What do you think is the number one reason why most people tend to linger and stay for long in lower and middle management, while others tend to get promoted quickly through the ranks to top management? The answer is not something you may think. When I had just completed level 3 of ACCA exams, one of the bank executives offered me a job. I said thanks, but let me first think about it. I wanted the job badly, but I did not want to show the executive that I was desperate to get a job. Three days later, I…
Believe and be responsible. Change to discover new things
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 During the 19th Century, scientists conducted an experiment on a frog. The researchers put a live frog in a saucepan of boiling water. The frog just quickly jumped out. This was expected of any living thing to react quickly to a hostile environment. The Scientist then put a live frog in a saucepan full of cold water and slowly started heating the water…
What it takes to become a professional accountant
There are few professions that give one a latitude to excel at different jobs. Accountancy is one of them. A master at numbers and a bedrock of key decision making across the business, there are few fulfilling career options like becoming a professional accountant. You would be right to call me an accidental accountant. Limited career guidance during our secondary school times meant that we drifted our aspirations to professions that were common in our rural communities. When you were sick, you would go to the doctor or nurse at the local dispensary. When the bicycle broke down, you took…
Security brief: The breach of all breaches – the Equifax dilemma
Half the population of America, over 143 million people may have had their Social Security numbers and other data stolen, in the massive data breach at Equifax, the credit bureau. The breach that took place in May 2017 is considered the biggest so far. www.equifax.com (website is currently not available), is the Uganda’s equivalent of three entities – National Information Registration Authority (NIRA), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Credit Reference Bureau (CRB). These entities hold a lot of data about Ugandans. The NIRA contains the NIN which identifies all registered Ugandans by their birth, sex, place of residence, village…
Barriers to managing internal resources
In organizations, we have gotten so many departments; Human Resources, Finance & Administration, Sales, etc. Do we really need all these departments? For example, if you a HR department, what value do they put on the table? What are the key focus areas they should be held responsible for? If you don’t ask such questions, the chances of having people in HR who just come to sit, create a lot of chaos in the organization are very high. HR role is not to recruit. Their role if it ever exists is to facilitate departmental recruitments. What do I mean by…
The leadership reforms: choices
As a leader, you are going to have huge challenges if you don’t make the right choices. Which kind of markets do you go into? Which kind of people do you employ? Are you going to focus on brick and mortar as a financial institution or leverage from technology, which kind of technology to deploy? What choices are you making in your business as a chief executive to move ahead? Leadership is about choices, either you choose A or B. when you choose A, it means you deliberately ignore B. The biggest challenge with mediocre leadership is trying to be…
