“When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer”, Psalm 94:19 Twice I came from behind trying to catch a position at the 3rd Annual Reach out Mbuya Charity Run. This was a tough run for me. One of the children requested to join us in the run at last minute. We lost a few minutes. We arrived at Church when the final call for the 10 kilometers was being made. I started my Apple Watch running assist as I run fast to the registration point, and as I was having the identification orange band tied…
Accounting crime and fraud challenges
When I was in prison, visiting, an inmate came right after my presentation and said “Mustapha I really appreciate your talk on in-mate reformation. But how do you advise someone like me serving a jail term for a crime I never committed?” This was my first face to face with a victim of fraud, 10 years ago. Then an Accounts Officer at a local NGO, the victim was serving a jail term for misappropriation of petty cash. He was a young accountant in his first job. He explained to me that he had been requested by his supervisor, the Finance…
If you lack the skills the company needs to grow; you don’t deserve a job
What skills do you bring on the table? What is the value of the skills you bring on the table. Getting a job is one thing. Keeping it is a different ball game. Many people join companies and forget about acquiring skills that are relevant and responsive to the emerging needs of the organization. Great team members keep asking themselves, “if I do not come to work tomorrow, what will the organization miss?” Asking and answering this question helps clarify the value you bring on the table. Don’t try to compare yourself with other staff in which case you may…
If something is yours and you deserve it. Get it
Do not beg for something that rightfully belongs to you. If you have agreed with someone to undertake an assignment in return for payment, ask for your pay upon successful completion of your part of the bargain. Relentlessly claim what rightfully belongs to you without fear. Do not feel ashamed to demand what you deserve. Go get it. That is called self-esteem. A case in point A parent asked me to help train his two son aged 22 and 25 in being confident especially when dealing with others and in public speaking. When they visited my office, I had set…
Tool #9 of 104 tools if you don’t forgive, it only hurts you
I grew up with a single mother. She is one of the most hardworking and focused people I know of. In early 1990s, life in Munteme village was tough. It is around this time Uganda experienced one of the worst famines. The country was still undergoing political changes. In 1983, we had been told, was a year of scarcity. People died of famine. People had seen first hand the pain of living on an empty stomach. So how did famine hit again just seven years later? That is a question for our national planners at the time to answer. As…
Want to be an effective CEO? Don’t let people wait at the reception…
When I was working in a bank way back in 2002, I often made people wanting to meet me wait for hours at the reception as I completed my desk tasks or internal meetings. After twenty or so minutes, I would come to meet them. Of course I would find them so bored and unhappy about the mistreatment for the long wait. Those close to me would advise me never to keep them waiting again. Others would just get to business. Fast forward to today, people are poor time keepers. And it is so annoying. If you are a CEO…
