurement waited for the board chair, and in banks where even small loans had…
Why executives fall into the trap
A mid-sized bank sets an ambitious target: grow the loan book by 25 percent in one year. The head of corporate banking delivers. By Q4, the loan book has expanded from UGX 800 billion to UGX 1 trillion. The board applauds. The executive earns a hefty bonus of UGX 500 million for exceeding the target. But hidden in the fine print is the risk: 45 percent of the new lending is concentrated in real estate developers. Average loan size has ballooned from UGX 3 billion to UGX 7 billion, increasing single-borrower exposure. Collateral is mostly land titles, whose value is…
The cost of ignoring risk
In one mid-sized bank, the executive committee celebrated record loan growth. They cheered the numbers, cut a cake, and issued a press release. What no one said in the room was that over 40 percent of the new portfolio was concentrated in real estate developers with weak collateral and questionable repayment capacity. Eighteen months later, the same board faced a liquidity crunch and regulators breathing down their necks. The cost of ignoring risk was not just money; it was credibility, leadership stability, and market trust. Growth without resilience collapses fast Boards love good numbers, and Executives love applause. But growth…
The Data Protection and Privacy Act (2019)
In today’s digital economy, data has become one of the most valuable assets for organizations. Whether you are a bank, an NGO, a government agency, a school, or a manufacturing company, you collect and process personal data every day. Yet, with great opportunity comes great responsibility and risk. That is why Uganda enacted the Data Protection and Privacy Act (DPPA) 2019. This law establishes rules for the collection, storage, processing, and sharing of personal data. Compliance is no longer optional; it is a legal requirement, and organizations that ignore it risk: Heavy financial penalties Costly lawsuits Reputational damage Loss of…
