Wednesday 20 July 2016

YOUR NETWORK IS YOUR NETWORTH

19th July 2016/28 Comments/in Workplace /by dickensogango

Creating a valuable network of connections in the workplace is considered a sure way to quickly move up the corporate ladder. It is the platinum rule of getting ahead in your career. Connections in your career not only provide advice and guidance on how to tackle different tasks, they also offer the much-needed bridge to get to the next level. This is by offering you a passage to connect with their rich pool of professional connections and also push you to attain your full potential.
Most people have a general idea on the value of professional network connections and its contribution to a successful career. Networking not only contributes to a steady career growth, it also helps get things done faster and more efficiently, as one can use the input of their networks in a particular task. However, most people find it hard to actually create functional networks. They consider it unnatural to them and quite the daunting task. They consider networking as unnatural to them and something they cannot do.
The tips below will show you how to go about creating and maintain valuable relationships in the workplace.

Make time
This is about your social skills and your ability to interact with people from diverse professional backgrounds. It is a product of excellent communication skills and a likable personality. Your colleagues in the workplace are social beings who thrive on human interactions. Take time to interact with people every chance you get. Be it tea breaks, lunch hour etc. Talk to someone new, regardless of their rank or background. Get to know what they do and how they contribute to the overall organizational objectives. If you are shy, these are the best times to get over your shyness. Do not wait for a formal class on how to overcome shyness, take opportunities that present themselves in the form of professional tete-a-tete. Please note that office gossip is not the way to go when creating networks. Your target here is to know who can help you be the best version of your professional self, not who did what scandalous thing. In fact, being involved in office gossip will make serious, focused people avoid you. Be careful what you discuss and ensure you remain professional.

Look out for mutual connections
Train yourself in the art of reading people to find a common ground. People feel more connected to other people who share a common interest, ideology, point of view etc. Establish connections with people you find it easy to relate with. It makes the whole process more natural and easy. Someone with whom you share a similar interest is certainly easier to approach and discuss a task in the workplace or an idea. Even the simplest of interests e.g a love for football, a liking for a particular movie genre etc, is an opening for great and valuable workplace connections.

Be Diverse in your connections
Always remember that the potential value of any single connection is never known on face value. Network as much as you can within the office. Apart from just improving your communication skills and interpersonal etiquette, it opens your mind to new ideologies, perceptions, and ideas. While you focus on your professional field, be keen to keep warm relationships with the loose ties in other sectors. You never know when you will need input from the guy in finance or sales for your marketing project.

Be specific on the focused pursuits
Even as you maintain diverse interactions with everyone else around you, remember to have a targeted list of things you would like to accomplish with these networks, especially those in the line you would like your career to follow. Senior colleagues in your organization like the CEO or General Manager are busy people and interactions with them will be minimal. This means that you will have minimal interactions with them, so you need to ensure that you make the right impression during such times. When you have requests that require their attention, make the requests specific and to the point. Make it easy for the extremely busy people to help you and create value for your projects by being clear, professional and focused during your interactions with them. When approaching a high profile individual in your organization for their input, make sure you have conducted enough research on the topic of discussion, anticipate the questions they are likely to ask and prepare the appropriate feedback. This way, you get maximum value from a single interaction.

Guard your credibility
Be reliable in your professional dealings. Let people around you know that you can be relied on to do what you said you will do. Deliver results and always do your best when tasks are handed to you. Be careful not to overpromise results and under-deliver on the same. It makes you lose integrity in the eyes of people you would like in your networks. Relationships are about trust and people around you need the assurance that you can be relied on and trusted. Where you make mistakes, own up and seek to offer as much effort as possible in correcting them. A credible reputation among networks makes confidence of others in your abilities and work ethics grow. This will ultimately open doors for you in your career.

Stay in touch
This is mostly for the networks considered loose or weak because interactions are not as regular as your main connections. It is wise to check on these networks once in a while. Their potent value cannot be overlooked. You might need their assistance in future, and the constant connection will make it easy to approach them. Staying in touch also keeps you in their minds, in case they hear valuable information related to your career.

Make your network robust
Build your network strategically. Critically view every interaction as an interview with an individual who could be instrumental in your career life. Choose who to hold close, who to shelf for the moment, and who to keep as just an acquaintance. All these selections should be based on how relevant these people are to the future of your career, the level of connection and shared interests you have with them and how well you click. You will want people who influence, challenge and inspire you as your network connections. Begin creating these networks now and reap the benefits in no time.

Friday 1 July 2016

DRAGON FIST- JACKIE CHAN

I had the pleasure of watching 'Dragon Fist' today. It is one of Jackie's movies from the Lo Wei years. In fact one of the last Jackie made for Lo Wei. I stumbled across a bit of information the other day that I can't verify but it did come out of a Chinese Biography about Jackie so one assumes it to be fairly factual, which said that Lo Wei, after parting ways with Golden Harvest, had been black listed from making movies in Hong Kong by Golden Harvest which is why nearly all those movies were made in Taiwan or Korea. (It is also why Jackie signing with Golden Harvest was such a big deal at the time.)

'Dragon Fist' is a pleasant surprise, apart from being a little confusing in the beginning when you are not quite sure who is who, it warms up into quite a decent story with plenty of really good martial arts action.

There is one scene during the final extended fight sequence that leaves me breathless at the trust shown by the actor/stuntman in Jackie's accuracy. Even making allowances for a little speeding up in the playback of the film Jackie is still punching the guy repeatedly 'in' the face at very high speed. One mistake and some one is VERY sore! Sometimes it is not so much the incredible choreography (one expects this from Jackie) or the amazing agility and accuracy (again this is just expected) or even the martial arts prowess (what can I say - this is Jackie we are talking about) but what does leave me completely amazed is the incredible trust fellow actors/stuntmen show in each others' skill. Mostly it is other actors trusting in Jackie's control but sometimes it is Jackie who trusts some one to thrust (theoretically) very sharp objects near his face and neck (swords, spears and other weapons).

While Jackie's later forays into the never seen before crazy stunts left audiences gasping personally for me what really leaves me gasping is not the sheer bravery (or should that be stupidity) required to jump from a building onto a rope ladder or slide 3 stories down a pole but the incredible physical mastery of one's body in Jackie's martial arts/fight choreography. And that one mostly sees in his earlier movies.

This one is actually one of the better ones. Many of Jackie's really early films you have to say (with some apology) to newcomers 'Well you watch them to just to watch Jackie'. But Drunken Fist doesn't have a bad story even if it is prone to what Jackie calls 'Why you look at me? Fight! Why you look at me again? Fight!' moments. Jackie is of course the good-guy hero who eventually saves the day (but not before quite a few people are dead and EVEN some at Jackie's hand - hmmm Shinjuku Incident was so NOT the first movie in which Jackie killed people in a movie).

It really has some brilliant fight scenes all choreographed by Jackie and you can recognise his hand in the fight sequences even when he is not actually in them.

I know that he says that he thought of choreographing many opponents coming at him at the same time for the first time in later movies (referencing Police Story I think) but I don't agree with him. Even as early this you can see him starting to develop the idea of multiple opponents at once. Although at this point when he does choreograph multiple opponents he is more evasive than actually fighting them. Even at the end of Fearless Hyena when he clearly takes on 3 sword wielding opponents at once, that portion of choreography is much more evasive than confrontational and when he does dispatch his opponents it is back to one-on-one fighting but one can see the thought developing in his choreography even this early on.

Although if one does compare the very realistic fighting multiple opponents he choreographed in Police Story with the almost ritualised 'dance' from Spiritual Kung Fu when he takes on a group of monks with staffs one has to agree with him that he did really only do a proper fight sequence much later on.

Anyway for those of you who haven't seen Dragon Fist some one has kindly uploaded it onto youtube. But again ... if possible please buy a legal copy - apart from anything else it is actually MUCH better than the fuzzy compressed files from youtube.

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Wednesday 29 June 2016

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY : FACING THE 40TH GRADUATION CEREMONY

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY: THE UNIVERSITY OF OUR TIME

On 15^th July 2016, Kenyatta University will be celebrating its 40^th Graduation ceremony at its main campus located on Thika road, and few kilometers’ from Kenya’s capital city , Nairobi. Time has come that scholars have formed a unified approach to research and study in order to make solutions that can provide solutions to the challenges the community is experiencing. Some of the major challenges that the society is facing include and is not limited to cyber-security which America has declared the fifth war frontier. Others include climate change and which has a direct bearing to food security for our country, Democratic governance and peaceful elections is still uncommon since we still experience a lot of civil unrests and many people lose lives due to politics,, Gender inequality and discrimination against the girl-child.

It is a major requirement in most courses whether in diploma, degree, masters or Ph.D. that the students do research projects. It is really encouraging and you find that many a times the comrades spend a lot of money either from their own pockets or from their parents .The projects always are meant to provide solutions to major issues affecting the society.

The unfortunate event in all this noble mission is that despite the amount of efforts the comrades and their lecturers put in writing, editing and re-editing this projects, few are ever implemented. That is why it has become imperative that comrades become discouraged and some involve themselves in ‘theft’ of exams since they no longer get inspired by the efforts they are making since they believe that the projects are merely meant to pass examinations and not to alleviate societal challenges .It is important to note that there is need for all stakeholders involved to come together and help comrades realize the dream they always have when drafting, carrying out their projects. Other Universities in Kenya are already shivering because they know the speed at which KU is growing is so rapid. University of Nairobi, Moi University,Mount-Kenya, JKUAT, Pan-Africa, Great Lakes University, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Laikipia University to mention but a few but Kenyatta University still leads the park.

Kenyatta University is like a rare gem, those who have discovered it are saved. Academically speaking.Only we need to spend on not only writing our noble projects but also implementing them, with this Kenya and Africa and the whole world will never be the same again !

Kenyatta University is privileged to be led by powerful leaders and with Professor Wangari Mwai as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Administration, I believe the sky can only remain to be the limit.

Friday 24 June 2016

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Intriguing tale of Mandera boy who found fortune in Coast

Growing up in the rough and dry terrains of the remote village of Girissa Rhamu in Mandera County, Saeed Abdirahman’s life appeared set against all odds.

Tuesday June 14 2016

Saeed Abdirahman, Mombasa business man. PHOTO | DICKENS OGANGO O.

In Summary

“I saved consistently for three years. Every month, I would set aside between Sh8,000 and Sh10,000. By the end of 2009, I had Sh300,000 in savings,” says Mr Saeed.
He travelled to Mombasa and got a job as a driver. “I rented a single room a few kilometres from my place of work. In order to save, I preferred walking to work instead of using matatus,” he says.
His business dream began to take shape when he registered his own logistics business, Sidoman, offering a wide of range of services such as clearing and forwarding, sea and land freight, warehousing and cargo handling.

Growing up in the rough and dry terrains of the remote village of Girissa Rhamu in Mandera County, Saeed Abdirahman’s life appeared set against all odds.
The fifth born in a family of eight could hardly imagine that he would one day walk away from the ravaging poverty to become a multi-millionaire businessman.
Today, at the age of 34, Saeed is the owner of the Mtwapa Coast Breeze Hotel and the founder and chief executive officer of Mombasa-based logistics company Sidoman Limited.
Although his sleek Range Rover may not betray the hardships Saeed has overcome to be where he is today, the road to success in business and personal life has been anything but a stroll in the park.
As Mr Saeed told Money, it has taken hard and smart work, and a firm determination to succeed.
“We were not wealthy. My mother owned a few cattle which she traded in to see us through school,” says Saeed, a father of three boys.
After sitting for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 2000 at Sheikh Ali High School and attaining a mean grade of C (minus), Mr Saeed enrolled for a diploma at the Kenya Technical Teachers training College.
“I graduated in 2006 with a diploma in IT,” he says. During this time, only a mere 5 per cent of children made it to college in the Northern Kenya.
“Graduating was a milestone for me, my family and village. It gave me the assurance and confidence that I could break the ceiling and achieve much more,” he says.
His heart was in business and he knew that’s what he would eventually do.
“I could have opted to look for an IT-related job, but my eyes were trained on becoming a top businessman, and to achieve this goal, I had to move from my mother’s nest,” he notes.
Walking to work
He travelled to Mombasa and got a job as a driver. “I rented a single room a few kilometres from my place of work. In order to save, I preferred walking to work instead of using matatus,” he says.
In mid-2007, Mr Saeed quit his job as a driver and started working for shipping and logistics firms at the Port of Mombasa.
“I was first paid in commissions before getting a job as a regular worker,” he says.
However what stood him in good stead for success in business was that he saved almost religiously.
“I saved consistently for three years. Every month, I would set aside between Sh8,000 and Sh10,000. By the end of 2009, I had Sh300,000 in savings,” says Mr Saeed.
However, saving faithfully every month for 36 months was not an easy task. “I had to sacrifice a lot. I couldn’t afford the same luxuries that my working age mates could since I had to pay rent for a single room and cater for all my daily bills.”
His business dream began to take shape when he registered his own logistics business, Sidoman, offering a wide of range of services such as clearing and forwarding, sea and land freight, warehousing and cargo handling.
“I was convinced that there was enough space for me to thrive in the shipping and logistics business,” he says.
Interestingly, although the Sh300,000 he had saved was not enough to put his new start-up on a solid foundation, he did not take a bank loan to boost his business.
“I had problems getting adequate capital when I started, but taking a bank loan was not an option. Neither has it ever been for me,” he says.
Mr Saeed’s Islamic faith prohibits him from taking bank loans that attract interest. He therefore opted for small debts from his fellow Muslim friends which he would pay without interest.
“These (loans) enabled me to stay afloat and continue looking for business,” he says.
In the early months after starting his company, the entrepreneur operated from his briefcase and mobile phone.
“I had no office or car with which to run my business. Sometimes I would get a good deal and due to my limited resources, I would refer it to established logistics businesses in exchange for commission,” he says.
However, in 2010, Mr Saeed set up his offices in Mombasa town as his business started looking up. And Since then, the sky has been the limit for him.
In 2014, six years after starting his logistics business, the businessman decided to diversify into the hotel and catering industry. He bought the Mtwapa Coast Breeze Hotel in Kilifi County at Sh75 million and renovated it to be the sparkling facility it is today. The two-star hotel has 34 furnished apartments.
Mr Saeed has employed 30 people at his logistics firm on a full-time basis, and another 20 workers at the hotel.
He says to get the best from employees, you have to motivate them and impart in them virtues such as hard work.
“My former employers taught me virtues of instilling work discipline and motivation in employees, and these are the ideals I strive to pass on to my workers so that tomorrow, they can walk in my shoes,” he says.
Interestingly, at a time when many people are avoiding from the tough road of painstakingly building wealth in favour of get-rich-quick schemes or corrupt dealings, Mr Saeed says that he has had zero scandals or court cases on his path to business success.
“Above all, I am happy to be a clean book so far,” he says with a smile.

Entrepreneur vs Businessman

For me an Entrepreneur, in the purest sense, is the person who identifies a need—any need—and fill it. It’s a primordial urge, independent of product, service, industry or market. Entrepreneurship is about the future and sustainability, an entrepreneur identifies a gap and creates a lasting solution and not just for money but for the future generations benefit and sustainability.

On the other hand, a business person is that person who identifies a weakness and capitalizes in that just to make profits. For example a typical business person is that who while in a pub drinking and discussing stuff, notices another person is doing well in what he/she is doing and rushes to do it without doing any research or getting to know the hurdles involved. who opens a butchery near another does that because he knows probably customers are complaining about the other butchery’s services. He gets into the business to make money. And that the primary principle of a business person.

Assertiveness And Self-Confidence

Self-confident and assertiveness are two skills that are crucial for success in life. If you don"t feel worthy, and/or you don"t know how to express your self-worth when communicating with others, life can be very painful. These skills will provide opportunities and benefits to your participants in their professional and personal lives.

The Assertiveness And Self-Confidence workshop will give participants an understanding of what assertiveness and self-confidence each mean (in general and to them personally) and how to develop those feelings in their day-to-day lives. These skills will encompass many aspects of your participant"s lives and have a positive effect on all of them.

Tuesday 14 June 2016

RAILA AMOLLO ODINGA :THE ENIGMA OF KENYA POLITICS

Raila Odinga, former Prime Minister and CORD leader

“KIBAKI TOSHA!” The words from then and current opposition leader Raila Amollo Odinga in a declaration at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, in 2002 that united the then opposition and became a game changer ending the 24-year long autocratic leadership of retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi.
Odinga is by all means an enigma in the Kenyan political arena, and has been for a decade or two, inheriting his father Jaramogi Oginga’s political kingdom, especially in the Luo Nyanza. That is not in doubt, his presence always being felt whenever he speaks about a matter he is passionate about.
However, his supporters and strongest critics agree that the Raila of 2016 is not as energetic and charismatic as the Raila of 2007. He has lost some glow and is fast losing his appeal that propelled him to the gates of State House in 2007 before his dream of ascending to the country’s top most job fell flat; instead only landing a post as Prime Minister in a negotiated grand coalition government headed by President Mwai Kibaki.

Can the son of Jaramogi get his mojo back ahead of 2017? Can he re-invent himself politically fast enough to challenge and floor President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in the 2017 General Elections?
Raila finds himself in a precarious position with a not-so-dazzling future, as far as trouncing Kenyatta is concerned given the circumstances he finds himself in. Holding no elective post, the opposition leader finds himself in an awkward situation where he cannot confidently marshal his troops to influence directly the approval or rejection of laws in the National Assembly.
This means he has to rely on Parliamentarians’ goodwill, and especially those in the opposition, to get his way in the August House.
CORD MPs have been unable to sniff, make noise and reject controversial laws that have been passed on the floor of the House, with the recent being the Miscellaneous Amendment Act 2015 that includes, among other things, the Judicial Service Act 2011 empowers the President to expressly appoint a Chief Justice.
Opposition troops have performed dismally in the National Assembly, always being caught flat-footed and using the “Tyranny of numbers” excuse in press conferences to “oppose” controversial clauses that escape their “hawk-eyed” notice. This is a sign of lack of clear direction from CORD’s Minority Leader in Parliament Francis Nyenze and his deputy Jakoyo Midiwo.

MPs under CORD’s parties, ODM, Wiper and Ford Kenya have been embroiled in financial and bribery allegations with embattled ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba losing the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) amid accusations of receiving bribes to doctor the watchdog committee’s controversial graft reports.
At some point, Midiwo was also forced to ward off claims by Ugunja MP and ODM Director of Political Affairs Opiyo Wandayi that he was working with the Jubilee Government and getting tenders from the National Youth Service.
Wiper, headed by former long serving Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, is on the other hand also grappling with internal turmoil, key being the Ukambani region supremacy war between Musyoka backed by Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama and Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua, who recently launched his Maendeleo Chap Chap movement.
This points to a sign of a identity and integrity crisis within CORD with those harbouring higher ambitions like Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba and Mutua et al being christened as moles.
Raila’s co-principal in CORD Kalonzo Musyoka does not seem enthusiastic about being in the opposition, always seeming bitter about Jubilee and how he was short-changed for the top seat by Kenyatta and Ruto in the run up to the March 4^th, 2013 General Elections.
How many times do you see Musyoka come out strongly on the opposition agenda? Raila recently issued a hard-hitting ‘State of The Nation Address,’ a crucial statement for the opposition, yet Musyoka was conspicuously missing. Am convinced the former VP’s lacklustre performance in the opposition simply means he has not accepted the fact that he is in the opposition as he has never been out of the government.
Bungoma Senator and CORD co-principal Moses Wetangula, on the other hand, is facing the biggest tests of his political career with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) set to determine on whether to strike him off the voter register over allegations of bribing voters in 2013.
This leaves Odinga exposed and weak, vividly exposing the nakedness in his opposition brigade that he intends to rely on to propel him to presidency in 2017.
Raila should groom another king for post-2017. He has seemingly become the Kingmaker who would never be king given the short time to the next poll and the odds he faces against Uhuruto.
He should critically consider modelling a king for 2022, when Ruto is also eyeing the State House position.
Raila made Kibaki king, and inadvertently made Ruto Deputy President, but he should realize he has a scrawny team in CORD currently that might deny him his presidential dream in 2017, which pundits see as his last shot. Who will fit his shoes should he fail to marshal a dream team to oust Kenyatta in 2017?
How will he handle a possible loss in 2017, given that he has not yet groomed anyone to inherit his political kingdom and how will he deal with such a loss? Crowning another king might be the only way Raila will become the President of Kenya, albeit indirectly. No?

HOW AMERICA IS FIGHTING HUNGER [UN- NAIROBI]

In event at George Washington University in October, USAID Administrator Shah highlighted some innovative ways the United States is helping improve food security and nutrition around the world.
Watch a recording of his talk to learn more and click on each of the innovations below to explore examples of each in action.
Innovations:

Return to News and Events

Women and girls with disabilities must not be left behind

Date: 13 June 2016

The ninth session of the Conference of the States parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) taking place in New York from 14 to 16 June 2016, will focus on “Implementing the 2030 development agenda for all persons with disabilities: Leaving no one behind.” UN Women is calling for strengthened partnerships with women and girls with disabilities and their organizations to address the barriers to their participation and decision-making.
This year marks 10 years since the adoption of the Convention, with gender equality a key principle of the Convention. Furthermore, Article 6 of the Convention calls for actions to ensure that women and girls with disabilities are able to enjoy and exercise their human rights.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an unprecedented opportunity to drive lasting change for all women’s rights and equality, including women and girls with disabilities. Making this agenda come to life needs programmes and policies that are informed by high quality and timely data, disaggregated by sex and disability. Supporting the collection and analysis of disability statistics will be a central feature in UN Women’s new Flagship Programme Initiative on gender data and statistics.

Marie Bangura. Photo: Laura Cook/Laura Cook Photography

Nearly one in five women live with disabilities [1]. However, disabled women and girls remain at the margins of decision-making and their specific needs were largely invisible until recently, both to advocates of women’s rights and disability rights. In humanitarian contexts, women and girls with disabilities face even more discrimination, adding to an already heightened risk of violence and exploitation.

- See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/6/women-and-girls-with-disabilities-must-not-be-left-behind#sthash.16UqsSAl.dpuf

LETS SUPPORT PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Women and girls with disabilities must not be left behind

Marie Bangura. Photo: Laura Cook/Laura Cook Photography

GOD'S PROMISE OF LOVE

Friends are starting to plan their summer vegetable gardens. Some get an early start by planting seeds indoors where they can control the conditions and provide the best environment for sprouting. After the danger of frost has passed, they will transplant the seedlings outdoors. Once the garden is planted, the work of weeding, feeding, watering, and guarding against rodents and insects begins. Producing food is a lot of work.

Moses reminded the Israelites of this before they entered the promised land. While living in Egypt, they had to do the hard work of irrigating crops by hand (Deut. 11:10), but in the place where God was taking them He promised to ease their work by sending spring and autumn rains: “I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains” (v.14 niv). The only condition was that they “faithfully obey the commands” He gave them—“to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (v.13 niv). The Lord was taking His people to a place where their obedience and His blessing would make them a light to those around them.

God wants the same for us and from us: He wants our love to be displayed in our obedience so that we might be His light to people around us. The love and obedience we have to offer, though, is far less than He deserves. But He is our provider, blessing us and enabling us to be a light that the world will notice.

Loving God doesn’t make life effortless, but having His strength makes it easier.

Monday 13 June 2016

'' Nobody has monopoly over success ''

Former Kenyan banker driving to success in car hire business

Dan Njoroge

Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Neither does Lesus Executive Car Hire, a vehicle hire company in Kenya.
Lesus provides chauffeured cars ranging from luxury sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), stretch limousines, vintage cars, and also chartered helicopters and motorbike escort services to both individual and corporate clients. Dan Njoroge has run the company for the past three years.
In 2011 the journey of firsts began for him. Besides being the year he left the cushion of a promising career in finance at one of the leading banks in Kenya, it was also the start of a search for a more challenging job. Having been in banking for four years, he was confident of finding another opportunity, but to his surprise no doors opened.
By mid-2012, with his savings exhausted, he was forced to sell all his belongings and move out of his apartment while he figured out his next move. During this period he decided to try supplying stationary to corporates. He did so for the next six months earning him an average of just $10 a day, not forgetting the hard labour entailed given he had to at times trek over long distances carrying heavy supplies.
Frustrated and faced with lack of a reliable income, Njoroge decided to try out leasing his friend’s luxury 4×4 as he wasn’t using it. After a few days, someone offered him a job to chauffeur at a wedding followed by subsequent jobs, one which lasted two weeks.
This was a windfall given his meagre earnings at the time. “Getting payment for the two weeks’ job marked my defining moment. I figured I could also run an executive car hire business, add more cars and ultimately earn more. This, coupled with my passion for cars, birthed my business,” he says.

Penetrating the market
The initial market penetration strategy for the company involved catering for weddings, which still comprises 70% of its business. This was mainly driven by referrals as well as online marketing through the website and social media.
The company also offered its vehicles for free to a leading media house during one of their events, which offered Lesus mileage in the form of publicity.
Creating a database of well-maintained luxury cars requires good contacts with high-value individuals as well as other executive car hire companies. Njoroge has managed to grow his network by being a trusted and reliable provider, which in turn made vehicle owners trust him with their cars as well as recommend others to him.
Iconic events catered for
The company was among the service providers for the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which was headlined by US President Barack Obama. More recently, it catered to a Turkish government delegation.
According to Euromonitor International, the demand for car hire in Kenya continues to increase, driven by the growing number of business travellers.
Challenges present new opportunities
In a business largely driven by trust, the huge challenge has been to deliver to clients even when vehicles suppliers let him down.
“I once had a client request for a good number of luxury 4x4s, which I knew were hard to come by – but I let them know well in advance I’ll try my best but the cars were not readily available. However a few anxious hours and multiple calls later, I’d gotten hold of the requested number of vehicles, ready for the event starting the next day. Both my client and I breathed a sigh of relief,” he recalls. Needless to say this opened more opportunities and repeat orders from the same client.
For now, Njoroge is concentrating on growing his brand. In his words: “I dedicate 90% of my time and money to build my brand and leave only 10% to myself. I’m living the concept of delayed gratification, because I know that once my business is able to stand on its own, I can then focus on living the life I’ve always wanted.”

HOW THEY MADE IT IN AFRICA

Behold the Boss: Hassan Bashir, CEO and Founder, Takaful Africa insurance Group

Hassan Bashir

1. What was your first job?

During the school holidays when I was in class three (third year of primary school). In my neighbourhood there was an orphanage that was building a secondary school. So I got a job moving building blocks to the construction site using a wheelbarrow. I was moving one block at a time. At the end of the month I earned Ksh.150, a third of which went to my father, and some of the remaining paid my boarding fees for the next school semester. I also bought my first pair of shoes and my first set of a shirt, pants and vest.
2. What parts of your job keep you awake at night?

It is often different things, maybe an HR issue or a model that is not working. But when that happens I get out of bed, grab my laptop and I try to write down that item. I have realised that when an issue is bothering you, the night is when the most ideas come to you. I generally wake up at 3am, so I do much of my reading around that time.
3. Who has had the biggest impact on your career and why?

If you asked for an institution I’d say the United States International University – Africa (USIU Africa). As a kid I used to dream about going to university. (Bashir did not attend secondary school because his parents could not afford tuition. After primary school he did odd jobs for nearly a decade to raise enough money to sit for secondary school exams, and pay tuition for the first two semesters of university.) So somewhere towards the end of my undergraduate studies at USIU I thought I had achieved my childhood dream but didn’t know what else might follow. I had reached the ceiling of my dreams. I told one professor at USIU my ambition was to go to university, and I am in campus, so I am done.
Prof. Afrifa Gitonga then lectured me about the attitude of failure. I was surprised because I was a kid who didn’t go secondary school yet here I was in university. What more could I have done? He told me that I had set a ceiling that was too low and advised to me to set my ceiling on something that has not been achieved by anyone else. He lectured me for about two hours.

4. What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?

This was from Nelson Kuria (a retired veteran insurance manager and former CEO of Kenya’s CIC Insurance Group). He told me, “Go rest, take this week off, we will pick up next week”. CIC is one of the shareholders of [Takaful] and Kuria was one of our founding directors. This journey took us from 2002 to 2011. We had to do knowledge gathering, draft a business plan and get regulatory approval. From 2006 we started engaging the regulatory body and it took us up to 2011 to get the licence. Every time I came close to giving up Kuria would say: “Bashir go to Mombasa, take a break, let’s meet next week.” I would come back the next week fired up, having totally forgotten the disappointments we had encountered.

5. What are the top reasons why you have been successful in business?

I think I appreciate that assets without human input will fail. You can assemble all the money you want and put together all the equipment and tables and computers – but if you don’t work with the people, you are bound to fail. The systems and tools are good because they enable us to spend our time more intelligently rather than on basic brute functions. But it is people who make your capital work. I think I work well with people.

6. Where’s the best place to prepare for leadership? Business school or on the job?

I think business school is needed because it gives you tools. I am now writing a paper on the review of the theories of leadership (Bashir is a PhD candidate) and I see the 200-year argument of ‘born’ or ‘made’ when it comes to leadership. I personally like a leader who can pick the average performer and turn them into a confident, excellent person. Some leadership qualities are inborn, but we have also seen potential good leaders who lack basic tools to be able to deliver. So I think business school is critical.

7. How do you relax?

I spend a lot of time with the kids. I have five children – four daughters and a son. I try my best to go home early before they are asleep. I also like going to national parks with the family, which is fairly unusual for my community [where] a lot of people, with a lot money, don’t find the time to go to parks. I like to leave Nairobi on Friday afternoon, spend the weekend at a national park and return on Sunday afternoon. I do quite a bit of that. It is fairly relaxing and it gives you time with the kids.
I read a bit too. Right now I am also forced to read because I’m doing a doctoral programme. My area of interest is leadership, and business and management – so I read a lot on these.

8. By what time in the morning do you like to be at your desk?

I leave home around 6am to drop my kids at school. Then, as I’m generally near the office, often having a first meeting by around 6:20am.

9. Your favourite job interview question?

Why did you choose to apply to us? You can assume that this person has been jobless for years since graduation and is willing to take any opportunity, but that could also be false. There are graduates who might choose a company to work with for specific reasons. These days information about companies is available on the web so you can screen a company and say: “No, I don’t want to work here.”
So I am always curious to hear people’s answers even though the question is not a determinant on whether or not they’ll get the job. Sometimes you hear things about your company you had never ever heard. One candidate told me he wanted to work with us because he’d heard our company is Shariah-compliant, and as such it would have a certain working environment (different from other companies).

10. What is your message to Africa’s aspiring business leaders and entrepreneurs?

First, current leaders should influence how business is done, and try and improve the morality and ethics of business. It saddens me that because of the systems we have built over time, business in Kenya has lost its soul. We have taken everything to a dubious level. We need to do business on a platform different from the one we are doing.
Right now… there’s a lot of corruption that is done by business. This actually makes it harder for people who are aspiring to be business leaders and entrepreneurs. If you are coming into an environment where business is bought, and you are running a start-up with limited capital, how do you survive?
Hassan Bashir is CEO of Takaful Africa Group. In 2011 Bashir founded Takaful Insurance of Africa (TIA), the first fully Shariah-compliant insurance company to be registered in Kenya. The company has since expanded to Somalia.

Thanks @Dinfin Mulupi @DHL

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Friday 1 July 2016

Wednesday 29 June 2016

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY: THE UNIVERSITY OF OUR TIME

Friday 24 June 2016

Wednesday 15 June 2016

In Summary

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Assertiveness And Self-Confidence

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VIDEOS

IN THE PRESS

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Women and girls with disabilities must not be left behind

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