Over-the-Top!

Actions may be regarded as feeble, moderate or over the top. But when should an action be referred to as being over the top?

Bearing in mind that actions can be proactive or reactive, some actions are borne out of need and necessity. In work environment, good managers are those who can hire and fire. It is inevitable to discipline and/or set records straight.

Free and Fair

Free and fair are words that are peculiar to elections in Nigeria and other parts of the planet.

United States Mission to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated that free and fair elections are a fundamental element of a healthy democracy.

To be truly free and fair, however, elections require not only transparent and well-managed election day polling, but also a society that encourages full citizen participation, political parties to operate freely, independent media to flourish, and which builds a judiciary system capable of exercising independent and impartial authority.

By and large, the workability of the above depends on people. Democracy is people-oriented.

Elections are the sine qua non of democracy. But dictatorships make evident the notion that elections alone cannot establish or sustain democracy. Without democracy's other essential elements - consent of the governed, constitutional limits, the protection of human and minority rights, accountability and transparency, a multiple party system, economic freedom, and the rule of law, elections cannot guarantee that freedom will be achieved.

Where democratic institutions are weak, elections are easily used by violent and dictatorial political groups to manipulate the will of the people and seize control of the government.

Saying...Less

Speaking less will make people reveal more about themselves. This is information you may be able to use against them later on. Your short answers and silences will put them on the defensive, and they will jump in, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of comments that will reveal valuable information about them and their weaknesses. The longer you listen, the more others move their lips and teeth. As they move their lips and teeth, you can thereby understand their real intentions.

Speaking Less will force people to listen/interpret your every word carefully. Your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Humans are machines of interpretation and explanation; they wish or have to know what you are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal, they cannot pierce your intentions or your meaning. They will leave a meeting with and they will go home and ponder your every word. This extra attention to your brief comments will only add to your power.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control.  Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague and open-ended.

Pendulum - Swing

A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force combined with the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum, and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing. - Wikipedia.

We have the notion that what goes up must surely come down. When pendulum swings forth, we're waiting for it to swing back again, which I am absolutely confident it will.

Duration: Beginning & End

End represents the opposite of beginning.

We should always be sensitive to know when it is ripe to say goodbye...especially when the ovation is at the loudest.

Mistakes...even at Old Age

I used to think that as I gained maturity and experience I would make fewer mistakes. But it is surprising to note that as I grow older, I still make mistakes. In deep thoughts, I realise one could not stop making mistakes since one has not stopped learning. I am learning better from them.
Here are the reasons why maturity helps us learn more quickly from our mistakes:

1. We become more self-confident. As we gain confidence, we become more willing to admit things that we would not confess if we had lower self-image.

2. We realize that mistakes are not usually fatal or costly. We understand that mistakes are not as big of a deal as we originally thought.

3. We see others make mistakes. Wasn't it wonderful when you saw all the people that you admired make mistakes? You feel reassured!

4. We understand that mistakes are unavoidable. Look back at your early years. Can you think of the times you tried to avoid mistakes?

5. We find that we make the same mistakes unless we learn from them. Unless I learn from a mistake, I usually keep doing it over and over again.

You see, the question is not how many mistakes have you made; the question is how many of the same mistakes have you made? If I always do what I've always done, I'll always get what I've always gotten.

2015: The Newest Bride!

The year 2014 has

...the newest bride!

come and gone! So much testimonies…new homes, new cars, new jobs, new couple…lots but to mention few.

It is no news that economies are not looking good across the globe. Nigeria is hit severely because of her dependence on oil for decades. Revenue has dropped drastically! The Nigerian government recently called on the citizens to imbibe austerity measures in the year 2015. No doubt, the world is facing unprecedented unemployment – even in the developed world. Youth are particularly hard hit. In 2014 more students in their thousands graduated from Nigerian tertiary institutions. Many moved directly into the swollen ranks of the unemployed.

According to the International Labor Organization, youth unemployment in most of the world is stuck at about 20 percent. "Young people [are] nearly three times as likely as adults to be unemployed," says the ILO. It may surprise you to know that Nigeria is not alone in this, in Spain more than 50 percent of young people are unemployed, in Italy it's 35 percent, and in France the rate is more than 25 percent. When considering under-employment, these numbers could be doubled. It therefore instructive to state that there’s no safe haven anywhere.

Traditional methods of job creation are stalled because our government has persistently pay lip service to supporting small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

One of the keys to solving this problem is entrepreneurship. Research shows that 80 percent of new jobs come from companies 5 years old or less. So the need for entrepreneurs has never been greater, in both developing and developed countries. When given the right conditions to flourish, entrepreneurs are the foundation of growth, prosperity and even innovation. They bring fresh thinking to the marketplace and fuel the creative destruction that makes market economies prosper.

In addition to creating jobs, new companies are the foundation of the economy and the source of much innovation. They also create the new goods and services on which our standard of living is based. The Internet slashes transaction and collaboration costs for almost every institution in an economy. This is leading to a change in how societies orchestrate capability to innovate, create goods, services and public value. With such costs falling precipitously, companies can increasingly source ideas, innovations and uniquely qualified minds from a vast global pool of talent.
Waiting for governments or big companies to solve the problem is not the answer. Necessity is the mother of invention. Is it time to take the bull by the horns and make your own job?

The best thing I ever did in my professional life was to become an entrepreneur. It was tough, but it worked out well for me and I have a life of influence, prosperity and fun beyond anything I ever dreamed. Here’s my advice to you.

1. Create customer-based business. Peter Drucker said years ago: “The purpose of any business should be to create a customer.” Create some value that a customer would want to pay you for. Also, Tony Hsieh the CEO of Zappos, said: “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”

2. Don’t seek big or venture capital. These days virtually no venture capitalist invest in a business plans or even early-stage companies. Besides, you don’t need them. Fortunately, it is less costly than ever to create a company (business name or limited liability). The best is to have a product or service that generates initial revenue so you don’t have to borrow money or give away equity. Or get a short-term loan or small investment from your family or friends.

3. Take advantage of the Internet. The Internet enables start-ups to focus on what you do best. Thanks to the Internet and cloud computing, small companies can now have all the capabilities of big companies, without the main liabilities: stifling bureaucracy, legacy culture and processes. Talent can be outside enterprise boundaries and companies can use the new media to market and engage stakeholders in radically new, low-cost ways.

4. Persevere. Owning business requires a lot of steadfastness. “Ninety percent of everything is just showing up.” "Success is 90 percent perspiration and 10 percent inspiration.”

It’s a lot of hard work to build a business...however, it's good to start early in the year.