Light does not shine in light

Two days ago, I crossed another milestone on my career path. Those who have heard me or read me know that I keep on going about consulting this…consulting that…Anyway, I was able to move up my game from HR/Business consulting to Leadership/Organisational Development consulting. How did that happen?

Well…I don’t know if I’ve mentioned in any of my posts that sometime earlier this year, I met one of my mentors in the area of finance and organisational development. I went for a seminar, saw him standing afar off and approached him. I guessed this was my moment of connection and I seized it with fear and excitement. Interestingly, he had been school mates with my father in the University and they had even been members of the same fellowship while there in the university….bla bla bla

Anyway, he had done so well through the years in the area of production and manufacturing and had become an Icon of business in Nigeria. He sits on the boards of several multinational organisations. So, back to my story. I met him by force that day and of course collected his contact. I afterwards had one reason or another to correspond with him and as luck will have it, he also had reason to contact me especially in relation to my father. Read the rest of this entry »

I walked out of my office on thursday last week just as my boss walked out of his.

“Busayo, you are coming along abi?” he asked. “Where are we going?” I answered, looking bewildered

“To ife.” he responded. “When?” I asked, my face lightening up. “On saturday” he replied.

“Most definitely” I responded.

That was the dialogue that set me on a return journey to my alma mater. I graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Dec. 2005 after 7 long years of studying a course that originally should have taken 5 years. I don’t want to go into the details of how it took so long but suffice it to say that I didn’t have any extra semesters. It just took them 7 years to be able to decide whether or not 1998/99 set could graduate. Anyway, that’s all past now and I’ve left the school. Read the rest of this entry »

Nigeria has been described as Africa’s faster growing insurance market with 18.0 percent growth rate, while Angola is leading with 35.0 percent nominal growth rate. This statistics was disclosed today in a presentation prepared by Afrinvest West Africa titled “Nigerian Insurance Market- Capital Market Perspective” at the ongoing Insurance Future Summit in Abuja Nigeria.
Others are Kenya recording 23.0 percent growth rate, South Africa with 17.0 percent growth trailing behind Nigeria. While Egypt, Algeria and Namibia recorded 13.0 percent, 12.0 percent and 4.0 percent respectively. The average is said to be 14.8.
Meanwhile the paper observed that in Nigeria, the Insurance Sector is still the slowest financial services sector. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday placed full suspension on the shares of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, following the decision of the Investment and Securities Tribunal to uphold the indictment of the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission over financial misstatement.

The Deputy Director-General, NSE, Mr. Lance Elakama, disclosed on the floor of the Exchange that the ruling of the IST was binding on the Exchange since it was the court of competent jurisdiction on investment matters.

The company had been indicted over an account misstatement to the tune of N5bn. Read the rest of this entry »

 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth….Gen 1:1

I was reading my Bible from the beginning a few days ago and would love to share a few things with my readers. Gen 1:2 - And the earth was without form and void and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters.

All that is needed for the creation of an idea always exists around us. The Bible says the earth was without form and void. The idea we desire to create is around us though it has no form. The Spirit of God moved upon the waters…We need the Holy Spirit to help us put form and substance to that idea. The Holy Spirit is the one who can help us form our ideas.

Gen 1:3,4 - And God said, Let there be light……

-Illumination is the first step to the creation of an idea. It’s only God who gives positive illumination concerning ideas. To create an idea, you must see it first. If you don’t receive illumination, your creation may not be good… and God saw the light that it was good (vs.4) Read the rest of this entry »

Answer “True” or “False” to each of these questions as a proof of your leadership qualities.

QUESTIONS:

1. Always delegate to the subordinate who has experience with similar tasks.

2. The person you delegate to should have as much information about the task as possible.

3. Controls should be built into Read the rest of this entry »

One of the major problems I’ve had in my years of development and growth is the lack of self-discipline. I couldn’t bring myself to be disciplined to stop bad habits; I couldn’t bring myself to continue good habits even after I have sworn to do so. I got tired of giving my life to Christ over and over again for many years. I learnt that self-control which is close to self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit but I couldn’t bring myself to exercise the restraint that came with self-control on my life. I got very frustrated and annoyed at myself. Many times, I was so ashamed of my limitations that I wished myself dead. I’d travel hoping to get involved in an accident that would claim my life, but I’d arrive safely at my destination. In fact, I’ve never been involved till date and would not be involved in a fatal accident of any sort by God’s grace.

Without an iota of doubt, I knew deeply within me that the only way I can etch my footprints in the sands of time is if I exercised self-discipline on myself in the areas that the common chooses to be a slave to his situation and circumstance.

Great leaders always have self-discipline-without exceptions. Unfortunately, our society seeks instant gratification rather than self-discipline. We want instant breakfast, fast food, movies on demand, and quick cash from ATMs. But success doesn’t come instantly. Neither does the ability to lead. As General Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “There are no victories at bargain prices.” Read the rest of this entry »

 “Train a child in the the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

 ”..if you spend just one hour on the same activity everyday, in five years, you will become an expert at it…Joel Osteen (U.S. preacher)

Tiger Woods was just 18 months old when his father began giving him golf lessons, painstakingly talking him through the discipline and routine of putting (getting the golf ball into the hole) one of the game’s trickiest and most difficult skills to master. On June16 this year, Tiger Woods won the US Open, in a thrilling 19-hole play-off. He did it while undergoing intense pain in his kniee folowing an earlier surgery. No one knew the extent of the pain he endured in the tournament until it emerged that following the resulting damage to the knee; he would have to undergo reconstructive surgery and miss the rest of the season.

In similar fashion, the Williams sisters, became tennis icons, often appearing on both sides of the net in some of the most prestigiuous tournaments. But their story actually began before they were born. They were conceirved to play tennis as early as four-year-olds, had started practiviing for sic hours every day.

Warren Buffet opened his first savings account in a bank at the age of six with a $20 gift from his father. Over the next five years, he grew it to $120 and made his first investment at 11, buying three stocks for $114. Today, he is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of over $64 billion. Now over 70 years, he has been dealing in stocks and investments in the last six decades! Read the rest of this entry »

The regulatory authorities in the nation’s financial sector and the Federal Ministry of Finance yesterday met in Lagos with a resolve to jointly take measures to preserve and promote the continued vibrancy, liquidity and buoyancy of the capital market. The Finance Ministry, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), at a joint session in Lagos said they would not allow the stock market to crash.

The market has been on a bear run that has lasted for over three months, leading to an unprecedented depression and huge losses for individual and institutional investors. Since March this year, market capitalisation of the NSE dipped from a record level of over N13 trillion to N10.4 trillion last Wednesday before rallying Thursday and yesterday.

But Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, said the nation’s capital market, when viewed from the point of what it should do, has done very well. Read the rest of this entry »

“I was just focused on every point,” he said. “It’s impossible to think too much. Just point by point. I didn’t want to think about the title.”……Nadal

LONDON - Rafael Nadal is no longer just the King of Clay. He’s the Wimbledon champion after beating the grass-court master of them all, Roger Federer, in a five-set epic that will go down as one of the tournament’s classics.

Nadal ended Federer’s five-year reign at the All England Club, holding off a stirring comeback by the champion from two sets down to prevail 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7. He became the first man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980.

Nadal, the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in 1966, avenged his losses to Federer in the last two finals here and snapped the Swiss star’s All England Club winning streak at 40 matches and overall grass-court run at 65.

The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play - the longest singles final in Wimbledon history - when Federer slapped a forehand into the net on Nadal’s fourth match point and second of the game.

Nadal fell onto his back in exhilaration at the baseline. With his shirt caked with turf, he congratulated Federer and climbed into the players’ guest box to embrace his entourage. He had tears in his eyes as he grabbed a Spanish flag and walked across the television commentators’ booth to the edge of the Royal Box to shake hands with Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain. Read the rest of this entry »