A company without a culture is like a team with members who are strange to one another. You want to achieve the same goal, but you don’t know the skills and competence of your colleagues. The end result is playing hard and not passing the ball. Corporate culture is shaped by these things; Values Consistent practice of the values And behaviours of people As a leader, your role is to define the values that act as a bond among teams. What are those 3-5 desired qualities (values) that guide your way of life in running the business? Your chosen values…
Biases of an incidental Executive
Don’t put everyone on the frontline; you need generals To Think and Plan for the business There is a reason why every organization must have an organogram. As a CEO, you need to have people at the frontline for the day today, tactical team to guide those at the frontline and people at the top to see far where tactical and frontline cadres can’t see. If all your team is involved in the day today including people who should be thinking about long term, chances that your team thinks day today is very high. Your best generals are equally on…
Your company needs a strategic plan
It is common for some entrepreneurs and directors to say “my company is small. We don’t have a lot of money. Isn’t strategic planning for bigger companies?” A strategic plan is like balanced diet to the human body. Both the young and the old need it. The baby may grow, but chances of being sickly are very high. If you have ever attempted to drive at night, you must put on driving lights. Otherwise, you will not go far. It is like driving while it is raining, if your car windshield wipers are inactive, you will lose visibility and stop.…
How to speak to influence and win deals
At 9:00am sharp, I was signaled by a smartly dressed lady in a blue dress, in her mid-30s to enter. I later learnt she is the Strategy& Innovations Manager at my prospective client, a Tier II financial institution. It was my turn to make a presentation of our strategic planning approach to the bank’s top management team. Standing in front of a full 15-seater boardroom can be worrying sometimes. With experience, I have now improvised to always take three deep breaths silently; and hope for the best and look people in the eyes. Jane, the smartly dressed leady that had…
Tool #27 of 104 is the power of integrity
Proverbs 13:20 “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Things do not become easier. It is you who becomes better. If you just sit there and do not improve, you will experience tough life by every other coming day. We have been looking for an accountant to join our team. It is not easy to find a good professional. This week, we shortlisted three candidates who had passed a series of written hands-on exercises well demonstrating strong technical skills in accounting. At Summit Consulting, we have arranged our interviews such that face to…
Tool #26 of 104 is the power of the tongue
Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” The first time I gave a speech went like this: “What is your Makerere University? What is it that one thing that drives you to wake up early every morning and keep improving daily? When I failed the technical exams for an admission to Munteme Technical College (TECO), I thought it was the end of my career. I had worked a lot to get an admission. In our village, graduates of TECO made up the who is who…
