Are you enjoying your role as a leader? When I was called to facilitate a bank’s strategy development retreat, my starting point was to assess whether the managers and top executives were engaged in terms of clarity of the vision and targets. First, the enterprise scorecard was not clear. Today, almost every organization has some form of a scorecard. However, when you carefully put light into it, no one understands it. Clarity of the targets, monitoring, measurement indicators, and responsibility are usually not clear and linked to the strategic pillars or key focus areas as they usually call them. The…
Coronavirus: a pandemic the world is trying to ignore and resume life as usual
Has the coronavirus pandemic been defeated? Not yet. Has the world created a vaccine for coronavirus? Not yet. How come, the rate of new cases especially in the United States of America showing a steep decline during a time of “Black Lives Matter” protests where we expected the cases to spike? How come the protestors especially in the epicentre, New York City, who were moving enmass including at night before curfew hours were affected are not being infected? Do you know how the coronavirus spreads? How come many leading national media companies no longer provide real-time on-going updates of the…
Before you vote in 2021, ask for outcomes NOT outputs?
They say politicians speak in terms of outputs and not outcomes. Because outputs are smooth and easy to promise because they rarely transform societies. Output promises fail the “social impact and economic transformation” test. Simply put, manifestos that detail outputs are like a collection of promises in the form of stories. Take an example of the markets that have been constructed by the government across the country. If you travel to any district, you are likely to see a big public market building that is underutilized or unoccupied. Thanks to coronavirus, the local governments have explanations for the emptiness. But…
Are you learning to drive or merely enjoying the ride?
Before I learned how to drive a car, I would admire drivers so much that I would beg to just sit in the co-driver’s seat even in a stationary car! If you have been to Munteme village, you know about Munteme Parish, the center of civilization in the village. The parish owned two fascinating assets– a special utility vehicle (SUV) and a lorry. Circa 1990s, we always looked forward to riding in the lorry. To earn the ride, we offered free labor to load and offload the lorry with whichever it needed to carry – bricks, timber, or sand.…
Many victims of cybercrime never report to police
Are you too secure to be hacked? If you or any of your team member has Internet access or use social networks like WhatsApp, Email, Skype to mention but three, you are vulnerable to cyber-attacks if you connect through the same network! Jane (not real name), a 24-year-old dark-skinned lady was excited with several ‘friendship’ requests on her new Facebook account that she forgot to change the default ‘security settings’. One ‘friend’ she accepted gained access to her profile details and got her email address, mobile phone, and name of close relatives. In late 2018, she became a victim of a…
Seven tips for a new board member to win on any board
Whether you are a new or seasoned board member, the following seven tips will improve your effectiveness and value addition on the board. For more practical insights, buy the book, 7 tools of an effective board member. Know how your value addition will be evaluated Know the appointing authority. And clarity on how your value will be evaluated. Make sure this is well stated in your appointment letter. If you are a lawyer, for example, the value you bring on the table is your legal expertise. During your time on the board, it is expected the company shall avoid entering…
