Think of it this way, every new knowledge area is like an island– body of land surrounded by water. And to get there, you must swim or hop on a boat or do whatever it takes to cross the water. Sometimes, we think too much about the water that the island becomes too insignificant to us to warrant an effort. We think about the dangers the water might be hiding, the fear that the boat may fail us, or the fact that the wind may be too strong. Well, what about the island? Don’t you want to be there? Don’t you want to experience it?

Thinking too much about the obstacles to your goals make them appear too big. This is true of work as it is of life. Every new knowledge and every single goal is within your reach, you just have to make the first move. That move can be asking a Marcus to explain to you this freaking game or can be picking a book that talks about the subject, but don’t sit on your hands.

Ignorance is not a good place to be. But learning how to find your way to knowledge is what will set you apart. Stop wondering how difficult it might be, go out and get knowledge. It might just be very enjoyable.

Cheers.

Traditionally, post-school career has been structured, defined and linear. Today, both schooling and working has been significantly disrupted. Online and on-demand alternatives have been developed for every level of education, while freelance and spontaneous career path are increasingly popular. The general term used to refer to those freelance and independent jobs is the gig economy [borrowed from the music world where performers book short term engagements called “gigs”]

Investopedia defines gig economy as a labour market that relies heavily on temporary and part time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full-time permanent employees. It is favoured by younger generation of workers for its flexibility and independence.

There are two reasons why I am sharing the gig economy with you, friend: first, how it will affect existing employment structures, and second, why you should take advantage of it too.

Many jobs are evolving. Remote and hybrid flexibility have been introduced to corporate work in large scale since 2020, and this is changing the game. In the coming years, it is expected that many roles will be outsourced since they are increasing becoming non-essential. For instance, the introduction of software as a service (SaaS) immediately replaced many permanent job roles in the computer programing space, and we expect more of such innovations in the coming years.

Next, the gig economy also presents a golden opportunity for career persons to operate a non-competitive service to customers outside their paid hours. You can develop a profitable skill to offer some services in compliance with your non-compete work policy. The gig economy makes this possible.

I will keep rooting for you. Cheers.

The pandemic not only exposed the weakness of our human systems, but it also revealed the toughness of we humans. In what can be summed up as the worse global disaster of recent times, tough people were forged. Leadership was called for, resilient leadership. And many entities that survived, did so because of this single quality in leadership.

In his book, Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do, Robert H. Schuller described the mindset of resilience and how to cultivate it in a season of toughness. Friend, tough times always come by, it is a cycle. Doing everything to be prepared is how you win in a tough time.

See, in the past, circumstances that tested great businesses and organizations always came unannounced. Normal business cycles get interrupted by either natural disasters like we saw in 2020, or national and municipal policy changes that can adversely affect your business or employment status. What you do then will prove how resilient you can be in such occasions.

There are many recommendations for “Wartime” career or business management; a long list of to-dos. However, two broad areas of preparations that must be tested are: internal/mental preparations, and external/procedural preparations.

In the mental preparation part, you must cultivate a possibility-mindset and a gritty disposition to survive in order to do so. When danger crystalizes, fear is never an ally. You must, overtime, build that mindset that never gives up, never backs down, never casually throws in the towel. Be mentally tough, both as an individual leader, and as an entity.

Next, you must anticipate every kind of danger and plan for it. It is always better to be poorly prepared for an eventuality than to be unprepared at all. In risk management, every possible risk has been thought of, and a response framework has been prepared in advance on how to tackle it if it crystalizes. On a personal level, creating a risk management framework for your career is a good way to build resilience. I hope this helps you. Cheers.

“How to Make Friends and Influence People” is the title of the classic by Dale Carnegie where he outlined the rules that guides making friends and influencing others. [I recommend you read the book]. Through the book, there are two lessons that standout. In fact, it is my opinion that the book can be summarized by these two terms: authenticity and empathy.

Friend, you should be able to influence or inspire people in your circle. You should have a moral suasion on the people around you, otherwise, something is wrong with your depth. Maybe not in all areas, but in some important issues, your circle should be able to rely on you for the right influence. And authenticity and empathy are how to achieve that.

Having genuine interest in people around; remembering people’s names; being generous with praise, and so on, are lessons from Dale Carnegie’s book that can be sandwiched in authenticity and empathy. Becoming friends with people only for the gain you hope to get from them, is unauthentic. Giving a compliment because you want to make a request later, is not genuine.

Empathy, on the other hand, is understanding and sharing the feelings of others. Being genuinely part of people’s downtime is how you get invited to their uptime. Afterall, we are humans, we need those comforting and encouraging words. Be that person to others, and you can influence them when you need them too.

To conclude, friend, go out of your way for others. Continue to invest in your circle of friends. Keep building others up as much as you can. You will need people to stand by you in the future, and it will be those you planted as seeds that will come through for you.

I am rooting for you. Cheers.

The concept of cross-cultural competence was used in a 2007 US Army Research Institute paper by Allison Abbe et al, to describe why army officers must be proven competent in managing inter-cultural engagements. The authors argued that “Military operations increasingly require Soldiers to interact with individuals and groups whose cultural context differs from their own…” This argument is also true of today’s corporate space.

Friend, you cannot be overtly stitched to your culture and customs if you want to thrive in today’s society. There must be an effort to expand your breadth of warmth to accommodate the differences of other people’s culture and customs. And there are four broad areas of this competence to be developed as recommended by civicwell.org.

First, awareness of one’s own cultural worldview. Being aware of your own cultural nuances and how they play a role in your worldview and your overall personality is the first place to start. Have you been able to draw the lines connecting your personality, preferences and overall worldview to some of your cultural identities?

Next, knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews. You need to know, from your immediate context, what the culture of others are, as well as their unique worldviews. You can’t respect what you don’t know.

Thirdly, attitude towards cultural differences. Keeping an open and accepting attitude towards other cultures is the easiest way to show respect. You are not necessarily expected to practice other people’s customs if they do not agree with yours, but there must be room to show respect.

Lastly, cross-cultural communication skills. Making an effort to communicate and cooperate effectively with other cultures is a top skill in today’s corporate space.

Friend, you are a global citizen, get used to it. Thinking you can only get along with people of your own culture and customs is drawing the line too close. Open your mind and be willing to thrive even in a multicultural office. You already have what it takes, so step out of your shell. Cheers.

Typically, organizations operate one of two innovation approaches: top-bottom approach or bottom-top approach. The latter is rare, some organizations simply combine the two approaches.

The top-bottom approach to innovation describes the flow of innovative ideas—from the leadership to the rest of the organization. In this approach, the leadership drives the innovations. As such, middle and lower-level employees and managers simply take instructions from the top, and focus on implementation. In organizations like this, you hear lines like “you are not paid to think”. Your only expectation is execution and implementation.

In a bottom-top approach, on the other hand, creative juices are expected to flow from the lower and middle-level employees and managers, and they only go to the top for approvals. In such organizations, creativity is expected and as such a reward mechanism is designed to recognize innovative ideas. Leadership in these organizations recognize that they do not know everything, but are willing to provide guidance to keep innovation fresh and regular.

Working in any of the two organizations, or one that combines both approaches, represents different experiences. You are encouraged to let out your creativity in one and shut it down in the other, and knowing which organization you work for is a good place to start.

Two hurdles I have observed that affects most innovative organizations are these: Communication bias and Selection bias. There are multiple communication levels that easily drowns an innovative idea, and ideas get rejected too early in what I can call a selection bias. Dealing with these two hurdles, organizations can become better in their innovation strategy, and you as an employee can be better prepared to thrive.

I keep rooting for you. Cheers.

In a similar way, we all are endowed with abilities, some special, others common. But we are nothing if we do not identify and deploy those abilities. For what is a super hero if he doesn’t know his super powers?

Self-awareness easily means being aware of yourself. It is looking into the mirror of your conscious mind and truly identifying yourself. Being self-aware is knowing your limits, your abilities and your capacities. What is that single skill that comes easily to you? What is that thing you get most compliments for? Are you aware of it?

In my experience, there are two unique concepts that explains the blurry feeling we have when we try to pursue self-awareness:

First is “self-underestimation”. This is considered as the cognitive bias one has when one underestimates his/her own abilities. In other words, you treat lightly the fact that you have special abilities, and attribute to luck what you have accomplished.

The second is “self-deprecation” or “false humility”. Here you downplay your own talents and special abilities, while simultaneously praising those of others; you devalue your own capabilities in a false sense of humility, either coming from a lack of self-confidence or a desire to seek validation from others. Sadly, I see this as very common among Africans.

Friend, to become more self-aware requires you to identify your potentials, appreciate your abilities, and continually improve on them. You are a super hero too. You have your super powers (with their flaws as well). Know them. Use them. And continue to improve on them.

I am rooting for you always. Cheers.

Building a successful career or business is squarely hinged on the quality of information available to you. From your education, books, travel experiences, etc., you are at the mercy of the information you have. However, one such source of quality knowledge is good advisors. You can be smart, intelligent and diligent, but following one bad advice can ruin it all.

In essence, reviewing your existing relationships to find great advisors, and establishing new relationships with great advisors is a winning strategy. From friends, family, to colleagues, mentors and so on, who is a quality advisor that you can always count on? Also, in what subject is one advisor better than the other? These are questions to help you rake more wisdom from your circle.

Friend, have you met someone before who has a contact for everything? When it comes to buying or fixing a car, there is a trusted advisor. When it comes to changing careers, there is a trusted advisor. When it comes to marital decisions, there is a trusted advisor. And they may be more than one or two people whose unique perspectives will be a formidable counsel. You need to be that person.

Furthermore, in creating your board of advisors, you need to design a structure where some advisors rank higher than others, probably based on experience and subject matter. For instance, the advice of your “unmarried” friend should rank lower than that of your “married” friend when the subject matter is marriage. Those ranks help you reach the right person(s), and get the best guidance in good time.

Finally, friend, keep up the attitude of seeking premium knowledge before venturing into any serious journey. Don’t only rely on yourself, keep an open mind. Also, you too, be a great advisor for your friends and others in your circle. The best way to receive always, is to give. I will keep rooting for you. Cheers.

Long before we began to make decisions for ourselves, long before we realized the constraints of money or the lack of it, we have been in a quiet pursuit of happiness. In fact, so many addictive behaviours are traceable to the desire to be happy. The only problem is that such behaviours give us the illusion of happiness, and snatches it at the end when we sober up. But everybody is drawn by that giant pull to be happy.  

In a work environment, it is important to prioritize happiness in the course of fulfilling your expectations. It is always better to be happy while working than not to be. An unhappy or melancholy team will most often churn out a poor result, this is the basis of the entire motivation theories. And exploring ways to make and keep your team happy, is how you win all the time.

A very concise quote that comes to mind here is that of Lilly Pulitzer, the American Fashion entrepreneur who died in 2013: “Being happy never goes out of style”. Every season is a good time to stay happy.

Two things I imagine that often disrupts the inner happiness of most career persons are: the dissatisfaction from work, and the feeling of inadequacy outside work. To expound, many of the times we feel unhappy at work, it is easily tied to compensation insufficiency, not enjoying the work you do, not enjoying your colleagues at work, or not enjoying the conditions associated with your work. On the other hand, the feeling of inadequacy outside work can also impede your inner happiness; either in your home or your general life outside work. Knowing this, what will you do about it?

My admonition, friend, is that you consciously seek a happy journey as much as you seek a happy outcome. Desiring to be happy in the end is very common, but you must seek to experience happiness along the way. Waiting till weekend, vacation, or retirement before you experience happiness, is deferring your utmost experience. Today is a good day to be happy. Cheers.

I recently came across a short video of Dr. Jordan Peterson, the Canadian Psychology professor and thought leader, where he said “the purpose of memory is to extract out, from the past, lessons to structure the future, to guide yourself properly in the future…” He could not be more right in his analysis of personal and cultural memory.

Friend, your past is there for the lessons they can deliver to you. Other than that, the past is without value. Dwelling in the past, either in the form regret or painful memory, is fruitless. Moving on with lessons learnt is the best option. Granted, it is not a simple feat to get over certain painful memory, but it is necessary.

Allow me share two powerful statements that help me get over regret:

First: “My best life is ahead of me”. This statement draws your attention to the bright potentials of the future, and helps you repurpose your mind to the possibilities of a better tomorrow. Indeed, your best life is not behind you, it is certainly ahead of you. Don’t forget that.

Second: “I am better because of what I have gone through”. Trusting that you are a better human because of the accumulated experiences of the past, is a valuable way of thinking. You may have been beat down, wounded and bruised by your past, but as long as you are alive, you are better.

Forging ahead in life, my friend, is the best decision you can make today. Know the roads that led you astray before and avoid them; understand the signs you ignored before and follow them. This is how you forge ahead with the lessons gained in the past. Don’t allow the events keep you stagnated or destroy your zeal to live. There is more to you than meets the eyes.

I will keep rooting for you. Cheers.