The international humanitarian and development sector is facing rapid threats from the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the community has a considerable part to play, both responding to immediate needs and in helping with recovery in the medium to longer term. The pandemic has hit international donors the worst, especially Europe and America. This creates lots of pressure back home in the donor countries to fix their current looming health crisis. The funding constraints risk forcing the humanitarian sector to downsize and lay off staff at the precise moment when its work has become vitally important. And your NGO is no exception!…

My first consulting project was peculiar. I was asked by a restaurant owner to help make it better. I was new in the game and had no idea of where to start and what “better” meant. I called my then management accounting Lecturer for guidance, “if you are challenged to help improve a restaurant, how do you go about it and where do you start?” If you were with me and listening to that call, you would have heard the advice that would change your life. I know because it changed mine. He said: find out what the problem is…

The lie: form an innovations committee to explore novel ways of winning. An innovations committee will transform your company. Why it is a lie: individuals innovate. However, teams, committees, and groups implement faster. Committees do not innovate. They may help evaluate ideas. If you want to find novel ways of winning, share your vision, and empower individuals to find better ways of solving your challenges and then you may have a committee to evaluate the best idea. Insight in detail During a strategy retreat which I facilitated at a financial institution client, one of the participants reacting to the recommendations…

Today is a global data privacy day! Is there data privacy in reality? I have identified three challenges that prove privacy is just good for conferences. Here we go: Data privacy challenge 1: the entity called “marriage” Many married couples lack an understanding of data privacy. To most, data privacy applies outside the home. Marrieds or folks living together do not appreciate data privacy. They need unlimited access to the other partner’s data, but not theirs. Each wants to read the other partner’s private messages addressed to them. Wants to collect and know as much personally identifiable information about the…

Today I received a call from a car salesperson. I decided to play along. Sometimes salespeople are looking for a small break. Something to give them hope of a better tomorrow. Your words may make or break their careers. We need to learn to be diplomatic in the way we reject offers. As a consultant, I am a salesperson. When I write a proposal and fail to get a response, I feel bad. However, when the prospect calls or writes back explaining why your proposal was not successful this time, it shows professional courtesy but we improve a lot from…

Your last impression is as important as your first.  The two critical questions you must expect are a) Tell us about yourself, and b) Do you have any question or questions for the interview panel? I help many candidates prepare for executive panel job interviews. During my experience on the Interview panel, candidates who fail the two questions are generally ranked poorly. In these Coronavirus times, many executives are conducting virtual interviews. You must avoid the temptation to read your answers off the screen as you appear unnatural with poor delivery. Great answers speak to the heart other than the…