To lead well, start by defining a set of principles. Let them be part of your life. Rigorously apply them. Others take Christian principles or values. Others, scientific principles or values. Others, Islamic principles or values. And the rest no principles or values. “Thou shall not kill…” If you are a Christian, this value is one of the 10 commandments. It should come up anytime you are faced with a choice to kill or not. Without values, you are likely to kill! For those that believe in scientific principles, say “If you wake up early, work 365 days a year,…
What is strategy?
If you want the best piece of writing about strategy, read the great works of Michael Porter, found on HBR.org or in one of the best books I read about the man himself by Joan Magretta titled “ Understanding Michael Porter – the Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy.” The book features a FAQs, featuring a Q&A with Michael Porter. Below I reproduce an extract. To read more, buy the book from Amazon or Harvard. And if you have a student ID, I am free to share a digital copy with you thanks to my membership with Ebscohost – in…
Improve one week at a time. Attain your targets
Join my private accountability services for your leadership growth. You will see progress. This is not about passive motivational talks. You must be willing to invest your time, money and effort to progress. We agree about your personal growth ambition, at the onset. We agree on how your choices to win. You decide on one. We specify activities you will do to start moving closer to your ambition. My work is to guide you, hold you accountable. Provide you with resources and real-life support so that you move in the right direction? Are you ready to start thriving? If yes,…
You are a new CEO: Which advice would you take?
There is always the first time. You have never been a CEO. Finally, a letter comes, “Appointment as CEO, XX” from HR advising you that following your recent interview, you emerged as the best candidate and your appointment is effective the following month. You know that the former CEO resigned due to pressure from stakeholders, specifically the shareholders who were asking for tough questions: why is the reported dividend per share far below the treasury bill rate which carries no risk at all? You were outstanding at the interviews. You presented great ideas to transform the business. Now that reality…
The pain…
“I feel your pain. Now let us ease the pain.” When you are in control of things, you can say those statements. It is cross-examination time. And you are all vulnerable. Blindfolded, in a darkroom, after a cold shower with noise all over the place. Then, you feel like snakes are crawling around you. It was done intentionally, As you entered the room, you passed by a cage full of several snakes, with the words “poisonous” written all over it. You entered the room. You got blindfolded and handcuffed. But you can hear. It is intentional that you should hear.…
How to interview a suspect, part 2
What is the issue? What is the missing puzzle that must be solved by your investigation? Who are the suspects? Will matters go to court? Who do you need on your team? What is the issue? A good investigator starts with defining the issue. What exactly happened? Click here to see the issue definition. For the issue, one is able to establish the investigator’s puzzle. To solve a case, you need to know who did what, where, when, how and why? For a theft case, you know what (theft has occurred), where (at a specific location), when (you know the…
