Undue Regard for Technicalities or Discipline

I love structure. I am not sure whether it because of my legal background, my choleric upbringing or my melancholic nature. But I am attracted to structure, finesse, courtesy and discipline. I embrace it where I find it, create it where I don't and long for it when I have no say. But is this a strength or weakness?

The world is currently all about folded sleeves and loosened ties; open door policies and relaxed work environments but it has been my experience that man thrives better in a regulated environment. Discipline breeds efficiency more often than not and this is not to argue for fanaticism. It is an excellent habit to be on time, to defer to your elders and to dress appropriately. Even if you were to find President Obama in his shirt sleeves or President Museveni milking his cows, a high five would not suffice as a greeting. You would still need to address them respectfully because of who they are. The only thing you risk with good manners is to be respected.

So to the youth out there....it is excellent to be able to write a job application well, speak good English, dress well, be courteous and keep time. These breed respect, efficiency, and a good reputation. They are time tested values that have facilitated many a rise to greatness. Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Shyaka Zulu, Margaret Thatcher, Gandhi, were all known for their discipline and attention to detail.Successful armies, companies and governments all over the world have more often been the most disciplined. The Bible refers to discipline 39 times (http://www.openbible.info/topics/discipline) just to put a little emphasis on it.

Sloppiness whether in the name of fashion or as a personal style only breeds laziness, corruption and will only keep you at a certain stage in life. You will always be trying to keep up, fit in or over compensate.

Do not look at a president in jeans and shirtsleeves and think that is the way to be....read about how he got there. Chances are he wore a lot of suits, won a lot of respect and trust with his conduct and now he can afford to relax a little. You on the other hand just started out...so do the bows and the handshakes, you only risk being respected while if you behave as you want you will stay where you are....sloppiness breeds mediocrity so I put before you discipline....and "swag" that you may choose your path today.

6 Ways to Handle Drama in the Work Place

Drama will happen to you whether you like it or not and we all react differently. Some of us hide and proceed in denial, some of us are the heart of the drama, some of us spread it like butter on bread and yes, some of us are the creators.

We all have been or seen the victim of office drama at one time or another. Very often it stems from one person (drama queen; either male or female) being in the wrong and trying to cover up their guilt with the star studded quilt of guilt transference.It can also be a result of one person having too high an opinion of their role in the organisation and they start to occupy everyone else's time. Since we can't seem to avoid it (especially since in this century it's "in" with emancipated drama queens round every corner) how do we handle it and minimize the damage and it's impact on us? Let's try these;

1. If you can say it never put it in writing: Even if the drama queen emails you and copies in the world avoid replying to all at all costs. If you do not only are you fanning the flames but to all that are watching, you are saying that you are no better than said drama queen.
2. Never use the drama queen's forum to handle drama: Always determine where and when a confrontation if any needs to be carried out. Do not accept to be manipulated or driven into a confrontation you are not prepared for. Drama queens are experts at setting a stage and ensuring there is a suitable audience. Play possum and strike only at the right moment
3. Be the cold water to the fire never the catalyst: Sometimes you may have the rare opportunity of being dragged into other people's drama. If you do not want to be a participant do not play. Be that cold water that they use in Mexico to cool street fights in summer. Be that voice of cold reason that will end the drama. Who knows, you might be investing in some serious mitigation for drama in the future.
4. Avoid looking for advocates but witnesses rock!:Very few people who get involved in drama are ever there for your good. So do not deceive yourself that they will defend you. Instead, to beat a drama queen you need an audience...so you can beat them at their game. Do not give them a chance to report on your private confrontation with their version of the story. It will create too much work fixing the damage.
5. Build your case: Remember everything you do or say in a drama situation shall be held against you. Don't confront a drama queen unless the stakes are high and you have a good hand and as Tsung Zu states, never leave your enemy with their backs against the wall because then they have nothing to lose and everything to gain in literally destroying you.
6. It should be your reputation and not your ego!: Be sure that it is your reputation you are defending. Your ego needs a regular kick in the shins anyway so don't mind it so much. Besides if ego is at stake chances are high that you will respond emotionally and make a regular fool of yourself. And this is about keeping it together right?

If said drama queen is determined, chances are you will not avoid the drama. But a little patience, cunning and diplomacy will go a long way in showing who's who!

Rid Yourself of Backlog

Are you walking around feeling burdened because work is just too much? Do you feel you need a PA? Do you go online frantically looking for apps that organize your work for you? Chances are that a lot of important work is pending and slipping through the cracks while you focus on the peripheries.

I get there a lot....so how do you prioritize? How do you ensure that you have a clean desk and that all your tasks are accomplished? I like you love the feeling of achievement...that pat on the back....that surge of satisfaction.

I asked a few colleagues that are really organised and this is what they had to share:

1. Clarify Tasks

Everyday is a new one. Write out your tasks and limit them to SMART ones (http://www.practicallyperfectpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/smart.png) put them before you and resolve not to leave without completing them.

2. Clear Your in tray Everyday

Some of the most efficient CEOs have really clean desks. They are thorough and peruse all documents but they work on things as they come in so it creates a healthy speedy flow of work. Procrastination will kill your moral eventually so try to deal with things as they come.

3. Follow Up Approvals and Delegation Personally

If anything needs an approval or review by someone else, have a chat with them about it, follow it up. Eventually people will learn to prioritize your referrals because you follow up. It is easier to tick off tasks if everyone in the approval chain is on board.

4. Share the Burden

If you have subordinates, share the tasks with them. Discuss the way to execute it and give them some of the tasks. If it is team mates or superiors request for their assistance in areas of their expertise. It will add value to your final product.

5. The Devil is in The Details

Read read read!! Ensure that what you are doing the one sure thing that is required. Get a full grasp of what is required and be sure of anything you sign. If you can note it down or keep a copy. It will save you someday.

Sometimes none of these are the reasons your desk looks like a paper disposal ground. Lean back, take a deep breath... you will find a way soon...necessity breeds invention. Just ensure that you do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

Building Your Brand in Seven!

In today's world, a brand is an identity. What one stands for, what values one upholds and what others should expect of one. We live in a world of research where people know more about a place they are travelling to that they do about their own home because somewhere out there there is someone who talked about the place and immortalized their information by putting it on the internet. To have control over what the world knows about them, most companies have taken to providing relevant information on themselves on the said internet.

So what do people say about you? Whether you like it or not they will say it so the question of whether they will say anything is no longer relevant. How can you determine what and how much they will say about you? Or who will say it?

1. Define your Values

Be clear about what you stand for. This is not rocket science. Start with low hanging fruit like are you a christian or muslim, are you a parent, etc. Already these come with their expected set of values. Establish this and add some more values and own these.

2. Stand by your Values

When you tell someone you are a christian it means that you seek to be Christlike so things like integrity and the fruit of the spirit are a given. Avoid situations where a pagan for instance will show you up for claiming to be something you are not.

3. You are who you hang around

Surround yourself with people you admire, people who hold similar values and who will keep you accountable. They will help you appreciate your brand when you least expect to and will often remind you of what you stand for even when you are weak.

4. Never shirk responsibility

Take every opportunity to serve and to lead. It is your training ground. It is the place where you will horn your strengths and work on your weaknesses. It is the place where you will recruit brand ambassadors for yourself.

5. Be FAT

Faithful, available, teachable. Learning should never stop with you. Be available. Be known as the man for the job...the girl of the hour.Walk your talk always to build a brand of integrity.

6. The Buck stops with you.

Always finish what you start and always take responsibility. When someone calls you about a plumber, if you get them the plumber also follow up after to see that they were happy with said plumber. When you own your tasks it is easier for all to trust you with bigger responsibility.Try as much as you can to be a one stop service center for things you have total control over. Keep close tabs on tasks you have delegated to avoid nasty surprises as well.

7. Always imagine the worst case scenario.

This is not to have you live in fear but things like taking compromising photos or doing anything unsavory because it is in secret are always a cocked gun waiting for the trigger. Just always remember that it is not a secret once more than one person knows it. Be as transparent as possible and you will be afraid of less ghosts lurking in the dark.

Achieving Sustainable Success

Starter:

All of us share value from who we are and where we are from. I am a Christian so this is my Christian perspective.I do hope it speaks to you

Main Course:

So you have the job you wanted, that corner office, you have closed that deal and one day you sit back swing your chair to look out the window and the question pops in your head.."now what?"

And you decide it is time to address that gnawing feeling you have been walking around with lately...."now what?"

We spend our days chasing deadlines,meeting goals, ticking off things, writing down our dreams and many times we miss the moment. We miss the lesson; and we miss the joy of living because we are focused on the wrong thing.

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” is a scripture but also a song we used to sing when I was in school and yes you might think I have lost focus but stay with me a while and you will see where this is headed.

Our focus at the beginning of a task or ambition will determine our level of satisfaction at the end of it. The question has never been whether you will succeed or not. It has always been whether you will be satisfied and fulfilled at the end or not. We in the rat race know that every goal achieved births like seven more challenging goals. The Bible says "it is like chasing the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

What I am looking for is having fun where I am at at any one point in my life. And I can only achieve that by responding to the challenge in that Scripture. So what does this mean?

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 14:12 that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” and then we have, “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). And I identify that death to that hollow feeling at the end of so much work that seems to nullify one's every effort.

As we address this quandary let us go back to the beginning. Where and why this statement from Jesus?

Jesus was addressing the common questions each of us faces in order to survive (Matthew 6:25-34). How am I going to meet my basic human needs?

And in His response he points instead to the fact that our physical needs are actually but a reflection of our deeper and more impact spiritual need. He talked about how the birds in the are and flowers in the field still manage to get their needs met without a hustle...meaning this should not be our focus...our calling is higher than the next promotion or the next trip abroad. Our calling is to His Kingdom and how can we interpret this?

1. Putting others first
2. Justice for the underling
3. Growing and nurturing the next generation
4. Mentoring
5. Finishing well

Dessert:

In the end, it is our investment in others that we can take to the grave. It is our influence of our environment for good that we can truly boast about and the only way we can achieve this is making it our overall goal in all we do. This should be our checklist for success. Has it changed a life, is someone better for it? And as we try to meet that challenge we shall slowly realize that we need a source....and that Source is God. In our humanity our goodness petters out like any other natural resource. Organisations have realized the value of investing in people through Corporate Social Responsibility and are now calling it sustainable development. They may argue it out nine different ways but the truth is true satisfaction in any endeavor comes only when that endeavor changes lives for the better. In the end even what you do with the proceeds matters.

This is harder to effect than to speak about...but since we are looking for fulfilling success we needed to return to basics.

Freeing Your Business Ideas From That Cage

Virginia Woolf, one of my favorite writers stated:

'the eyes of others our prison, their thoughts our cages"

It is very easy to break out of ties that bind you when you can see them; when you can see how they bind you. It is another story altogether when you are under an illusion of freedom, or when you are ignorant of your true jailer.

Unfortunately in business we are very often that jailer. Our biases, fears, and preconceived ideas of what works and what doesn't are very often the bars that make up that cage from which our innovation cannot break free. Our ignorance of this fact is often the key to said cage.

Our inability to truly analyse ourselves, laugh at our foibles, adjust our perspectives and leave room for correction very often leaves us brittle, inflexible and a very easy to break Humpty Dumpty. 

So how can we change our story? How can we break through the cage, set our ideas free and give then structure so they can deliver results? Allow me to share a few thoughts and share with me yours if you will.

1. Identify your prisoner: Take a note book and analyse yourself,using temperament identification tests online can help (they can be a great eye opener though not definitive). Who are you? what are your values? What is your background, personally and professionally? What are the greatest influences on your life? What drives you? What breaks you?What are your limits? This will give you a stronger sense of identity. Knowing who you are and what you stand for is a great anchor in life.

2. Identify the pitfalls and booby traps in your life. Sometimes our careers are like a Vietnamese jungle in a Sylvester Stallone Movie; full of booby traps and ambushes to the extent that sometimes it seems like you can't catch a break. Many a man has failed because of a woman...whether wife or mistress...that temptation to sabotage a colleague, that lethargy that makes you slack off, that moment of greed when you take more than is yours, debt, that nasty boss who gets the worst out of you or that unbearable insubordinate who brings the tyrant out....for women one of our failings has been handling power well or managing other women objectively...the list is endless. Not all of us will be felled by the same blow. So identify yours...and train your muscles and your instincts to detect and avoid or confront (absorb) them before they take over. I am amazed when people are so proud of their weaknesses..."oh i can't resist a pretty woman" "..you know i love money" "..oh boy do I hate deadlines!" Do not deny them....rather prepare yourself. The best way  I can think of is be faithful even with little...it trains you well. Develop good habits

3. Identify those bars that hold you in: These consist of biases, skewed views of yourself and others.If you think you can't work with a woman, a young person, if you believe all old people are archaic, if you bear tribal or racial bias, if you can't work on rainy days etc reign it in! Those are cages you have put yourself into. Only you can free yourself. Open your eyes...bias is most often bred in ignorance. Do research and overcome it. If you cannot do this, try fasting.... there is nothing that inhibits carnal feelings etc or beats the body into submission like fasting....it does get your attention but do focus on something. Meditate on God's Word etc and ask He who made us all to open your mind and allow you to be objective enough to be productive.

4. Free yourself of public opinion. Yes, your brand matters; yes, you need people to believe in you, but do not like Virginia Woolf says let other peoples pinions imprison you. Do they think you young, impetuous?, ambitious, overly impassioned? too old?  Do they think this has never been done, do they think your ideas outlandish? Do listen, feedback is important. But in acting on said feedback, get solutions. Do not curl up in a ball and let your career suffocate to death or stagnate. Get mentors, learn from your betters, study those who have made inroads and how they did it then be that harbinger everyone needs. Do not be hasty and reckless but also avoid being risk averse.Be deliberate and methodical so that when you have finally achieved the impossible, you cannot only state that it was done but also that it was done well!

5. Keep Record; Update your CV, but keep a record of achievements. Many people will remember your mistakes....so make a deliberate effort to remind them of your achievements. This will be an encouragement for you as well. Teach yourself to make periodic progress reports of all your tasks. It keeps you focused and challenged. Do not wait for someone to ask for it or for an evaluation etc. Keep records!I

In conclusion, we are all born with gifts. Some of us invest them, develop them grow them and reap benefits....some of us bury them under self pity, self indulgence or fear and some of us spend our time talking about them but never walking our talk....which of these are you?

Decide today, break those chains, open that cage and let you out! Be the best you can be...not perfect but all there...making us take notice!

Listen You Way to Results!

My English teacher Mr. Waiswa used to ask, 'why do you think God gave you two ears and one mouth?' There is so much we could achieve by listening more. 

It could save marriages, companies, and nations from destruction. There is amazing creative and restorative power in the mediation round table because this is where the art of listening is most practiced. Unfortunately this stage usually follows a dispute that most times has already reached the litigation level.

So how do we listen and when is the right time to listen?

How can we use this simple communication tool to empower our employees, impress our employers and delight our customers?

Think with me on these few ways:

1. Provide avenues or channels of communication that allow your team free expression:Introducing platforms like staff chat fora will go a long way in increasing team cohesion and co dependency. It is also a channel through which you will get honest feedback about policies and the Company direction. It is a well known fa
2. One on one: Engage your team members on an individual basis: If you head a big organisation you can keep this at your top management and encourage them to do the same with their teams. This exposes you to much more than the workplace persona of your team members. You get to know what makes them tick and why. They get to feel valued and this increases loyalty because now they work for you...not just the company.
3. Let them come up with their own Rewards and Reprimands:Encourage your team to come up with innovative ways of recognizing creativity, innovation and/or reprimanding non performance. Research shows you will get more out of a team with rewards than reprimands but if you come up with a reprimand system that is humorous and understood by all, then it might work. This should be standard and predictable, so that no one deems it unfair when one scores. It will drive healthy competition and create a healthy doze of camaraderie in the team, that will drive productivity.
4. Expose and challenge: Keep your team on their feet. Give them exposure in all ways possible, whether training or bench-marking visits, or even coaching. This will open their eyes to other ways of doing things and will better equip them to innovate. Challenge your team. Once in a while, involve them in making contributions to policy. Give them a chance to see the company from your perspective....this can be through delegation, role play etc. It will make them feel part of your process. An important part, which will in turn drive their willingness to deliver.
5. Show that you listened: Sometimes CEOs try to do this by over focusing on staff members' family life...but that person wants to know that you value their professional opinion too. Encourage them to voice their ideas, dreams and aspirations...then act on them (if possible) and let them know it is because you listened....no one ever forgets that. You will have created a fan for life. And it will encourage them to think more be more and deliver more!