Category Archives: Career Development

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Find ALL my PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT products (Books, Excel-VB apps etc) in ONE place

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This page (click) lists and links ALL my PAID products (books, Excel-VB apps etc) in ONE place – and I will continue to add more e.g Real Life Poultry Layer Farm Start-up Business Plans (PLUS FREE preparation service), Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager software, Ration Formulator software, Feed Formulation Handbook, E-BOOKs on Best Practice Farm Management, Feed Formulation, Farm Business Marketing, Farm Business Start-up, Self-Development Bible etc.

Important Notes:

Click here to view the page's display of products and their features, prices etc.

a. Some links may lead to this web contact/request form through which you can send me a message indicating your interest in making payment.

This may apply to both products I have in my online store (where you can use Paypal and credit/debit cards) as well as other products I do NOT put in my store.

b. Prices displayed on this page supersede those displayed ANYWHERE else.

c. Changes can be made to the prices and terms stated for each product without notice.

d. All members of my Farm Business Ideas club get 40% discount off ALL my products & services – with the exception of my Feed Formulation solutions (handbook, software & training).

e. I will continue adding new products as they become available.

Click here to view the page’s display of products and their features, prices etc.

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Are Your Employees Happy & Satisfied With Their Jobs?(A Ten Item Quiz That Can Help You Find Out)

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This article offers ideas developed based on a relatively small questionnaire survey I conducted in 1999 for a paper I entered into the Nigerian Institute of Management’s Young Manager’s Competition.

I make no claims to having exhaustively tested the survey items for statistically significant relevance to all situations. My main purpose is to offer suggestions for decision makers to consider in evolving a suitable program to boost employee morale in their respective organisations.

Your Individual Employees Are Different From Each Other

People may look the same outwardly and on paper (appear to) have the same backgrounds and competencies. The truth however is that when it comes to doing their work WELL and feeling good about it, to the extent that they – on their own – would decide to continue doing it even when not required to do so, EACH employee is likely to differ in terms of what s/he will want to see, hear or receive in order to ACT that way.

But a company’s decision makers cannot “kill” themselves trying to meet every individual’s needs or requests.

Having said that, they CAN help employees get to a point where they(i.e. employees) feel that the company truly CARES for them and takes their NEEDS seriously.

PLUS that it can be trusted to ALWAYS fulfil its own end of the bargain when they(the employees) deliver desired results to the expected standards.

In many companies – big and small – the challenge is however that not much attention is paid to this easily missed area that can significantly affect the quality of employees’ workplace performances.

Few companies bother to do in-house checks aimed for instance, at measuring how enthusiastic people feel about coming to the workplace and doing their work DAILY.

Yet most decision makers KNOW from attending many (expensive) training courses on management and leadership that people who are enthusiastic about what they do, can deliver dramatically superior output compared to those who are reluctant, demoralised and/or frustrated.

So why don’t these decision makers try to find out how their people “feel” regularly and take action to address any VALID issues that are raised?

Going by my experiences, I think it is because they feel only few employees are complaining.

They feel (and will often wait till ) it is only when many of the employees start grumbling loudly about their dissatisfactions that something would really need to be done.

In their thinking taking action before then would amount to setting a wrong precedent.

Hmm.

Yet decision makers who think like this are often the first to talk about being “Proactive” when describing their preferred management techniques/philosophies!

I would say that if you are REALLY to be proactive, you would not wait till a confrontational situation develops between your employees’ union leaders for instance, and your HR Management team before you investigate and redress identified imbalances in the working situations of your employees.

Think about this for a minute.

If they(i.e. your employees) notice that you have a habit of quickly finding out and addressing any issues they are concerned about, in order to make doing their work easier, they WILL be more understanding if/when you say you cannot do something they want – or that it could take a while before you can.

It is only when they FEEL they cannot trust or depend on you to do anything that makes doing their work easier and more fulfilling that the common tense relationship develops between both parties, resulting in the company’s management/decision makers feeling they need to “threaten, force, and coerce” the workforce.

The employee’s unions in turn would naturally decide they need to issue ultimatums etc in order to have their needs/concerns taken seriously.

Of course there will always be the possibility that some individuals may try to push silly/selfish requests through, especially if they sense you are willing to be flexible, but these individuals would be easily managed with careful planning by showing others the folly of what they propose.

Organisations Need To Avoid Adopting New Management Fads & Concepts Without “ADAPTING” Them

Getting people to feel good about working in your company may sometimes require that you introduce new people/process management ideas or concepts. However this must be done intelligently else nothing worthwhile will be achieved for the organisation and its members.

In many companies today, new initiatives are continually being introduced/implemented with a view to enhancing the organisation’s ability to attain set goals and objectives. Decision makers must however ask themselves at every opportunity:

“Do we have to implement these new ideas to the letter “as is” or can we modify them to suit out peculiar business workplace/employee situations and needs? They must ask: “Do we have to accept every new concept or fad hook, line and sinker as being applicable for our use?”.

People within the same society/culture typically differ in their workplace preferences and expectations. What works in a particular society/culture may not work as well(or at all) in another society or culture.

The implication is that companies may find that the manner in which they have to manage their employees/team members may vary from one culture to the other in which they operate branches or subsidiaries for instance.

Failure to do this could result in significant dis-improvements in employee performances that the company will eventually suffer for – as the “people” may “fight” the new initiative because it conflicts with their socio-cultural values or preferences.

Investigating Employee Workplace Morale(A True Story)

In a previous life, I worked as a trainee sales coordinator in a wine manufacturing company for about 6 months, before later joining a brewing multinational as a Graduate Trainee, and 7 years later voluntarily resigning as Technical Training & Development Manager.

During my time in paid employment, I often discussed extensively with other employees within and outside my company about the workplace, employment conditions, boss-subordinate relationships, job satisfaction etc.

Most times people I spoke with dwelt more on the monetary remuneration/benefits they received from their companies as a means for deciding whether or not to be “happy” with their jobs/companies.

But in certain instances I found that some (like me), wanted more than that – such as freedom to express their individuality in doing their work; more recognition from the company for their contributions etc.

This article explains why – I believe – every company needs to work hard to measure(possibly using a short Employee Morale Gauge quiz like the one I developed) and nurture the morale of their employees/team members IF the company is to progress.

In a paper criticising the indiscriminate/dogmatic adoption and application of new philosophies by some organiations, an American writer(whose name and other details I have sadly been unable to locate in my records) wrote in part as follows

“Mindlessly following a concept is a recipe for disaster. Our organisations must begin to think and develop approaches (like the Japanese did) that best suit their organisational culture. No organisation should launch any company-wide initiative without first making a thorough assessment of the need to change and the cultural barriers to achievement.”

In November 1999, I wrote a management paper titled “Performance Management and Employee Motivation”(*See “Note” section below) – for entry into the 1999 edition the Nigerian Institute of Management’s Young Managers’ Competition.

In the first chapter of the paper, I posed the following questions based on literature reviews I had done:

a. Do our people(i.e. employees/team members) see effort leading to performance, and performance leading to the rewards they value?

b. Do they trust management to fulfil its promises to them?

c. Why are employees often dissatisfied with management?

d. Why are employees ever complaining about being underpaid, overworked and disrespected?

e. Is there (in Nigeria) any company where employees are so well motivated by the management that they do not have any complaint to make against it?

The above questions were investigated using a simple 10-item multi-choice survey questionnaire mailed to/recovered from employees of a number of organisations in Lagos and Benin cities.

Over 80% of the employees scored their companies low in areas relating to welfare, rewards/recognition, involvement in decision making and fulfillment of promises made to them etc.

————————————-

*Note: I did not get past the zonals unlike my maiden 1997 outing which I described in the article titled “I Flopped Badly At The National Finals(How NOT To Prepare For/Deliver An Important Presentation”. But the effort was still rewarding for me as I later got to use my ideas in that paper to contribute to my department:About 9 months later, my boss – Greg(Production Manager) invited all mangers in the department to send in their submissions/ideas for moving the department forward towards achieving its vision as a key unit of the brewery/company. I wasted no time in sending him a 10 page paper (on 21st August 2000) articulating my thoughts/drawing extensively from the paper I had earlier written.

The 10 page paper was titled “Summary Highlights Of A Proposal On The Implementation Of Benin Brewery’s Production’s Vision for Year 2000 and Beyond”. So, even though I did not go far this time in the competition with my management paper, I found useful outlet for my ideas in a way that could add value to the entire team. I mention this to drive home the point that you need to form the habit of ALWAYS building on any ideas you have.(In my case I wrote and entered a paper advocating ideas I felt could be applied to improve workplace performances in MY organisation). By so doing, you will find yourself perfectly positioned in future to exploit unexpected opportunities that WILL crop up, to “sell” those ideas to others, and make a BIG difference/impact on others around you.

————————————

Going by the above, it is my firm belief that employers/decision makers can – if they want to – consciously begin to systematically disabuse the minds of employees.

They can do this by checking periodically how the latter “feel” about their jobs/working conditions and then TAKING ACTION to make improvements where possible.

To be fair there are many companies which can boast of considerably high morale amongst their workforces because they already operate in this manner.

However, as people managers we know that a few employees in such companies (who might hold positions that enable them influence a large number of others) might still answer the questions posed in a. and b. above in the negative.

More generally, the truth is that some employees’ utterances and attitudes on the job would suggest that questions c. d. and e. depict issues that are relevant to their current situations – therefore needing management’s prompt attention and/or action if work force morale is to the kept at an optimal level.

In my Conclusion and Summary, I opined based on results of the study’s survey that:

“an organisation employing a management approach that actively recognises the knowledge and experience of its employees as well as openly acknowledges their significant contributions to the business is likely to succeed and enjoy competitive advantage over its rivals. This is because such a company would get the full commitment and loyalty of its workforce who would have no difficulty aligning their personal goals with those of the company. Further, employees would thrive better in the environment where they are not being “controlled” and “directed” by management while doing their jobs…Whatever scheme we introduce should be self–sustaining and not take from the company more than it can give back.“

Conduct Simple In-House Attitudinal/Opinion Surveys To Keep Tabs On How Your Employees Feel

It is based on all that I have said above, that I now suggest as follows to any organisational decision maker who desires to KEEP workers/employees/team members constantly enthusiastic about their jobs:

Make out time to periodically administer a simple “Employee Morale Gauge or Barometer” Quiz to them – individually.

You can adopt the questionnaire that I developed, or generate for your purposes one that is suitable.

This quiz would be periodically administered to YOUR employees/team members.

The answers obtained to EACH question will be used to gauge your success in changing the attitude of your people for the better.

In other words, you will have one over riding purpose – as employer/organisational decision maker.

And that will ALWAYS be to work towards doing things that would make employees change ANY negative opinions they have. Especially about issues raised in each question, so that they begin to respond positively to EACH one… EVERYTIME.

The challenge for you will therefore be to get to a period or point when/where ALL the questionnaires returned to you will contain responses that indicate your employees/team members true feelings.

That’s whether or not they are TRULY happy and satisfied with their jobs – and by implication with the company’s management!

I had an eye opening experience in 2004, working with one particular business owner(a sole proprietor) to administer this questionnaire to his employees.

The individuals concerned requested that they be allowed to leave their names OFF their completed questionnaires.

We agreed. This eliminated any fears of reprisal, with the result that much more honest and qualitative responses were obtained from them.

In a certain case, some “hidden grudges” long held by a particular individual against the company’s management were unearthed!

Sample Employee Workplace Morale Gauge Quiz Template

Below I reproduce the contents of my ten item quiz. You may find need to modify it to suit your purposes. In which case, you may find it useful to download and customise the Excel based template I use.

Question 1. Is it okay for an employee to make mistakes on the job?

a). Sometimes, so long as s/he works hard to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

b). Never.

c). Sometimes, but only concerning areas s/he is recognised not to have significant experience.

d). Others

Ideal Choice = Up to the respondent(Coment by Tayo: My ideal response would be “a”).

Question 2. Do you believe you have a say in how you should do your job?

a). Yes.

b). No.

c). Not Sure.

d). Don’t Know.

Ideal Choice = a

Question 3. Which do you prefer of the following options in your workplace?

a). You are told everything to do at each stage of your work by your boss

b). You are allowed enough freedom to do most aspects of your work by yourself but can consult your superior when you so desire.

c). Somewhere between a. and b.

Ideal Choice = Up to the respondent

Question 4. Which of the following best represents the situation at your workplace currently?

a). You are told everything to do at each stage of your work by your boss

b). You are allowed enough freedom to do most aspects of your work by yourself but can consult your superior when you so desire.

c). Somewhere between a. and b.

Ideal Choice = b

Question 5. If you had a choice, would you stay behind office hours to finish a job even when you know your boss will not be upset if you do not?

a). Yes.

b). No.

c). Not Sure.

Ideal Choice = a

Question 6. How do you feel when you are preparing to come to work in the morning?

a). Enthusiastic and rearing to continue from where you stopped the day before.

b). Indifferent

c). Slightly nervous and wondering what is going to go wrong today. Choice = 0

d). Unenthusiastic about the impending duties to be done.

Ideal Choice = a

Question 7. What would be your reaction if you heard someone say he believes the company you work for provides necessary support for its employees to give their best on the job?

a). Strongly Agree.

b). Agree.

c). Undecided.

d). Disagree.

e). Strongly disagree.

Ideal Choice = a

Question 8. Do you feel your company shows respect for its employees in the way issues concerning them are handled?

a). Yes.

b). No.

c). Not Sure.

d).

e).

Ideal Choice = a

Question 9. If you had a very bright idea you knew would lift your company to greater heights, would you be willing to bring it to the knowledge of management?

a). Yes.

b). No.

c). Not Sure.

Ideal Choice = a

Question 10. Upon carrying out a job that results in significant benefits to your department, how would you prefer to get feedback on your efforts?

a). By hearing that your boss announced the achievement at a meeting without specifically mentioning your name?

b). By getting a personal commendation letter from a management representative or verbal commendation from your boss?

c). By seeing your name placed on some notice boards acknowledging your contribution. Choice = 0

d). By receiving a form of reward e.g. cash or gift.

e). You would not need any form of acknowledgement.

Ideal Choice = Up to respondent

Administering The Employee Workplace Morale Gauge Quiz

You can use my customisable Employee Workplace Morale Survey Quiz Template(click here to request the download link to the Microsoft Excel version – approx 23.5KB) to measure how your employees, reports or team members feel about working with you/your organisation. It can be quite insightful to see responses to the questions.

NOTE that the quiz has NO CORRECT ANSWERS.

The score you get will only indicate how much agreement there is between the respondent’s choices, and those I have specified as “best-fit” or “ideal” indications of “good/positive employee morale”.

You will get the most value from using this quiz by studying the individual responses made by your staff/team members to each question.

Scoring Options: If you wish, you can assign points from 5 (for the choice of answer option “a” to 1(for the choice of answer option “e”.

There are three questions in the above quiz for which it may be difficult to assign scores since the answer options that can be chosen would reflect the respondent’s personal preference. They are question Nos. 1, 3 and 10.

Based one the foregoing, total maximum scoring for a completed questionnaire would be 35 out of 35 maximum possible points. While 5 (out of 35 maximum) points would be the minimum. You should HOPE that each of your recovered questionnaires will give at least 75%(i.e. at least 26 out of 35 points). That “target” is just a suggestion though, as it is my opinion that EVERY singe non-ideal answer you get on EVERY single question should prompt you to take decisive action to ensure it does NOT re-appear in the next survey you conduct.

Here’s wishing you good luck as you work towards building a better motivated work force for your organisation.

PS: This article was first published via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com in 2007.

Since then it has been republished with my permission in journals, term papers etc, by other individuals and organisations.

See some references in No. 119: How to Achieve Success in Any Field (True Story) | SD Nuggets™

 

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Why You Need “Sales & Marketing Education” – Even If You’re a “Job Seeker” or Employee! (Based on a True Story)

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I sat down for one week in 2002 (my start-up year), and wrote what is now my popular Feed Formulation Handbook (photo below). It was based on my knowledge/experience as a key member of the self-funding Student’s Farm Research Foundation (SFRF) in the University of Ibadan. But…my first sale did NOT happen until 2004! (NB: But it came early, and with feedback that led me to build the Ration Formulator software that now accompanies the app).

By way of interest, my decision to write the book came after I read Michel Fortin’s “10 Commandments of Power Positioning” and “Burt Dubin’s Why & How to Get Published”(click that link if you want to know what those guys said that made me decide to write a book).

Holding a Ready-to-Dispatch Print Copy of My Popular Practical Feed Formulation Handbook

It took me just ONE week to type all 65 pages in MS Word – but 2 years to make my first sale!

I know several people who’ve written books but keep waiting to get it published with a big name publisher, to make the “selling” process easier. Well, in my case, I could not be bothered. I went into selling mode as soon as I got it printed out from MS Word onto A4 paper, and spiral bound (more on this later).

Like I said, it took 2 solid years to make my first sale of that book.

I KNEW the subject inside out, having been involved in formulating and compounding rations for livestock we (SFRF) reared commercially on the university’s research and teaching farm.

We never had to beg for patrons to give us money etc.

It was also 100% run by us, the students. We had lecturers as patrons, but they only gave advice. They never interfered.

And we had a bank account, managed by elected executives who ran the foundation’s affairs competently.

I know all this, not just because I was a member, BUT because I was an active one. In fact, within ONE year of joining, I got so active that in my second year as a member (a year before my graduation), I was elected (without my indicating interest in contesting!) as “Supplies Coordinator”.

That executive position enabled me get to see the inner workings of the executive team.

It was impressive to observe the professionalism that undergraduates displayed in their affairs back then. As Supplies Coordinator, I often had to work out the ration formulas or get them from the Project Coordinator (the overall head) and then get the needed funds to visit the feed mill to have them compounded.

I would then return with a pick up van of compounded and bagged feeds to be used for 2 or more weeks. An exciting experience it was!

Sometimes I would be told a particular ingredient was in short supply, and I would have to use my knowledge of ration formulation to choose a suitable substitute ingredient to replace it in the ration without significantly affecting the ration’s formulated balance etc.

You must understand that despite being a “foundation” we were PROFIT focused. So, it was important to get things right as often as possible.

To ensure we could repeat our success, we kept good records. We frequently reviewed the performance of our chicks, layers, broilers, cockerels etc, over time, against different batches of formulated ration fed to them.

That guided us on what ration formula to use in future. And it was that diligence that led us to make healthy profits by keeping our feeding costs low while boosting productivity.

These are the same factors I try to point out to Farm CEOs. They are not complex, but they require diligence to get right. And that was why I wanted to explain in my book, how we derived such cost-effective ration formulas to reap healthy profits.

We did so well, that we were able to organize end of year parties, and even give ourselves gifts of eggs and chicken to take home!

When you have seen and experienced something on such a deep personal level, it’s NOT hard to talk (or write!) about it…

That was why the contents of that book that’s still purchased today by Farm CEOs (and those aspiring) for N8,000.00 came pouring out of me in just ONE week!

But selling the book proved to be much more difficult than writing it!

Once I was done, I went out and printed/spiral bound a copy.

Then I printed flyers and began visiting farm businesses all across Lagos.

Each day, as I found free time from my other business startup activities, I drove to farms in Ipaja, Egbeda, and even as far as Epe, then back to Oko Oba in Agege.

I even went to farm support experts in the Ministry of Agriculture. And YES I did meet with leaders of farmer groups/associations about introducing my book to their members…but nothing ever came of it, other than “Ok. No problem. Call me later, and let’s talk“, then “Ah, let me call you back after I leave the meeting I’m going for now“…LOL!

In essence, I was unable to make a sale!

Stupidly, I tried placing small classified ads in some newspapers and magazines. For 2 years I tried selling it that way.

Even then, NO SINGLE enquiry came in!

Have you ever experienced being SURE that something will work, but having to contend with the reality that it just is NOT working?

Well, that was my experience with my Feed Formulation Handbook in those startup years.

I knew the contents would be cherished by livestock farm owners looking to lower their costs of feeding, and boost their farm output.

And that was why I felt it was best to go straight to them and show them the book: Makes a lot of sense that way doesn’t it?

Well, I found out the hard way, that it was NOT the best way to go about it!

But I did not know what I was doing wrong until the rejections and lack of sales FORCED me to go back and re-read Michel Fortin’s book and Burt Dubin’s articles…

I read a few others too…

Then I sat down and did some deep reflecting on what I had read.

Within a few days the insights began to come to me…in trickles. I realized I had been doing the marketing bit completely wrong.

I had read those write-ups the first time around without INTERNALIZING the most important lesson…

That lesson was that you MUST ESTABLISH authority status FIRST, to make profitable buyers seek YOU out – and so that YOU don’t have to go looking (or is it “hunting”?) for them!

I’ve since learnt those lessons well, and even come up with a few of my own.

The book has been on sale via my online store as a downloadable PDF for years now. I sell it as a spiral bound book, and also email it as a PDF attachment to buyers from within/outside Nigeria who send payment directly to me, instead of using my online store.

All I had to do was change the way I was trying to sell.

I did NOT need to go back to school, or get another degree to make that happen.

Instead, I only had to pick up some Unconventional Sales and Marketing Education – the kind that is NOT taught in schools!

And it so happens that one of the 2 main gurus I learnt what to do from (who is world renowned in his field, and recently turned 80 years) describes himself as a high school drop out!

I have to say though that I was lucky, to have persisted in digging long enough to find out where I was going wrong. Otherwise I would have probably ended up frustrated – or concluded I was a failure…

Now, hat I’m saying here applies to job seekers, as much as it does to those who choose to start their own businesses

Most people often miss this…Sales & Marketing Education – of the right kinds – can often help with Passing Job Interviews!

In other words, with the right experience based sales/marketing “education”, YOU can record better results in searching for jobs than those who lack those abilities.

Among other benefits, your “know-how” will guide you right from when you write and submit your resume, to what you do and say when invited for the job interview!

Look around you, and you’ll see signs that this is true

Carefully observe people as they relate with one another – and you will see that WE ARE all in the business of WINNING one another over.

Maybe it’s to make them like you, or to make them give you something you want. We are all trying to “influence” one another!

Every now and then you are trying to “sell” a point of view or perspective to others, in a way that makes them LEAN towards your line of thinking. That makes them TRUST you more.

And when they trust you more, they are more likely to make decisions in YOUR favour.

This is why companies pay celebrities handsomely to “front” for their products by making them BRAND ambassadors. They know fans will tend to “adopt” something if they see that someone they admire, respect or trust (e.g. a celebrity), ENDORSES it.

So, to succeed, just LEARN how to gain the positive attention, interest, and ultimately TRUST, of those you need to decide in your favour.

It could be a prospective employer, or a potential client…a pretty girl or handsome chap…

Once you can win their “trust”, you will find that those who really need you, or what you offer, will choose you more often, over any others they may be considering.

And that’s what results in success…

In my case, that’s what leads to successful selling of my Feed Formulation Handbook, my other books, in addition to my Excel-VB software as well as other solutions I offer.

Yet, you must remember, that I basically had to go and discover how to succeed like this on my own. I had to re-learn and unlearn MANY things I was taught in school in the process too!

So, here’s my challenge to you: ASK YOURSELF...

Why don’t our schools teach US what we need to EXCEL in the real world?

Why do we so often leave school and then find we need to go and learn so many others things in order to succeed in the real world?

[NB: A possible exception is if we find paid employment that readily suits formal schooling we got. But that’s harder to find these days]

And why is it that when we retire, resign or get kicked out of our jobs, and we start our own businesses, one thing we struggle the most with is how to profitably MARKET whatever we offer???

To take this further, let ME now ask YOU this…

Don’t you think that our schools should be teaching us “sales and marketing that works” LONG before we are due to enter the real world?

Isn’t that what school is meant to do i.e. to EQUIP us with the knowledge and skills to care for ourselves in the real world ?

Even YOU in paid employment right now…these thoughts also apply!

For instance, should you NOT be learning “sales and marketing that works” in preparation for your inevitable departure from your salaried job???

After all, when that happens (e.g. you retire), you may have to “open a grocery shop, or supermarket”…or even start a consulting firm or cookies factory (ALL of which will benefit and do better with effective sales and marketing)!

The implications are however more far reaching that most people readily see…ASK YOURSELF this second set of questions:

What is school teaching MY own kids right now????

What has school BEEN teaching MY own kids since I began sending them there???

Does any of it include the stuff mentioned above, that is likely to determine their ability to succeed by profitably “sell” themselves???

If NO, what can I do to “CORRECT” that deficiency in the “education” my kids are getting???

Now that I’ve gotten you thinking all these (scary?) thoughts, what will you do?

Or should it be what CAN you do?

I say CAN, because there is indeed something you CAN do to change things if your questions reveal the need for that to happen!

Let me refer to myself from this point on…

Here’s what DRIVES me, to keep writing on this theme at every opportunity.

It’s also pushing me to TAKE concrete action to coach my kids to be better prepared for the real world.

Example 1: Their recent Selling Skills Development Project

At the end of August 2014, I made my go out to try marketing their cup cakes, to compare with how they sell to their classmates in school. It was a most revealing experience for them. I shared photos in my Facebook album.

Flyer for the Selling Skills Development Project

Screenshot of the Selling Skills Development Project Facebook Album - click to view photos

Example 2: Our forthcoming book titled “How We Cheaply Make Cup Cakes without an Oven or Cooker (PDF) – By Tayo, Fela, Emeka,and Chika SOLAGBADE

Just before leaving Nigeria during my last visit earlier this month, I got them together to quickly record a video in which they demonstrated the process they follow in making their cup cakes using only a pot and charcoal stove.

I’m now using the photos and video clips in writing a book that we will jointly publish as co-authors, for sale in my online store.

The purpose? Click the sneak preview cover image below to find out in the PDF report I’ve published about it.

This is a precursor to our forthcoming Quick Start Guide Book titled “How to Cheaply Make Cup Cakes without an Oven or Cooker & Sell Them for Profit” – based on what we do, as a family.

You see, dear reader, EVERY single day that passes, I ask myself: What can I do to SPARE my kids the painful hassle of re-learning – AFTER SCHOOL – in order to succeed in life that I experienced???

Hassles that made me a clueless “job seeker” post graduation.

Humiliating hassles that made me a “clueless” startup entrepreneur for years after I quit my job to run my own business in the real world!

These are HARSH truths, but I use them to keep myself awake to the realities my kids are bound to face, if I leave them to learn based on the SAME system that I passed through!!!

That’s what makes me determined to show them that a better way exists.

In fact, let me share a secret with you: If I have my way NONE of my kids will EVER become an employee.

I’ve told them this already, and we are all agreed on it in principle.

Judging from the way things are going for us right now, we’re already headed in that direction e.g. with our plans for a family based business.

This picture of the resulting cakes (though without pineapple peels added), prove they were right.

What will YOUR (and YOUR children’s) story be???

 

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Self-Development

How Exposure To Poverty & Trial-By-Fire Can Be Deliberately Used To Prepare People To Succeed

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[NB: This article is based on lessons I learned from my real life personal experiences, as an individual AND a parent] The concept of “Trial By Fire” can be successfully applied in different social settings. The ultimate purpose of a “Trial By Fire” approach should however always be to help “participants” discover and/or develop FURTHER their innate abilities and capabilities, to the point where they can truly function at their FULL potential.

No matter how we look at it, helping people to perform at their optimal best is the most important way to bring about progress and development. The “Trial By Fire” approach provides a tested and proven “fast-track” avenue through which these valuable twin goals can be achieved.

Exposure To “Poverty” Can Prepare A Person To Be Successful

Poverty often manifests in form of a lack of money, and painfully limited access to basic necessities and conveniences.

People born into poverty often find early responsibility and attendant hardship thrust on them as a result. Biographies have been written of great men and women who in their formative years, had to help their parents out by doing odd jobs to earn income to feed the family (Walt Disney for instance sold newspapers as a child to complement his father’s efforts).

But just as their situation caused (often serious) pain, it also toughened them.

In other words, t hey learnt to “fight” to get what they wanted. They did so sometimes driven by the knowledge that their parents or siblings waited at home for them to return with “something”.

This acceptance of early responsibility, and the fighting spirit/mental stamina they developed over time became useful qualities. Especially when they turned their attention to their chosen vocations.

Walt Disney’s early struggles for instance, must have taught him the discipline of hard work, which helped him relentlessly pursue his dreams to build an empire that survives till today.

Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha while being interviewed on a radio program (I recall vividly) said:

“All I know is Jay-Jay Okocha sold Oranges on the streets of Lagos“.

Think about it a minute.

This was a man whose accomplishments in his profession(football) cannot be ignored internationally. Yet, when confronted with evidence of widespread adoration for him based on those achievements he chose to recall what could probably qualify to be called the most humbling moments in his entire lifetime.

As has been confirmed by numerous research studies, and real-life stories of other great people, periods of adversity can often bring out the best in a person. So much so that s/he develops qualities that will ultimately enable him/her archive notable success in the future.

Okocha, by that statement obviously recognized those harrowing days of living in a single room with his mother and sisters and selling oranges to sustain them, as instrumental to the development of the never-say-die mental attitude that led him to achieve success and fame as a footballer.

“Poverty” Can Be Deliberately Used To Develop Talent In People

Poverty imposes severe lack of resources which the affected person(s) need to function effectively in their current situation. I believe the concept of “poverty ” can be extended beyond the more common one that relates to poor people, and applied in a more general sense.

You could for instance talk about poverty of “good leadership”, which may result in slow development in a nation or poor performance of a company.

In essence I am saying that poverty can be translated to mean “lack”(deliberate or accidental) of resources or environment normally required for effective functioning of an individual, group or organisation.

The above implies that deliberately putting individuals or groups into controlled environments of “poverty” and/or “hardship” similar to those they are likely to encounter in real-life, can help them.

Apart from boosting their mental toughness, they are likely to develop “survival skills and abilities” that they can successfully use to achieve improved performances at work/in life, even when their actual circumstances are limiting.

For instance, it is well known that creativity tends to flourish when there are limited resources, which force people to explore alternative routes to achieve their intended goals.

Without the challenge introduced in form of the removal of ready access to the needed resources, most people would rather not apply any sustained intellectual effort towards finding a better way to do the same thing.

The above principle is used in military training. Soldiers are exposed to various adverse conditions which if they successfully undergo make them tougher and readier to meet the “enemy”.

The use of simulators in various spheres of training endeavours(e.g. pilot training etc), also provides some evidence that this is an approach that has proven merit.

In summary, “poverty” imposes the test of “Trail By Fire” on persons born/thrust into it, equipping those who “pass”, with competencies that help them excel later on in life.

Organisations (and even societies) which want to develop high performing members can learn from nature. They can utilise the “Trial By Fire” approach (like some progressive ones already do) to develop management talent of their people, and ultimately record exceptional employee performances.

Steps You Can Take To Develop Talent Using The “Poverty/Trial-By-Fire” Approach

1. Create a deliberate atmosphere of lack (i.e. artificial scarcity) or hardship THEN Demand those in it to deliver the same results that would be expected if they had all that they needed.

For instance if you want to start up a new arm of your company – you may choose NOT to let the parent company give the managers of the new company ALL the money and resources they need.

Instead, it would be smarter to give them a little, and then challenge them to find their own feet by working hard to start earning income, as quickly as possible, to keep going.

That way, they get to learn the important (and sometimes harsh/hard) lessons that you learnt – which enabled you build the parent company to the level at which spinning off new subsidiaries like theirs become possible.

Such lessons would equip them to run the NEW company profitably.

2. Watch out for the reactions of those who are challenged in this way – Note those who reject the assignment. Identify those who take action to get the described results by improvising and being creative.

3. Decide on the next level of challenge(s) to throw at your “proteges” – depending of course on how they have responded up to this point.

4. Take them out to the real world and see if they put what they have learnt/discovered to use as the opportunities to do so arise.

5. Provide qualitative, experience based feedback. Those you put through this process will need guidance from someone with the right mix of knowledge and experience, to make “sense” of what they have gone through.

You will ensure that they get this guidance by way of feedback delivered in a manner that enhances each person’s self-esteem, thereby boosting enthusiasm to work harder to achieve the needed learnings/results.

The concept of “Trial By Fire” as described in this article can be successfully applied in different social settings

It could be at home with your kids, in the workplace with employees etc. One must however always remember that the ultimate purpose of a “Trial By Fire” approach is to help those to whom it is applied discover and/or develop FURTHER their innate abilities and capabilities, to the point where they can truly function at their FULL potential.

No matter how we look at it, helping people to perform at their optimal best is the most important way to bring about progress and development. The “Trial By Fire” approach provides a tested and proven “fast-track” avenue through which these valuable twin goals can be achieved.

FINAL WORDS: A Mistake Some Parents Who Rose from Rags to Riches Often Make

Some parents who rose from lowly beginnings where they had to overcome severe hardships to achieve notable successes sometimes vow they will never let their own kids suffer the way they(the parents) did. In a sense this feeling is understandable.

The problem however is that in trying to make sure your kids do not “suffer”, you may end up making them “weak” – by over protecting them – so that they grow up incapable of withstanding challenges that life may throw at them in their bid to achieve their own goals.

You need to realise that YOUR contact with poverty and its attendant hardships contributed significantly to making you capable of overcoming those challenges.

If you really want to help your kids, you may need to seriously consider periodically exposing them to similar experiences in ways that will teach useful lessons they can draw upon later in life.

This article has described some potentially useful approaches that YOU can apply to learn those empowering lessons – and which you can also teach your kids.

I urge you to do both.

NB: This article is based on excerpts from a write-up originally published Online on 6th July 2007 via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com and Ezinearticles.com

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

The Company You Keep (Even Online!) Determines The Quality of Life You Live (Practical Ideas You Can Use)

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I have a relatively tiny Facebook friends list (<300). So one would imagine I’d readily accept every friend request I get. Instead, accepting a friend request – for me (especially since I moved to Cotonou in April 2013) – actually involves SCREENING people as if for employment…those I subject to that process just NEVER know it…LOL!

But seriously – you will NOT believe the lengths I go to check – and DOUBLE check them, and their backgrouds – in every way possible.

I do this ONLINE (and even OFFLINE), going as far as reaching out to friends of friends to the person who added me as a friend.

I rigorously screen friend requests as above, because I want GOOD QUALITY people, who can ADD VALUE to me as “friends”…

I want that because I WORK HARD to be that kind of friend to others – both on and off the web.

The above is why I also periodically WEED my friends list.

For instance, I’ve had funny “conversation” attempts by some friends I made about 2 years ago…

Some send messages like “Sup…!” and “T-boy…!” – without saying much else.

And then, if in a bid to be polite (thinking maybe the connection cut off the full message), I respond with a “Hi…can I help you?”… they follow up with some silly link etc…argh!

Look I don’t know about others out here on the web, but I want to be PRODUCTIVE, and I need to be connected with people who can help me do that.

If achieving the above means I’ll end up with a micro-sized friends list, SO BE IT!

I’d rather have top quality interactions with 5 clued up friends several days in a YEAR, than endure mind numbing relations with 5,000 “air heads” every day!

NB: It goes without saying that I am comfortable with having the same rules applied to me by those who have ME on THEIR friends list.

But why am I making a case based on Facebook in particular, you wonder?

Actually, I’m only using Facebook as a point of reference.

Generally, my message is directed at all people as they relate with one another online or offline.

However, we all know that a vast majority of today’s population across the world go through daily life glued to their PC and Internet related tools and resources.

Most of them use Facebook – which now has users across the billon mark.

But they also use several other platforms.

On their phones they are constantly messaging one another via “Whatsapp”, “Messenger” etc.

In essence, so much talking is happening today and a lot of it is in small chunks of often severely abbreviated words.

I once read somewhere that we now have some people who think and speak in “Tweets”, and I agree!

My observations indicate that some of them are even journalists, whose spelling skills now “suck” as a result – thereby punishing readers!

The situation is so bad now, that those who feel what should be a normal “need” to think, speak and write words normally, struggle to “get through” to such “Tweet” brained persons.

The latter’s minds can often not hold a train of thought beyond the volume allowed for Tweeting.

I exaggerate not: There ARE adults and young people like that out there today!

And they are in such numbers that those who are NOT like them appear to be the ones who are NOT normal.

Ultimately, this is why the quality of thinking and social interaction today is deteriorating.

To protect myself from the decay, I choose to filter out people who are THAT shallow from getting too close in my social space.

In this article, I’m asking you to do the same thing too – for your own good.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t condemn or reject them. And I’m NOT asking you to either!

For those I perceive to be willing to be coached and influenced to IMPROVE themselves, I make the effort to stay connected.

But if after a while I get the impression I’m “pouring water in a basket” (i.e wasting my time/efort or “Mo nda omi si akpere” – as the Yorubas would say), I generally avoid them.

The truth is that it is unwise to try and save the world, if those in it are NOT interested.

Make it clear that you are available, to any persons who are willing to be helped. If anyone comes, do what you can.

Otherwise, keep your peace. You have enough to occupy you in pursuit of your own self-improvement and ultimate self-actualization.

Final Words: My message in this piece is for both adults and their kids.

To achieve your goals in life, especially in a way that adds value to others and the society, you will sometimes need to be ruthless in the way your choose those you spend your time with.

Not just in person, but also on the web.

Those you give your conscious attention to (e.g. online) determine the THOUGHTS you nurture.

If they are “no-good” people (and you know what I mean by that I’m sure!) then you are going to end up with MORE “no-good” (aka useless) thoughts that you need.

By implication, you will be wasting your valuable, and non-recoverable, time!

Life is just too short to spend it with people UNWILLING to add value to YOU or society.

Challenge them to step up, and if they don’t seriously consider WALKING AWAY!

Like we say in Africa: A word is enough for the wise!

 

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News

10 Practical Strategies To Help Your Employees Produce Better Results

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To get your team members to put in their BEST efforts at all times, you need what I call a Workplace Performance Improvement philosophy. One that will inspire them to willingly do their jobs AND even take up MORE as the need to do so becomes obvious – without seeing it as extra work! I discuss ten (10) strategies you can employ to make the foregoing happen.

1. Promote Creativity

Encourage an atmosphere for creativity to flourish. This can be done by actively engaging the minds of employees by involving them in taking crucial decisions about issues concerning the way they do their jobs.

Additionally, requesting their contributions towards solving problems affecting their jobs – and recognising/rewarding them accordingly – would stimulate creativity. Invite them to make and/or send in ideas/suggestions.

Be receptive to them as they do so. Apply tact in rejecting “bad ideas” to avoid withdrawal.

2. Discourage “Blame”

You will need to explore effective ways of telling them what YOU want. It will also help greatly if you create an atmosphere where BL:AME is NEVER welcome and where instead the focus is on problem analysis/solving for IMPROVED productivity.

For instance you would encourage everyone to concern themselves with WHAT went wrong and WHY – and NOT with WHO DID IT.

In this way, when the WHO issue arises during problem solving, people responsible for the workplace activity/process under scrutiny will feel safe enough to admit where they erred, thereby helping the team QUICKLY UNDERSTAND and solve the problem.

3. Entrench Informal On-The-Job Coaching

What is your mental attitude about each employee’s ability? Do you believe you can help them become better or have you given up on them as “unchangeable” or ‘hopeless”?

I suggest you adopt the former attitude because NO one human being can come to you as a perfect employee. It will often be up to you to “guide” those who work with you to do so in THE manner you believe will help the organisation get the results it NEEDS.

You need to enhance the skills of your employees by providing (and encouraging) spontaneous job-based coaching to complement whatever formal training they are exposed to.

For instance you would latch on to ANY opportunity to carryout informal coaching of your reports etc, towards helping them understand how management utilises the information they document, and why it is so important for documentation to be accurate and complete.

4. Employ Multi-dimensional Peer Pressure To Enhance Best Practices

You could tactfully/subtly use peer pressure to inspire positive attitudinal changes amongst the workforce. It is normal in most workplace to have “Star” workers and average workers.

The challenge for you will be to find a way to make the “Star” worker share(or “infect” others with) his/her expertise, knowledge and positive work ethics. With proper encouragement, you will find that such individuals readily develop the instinct to help others perform better on the job.

The other average workers are likely to see the “recognition/respect” the “Star” worker enjoys, and consequently appreciate his/her efforts to help them. Plus they would be interested in acquiring improved competence through him/her.

Properly done, this strategy can greatly reduce the amount of direct effort you and other “leaders” need to put in to get improved on-the-job performances.

5. Insist That Everyone See The Big Picture

You will need to insist your team members ALWAYS remember to view their jobs from a broader perspective and not narrow into their micro activities.

Task each individual in a specific unit of the department for instance to study what goes on in the other units in the department even though s/he does not have to work there(yet). They should make it their business to know/understand what the next man’s job involves.

This is important because many times they have to interface with the person on the other side of the fence in doing their own jobs.If they understand what his/her job entails they will more readily appreciate how their actions (or inactions) can affect the person.

Getting them to do this will break down the mental barriers that many people build because they work in physically separate divisions or sections of the same organisation. .

The result will be that communication happens more readily/freely thereby making it possible for workplace activities to proceed more successfully to the company’s benefit.

6. Endorse ‘Leading” And Make “Bossing” Unfashionable

Make it obvious that “No bosses” are wanted in your workplace, and that only leaders are welcome.

The difference between these two types of people is that the former seek to DOMINATE others in a bid to get them to deliver results, while the latter work to INSPIRE others to perform.

7. Advocate Intelligent Mistake Making

You will need to discard the “Shoot the messenger” mentality – if it exists in any form. You MUST make it SAFE for people to make mistakes.

If you allow a blame culture to take root in your workplace, people will begin to HIDE their mistakes, and will rarely ever own up – causing major problems for the company.

Mistakes that do not get stopped via corrective feedback to those responsible will get repeated and lead to customer complaints, losses/wastes etc.

If you want people to develop on the job, you must be willing to accept that they WILL make mistakes on the job – because they are human! Your role will be to help them learn from those mistakes and work hard to AVOID repeating them.

Anytime a person fails or makes a mistake, s/he must be made to identity and understand the cause. S/he must learn to use failure as a learning platform.

8. Create Micro-Businesses

You could get individual departments to see themselves as mini businesses within the larger company. And the department heads can choose to regard the different units within their departments as MICRO businesses within each departmental MINI business.

Each micro business will have a MISSION which would basically be to achieve a RESULT that must be delivered. Or to complete a TASK that must be performed successfully.

All of which will enable other micro business(es) and the MINI business to achieve their own goals – which are all linked to the organisation’s overall purpose.

At each level (Macro, Mini and Micro), the relevant team members would decide on their individual mission statements – drawing from what they have to do within the bigger departmental unit.

This approach allows all members of the organisation to get a more tangible indication of what is required of them. They are therefore better able to understand what they need to do and why.

9. When Introducing Change(s), Ensure Those Affected UNDERSTAND Why

How do you go about introducing/implementing change that you deem necessary? When people do not understand why the way they work – for instance – is being changed, they can resist it sometimes in subtle ways that can have very harmful consequences for the organisation.

You need to take pains to explain to the team members – especially those affected (positively or negatively) by it – WHY the change is being made, so they ‘feel” involved and understand the THINKING behind the decision.

Over time, their appreciation of management’s expectations from them (and its “thinking”) in relation to their jobs will improve.

10. Make Open & Honest Communication A Well Advertised Policy

In many organisations – especially those with large workforces – sometimes the majority of employees tend to hold the (mistaken?) belief that the company’s profits are exorbitant, and that management is unjust and unfair.

This is what causes the typical situation where employees unions maintain a confrontational posture towards the company’s leadership – viewing decisions/policies with suspicion etc.

It would help if you – and others in senior/leadership positions – make a conscious effort to formally (and informally) communicate management’s positive sides. More importantly, your actions should inspire trust and confidence amongst the workforce.

Employees should for instance not (or no longer?) have to contend with what someone once described as “closed doors and tense, guarded statements“.

As one poster I came across on a factory wall once put it : “Limited Information or No Information = NEGATIVE information“.

When the employees speak with one member of the senior management team about “what’s going on”, the information s/he gives MUST be reasonably consistent with what another “senior” person would supply at any other time on the same subject.

FINAL WORDS : Central to all that I have said above is the need to create an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and appreciation between and among ALL members of the organisation’s team

Make your people feel recognised – and reward them when possible – for the effort they make every day to do their jobs well.

Doing this, in addition to applying other ideas like those outlined above is very likely to make your employees deliver more VALUE on their jobs everyday they come in – without need for financial incentives of any sort.

Click here to learn about the Workplace Performance Improvement Learning Events I offer…

NB: This article is based on excerpts from a piece written and first published online by Tayo K. Solagade via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com – and Ezinearticles.com – on 18th September 2007.

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Why You Need to Become a Master of Adversity to Achieve Long Lasting Success

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Are YOU experiencing discouraging delays, disappointments, or setbacks in life, and struggling to deal with them? If YES, this article can help you.

“Ona kan o gba oja” – a Yoruba saying – translates literally as: “several routes can be followed to the market”. It is often used in a figurative sense e.g. if an entrepreneur’s marketing strategy fails to work, it suggests exploring alternatives – instead of beating one’s head against the wall.

That mental attitude CAN help you turn things around and make the most of even the worst situations.

Incidentally, that is what has helped me succeed in virtually every area of endeavour I’ve ventured in life.

One example: A few years ago, while still based in Nigeria as an entrepreneur, certain “failures” made me begin toying with the idea of using Web Marketing to find 80% of my clients.

I was still doing offline marketing, to win projects with offline clients at the time (around 2010). But several unpleasant experiences had made me decide there had to be a better way to earn a living.

Apart from not getting paid as well as I wanted, I was periodically exposed to abuse and exploitation in various forms (some I’ve touched on in past articles e.g my article titled “One Major Reason Why People Avoid Entrepreneurship[True Story]“).

I wanted a way that would expose less frequently to the unpleasantness I was experiencing.

The idea occurred to me that I did not need to meet people face-to-face before they would buy from me – even in Nigeria/Africa.

By this time, many people had been reaching out to me via my articles marketing on Ezinearticles.com. A good number were from outside Nigeria and some as far as Europe, America and Asia.

However, the mindset I had at the time was one that kept me from believing I could get those foreigners to look beyond the issue of my being in Nigeria, and buy from me.

My past efforts, back in 2004 to 2006, had made me believe people were not willing to risk sending payment to Nigeria – due to the reputation given us by email scammers etc.

But my dissatisfaction with the results I got from working exclusively with offline clients DROVE me to try harder.

I eventually gained enough insights/experiences about how to do it – though it would take time.

So I began making more deliberate changes to my website content offers towards “wooing” potential clients from ANY part of the world with the QUALITY of useful content I offered.

The main purpose was to build my mailing list, which I then planned to “mine” for sales – with periodic offers.

Today, I can tell you that plan has worked WAY beyond what I imagined possible.

Indeed it continues to work. I now have a growing number of clients within and outside Nigeria/Africa who have NEVER met me in the flesh.

Yet, these people who have sent me payments for many of my products, and services, remain on good terms with me till today.

And more are in the process of joining them as I type this e.g. via my new 2-in-1 poultry farm business plans offer and others.

When I first began trying to use web marketing the way I do today, people told me nobody would buy from me without meeting me in person.

Some even subtly insinuated that I was a comedian for thinking anyone would send money to buy my so called “Excel software” for 5 to 6 figures.

Well, they ALL know now that they were wrong!

It’s all on record that total strangers – Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike send me as much as N75K to purchase my apps (e.g. the Monthly Poultry Farm Manager) – without meeting me.

But it takes diligence, and patience to use web marketing to attract these kinds of buyers from this part of the world i.e. Africa.

[NB: To build custom Excel apps from scratch, I’ve had clients pay from over N50k to as much as 5 times more – depending on the project scope etc.]

Being competent at what you do matters little with regard to how well you will be able to “market” it online. You will have to LEARN a new set of skills to do the latter effectively.

When I was doing it, I had no one. I had to believe alone that it was possible to use the web to sell my unconventional products and services.

And I had to do that, because I had lost money doing the direct marketing stuff. So I had more or less no viable options beyond that…

For instance, I once placed an advert in Guardian newspaper, for a seminar in Lagos, then produced lots of flyers and handouts, and went sharing them all over the place.

The venue I paid for was a plaza (La Monarch) at Opebi, in the Ikeja area of Lagos-Nigeria.

That day, NOT ONE SOUL turned up, despite several enquiries, and even people who showed interest in my flyers.

Would you believe that I still went ahead and created a VIDEO of myself talking about that disaster?

In fact I later regaled audiences I got paid to speak to (e.g. 16 management trainees at the Tantalizers Fast Food Restaurant chain’s Festac Headquarters), about how to use such a setback as a stepping stone!

Not only did it get people to laugh, they also saw that I refused to let ANYTHING get me down – instead used it to challenge myself to find another way to stop it from being a total failure.

Are YOU experiencing discouraging delays, disappointments, or setbacks and struggling to deal with them, as you pursue your goal(s)?

If yes, let me tell you that what you are experiencing is NO BIG DEAL.

And do you know what? You can still succeed, if you adopt the mindset implied in the Yoruba saying earlier mentioned.

There are many routes you can follow to achieve that goal(s) you set for yourself.

The problem is you may NOT be seeing the other possible ways to go about it right now, because you have not given it the required thought.

If you do the needed thinking diligently, you are likely to discover that you only need to make slight modifications and inclusions to your strategy. Once you do that, new possibilities will become even more apparent to you – and then you’d simply need to take ACTION!

Like Burt Dubin says – “You’ve got to roll with the punches that life throws at you”.

If one strategy does not work, the way you first tried it, and then re-try in a different way, for the same or a different audience.

Then PUT IT BACK out there in the marketing space (making sure it’s the RIGHT one) and PUSH it in your target audience members’ faces with DOUBLE determination!

Now that is the spirit that sets REAL entrepreneurs apart from the “wannabes”!

Never let yourself get too easily upset when things go wrong. It’s NOT a good way to be if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Big or small – all entrepreneurs are people who never let setbacks keep them down.

In fact WE thrive on it!

The truth is that those delays, disappointments and setbacks are just a taste of what is still to come: There will be many more, in different forms. How you respond to them is what matters.

Ignore what ANYONE – be they close to you or total strangers – may say or do, during this period of your struggles!

If they laugh, laugh with them.

If that’s too hard for you to do, calmly take a walk to get some fresh air and THINK up new ideas you can use.

[Tip: Read my article titled “Do You Know How To Deal With People Who Mock And Ridicule You?”]

No matter how bad you think it all looks RIGHT NOW, if you adopt the right mindset, YOU can still come away with a major win!

But, it may not be the way YOU planned to win…which is why OUR Creator is so great :-))

You see, while we’re looking east, He may have plans of success coming at us from the West!

I hope you see my point.

We don’t need to worry about what he’s cooking up for us. Instead, we just need to KEEP doing our own bit with diligence and integrity.

Just continue to take firm steps forward towards the goals we passionately desire, with faith and determination.

That’s what we need to do to play our part in the relationship we have with him. Once we do that, he will do the rest.

What I just said above is based on more than 2 decades of my personal experiences achieving the goals I set my heart on, by applying “Absolute & Unquestioning Faith”.

Every human being is capable of doing that. And if you do it with persistence, you WILL connect successfully with your creator, and He will help you OVERCOME any visitations of adversity!

Need Help? Signup for my “Master of Adversity” (“MA”) Coaching Support Service!

I’ve come to the realization that some people will need will need help on a formal level, to deal successfully with adversity, to ENABLE them achieve their valued goals.

This is because not every one comes naturally gifted with the ability to be “relentless”.

…AND not all of us can “self-tutor” on how to do it either.

Some of us will need “coaching support” to develop the right Mental Attitude for dealing with delays, disappointments, and setbacks at different times in our evolution as individuals.

Without it, even those who do not like YOU will find it easy to upset you and make you fail!

But that does NOT mean you are weak, or incompetent. It only proves that you are HUMAN!

My confidential coaching support can help…fill/submit THIS form to request details.

Through it, I can give you more personalized and comprehensive support.

The decision is however yours to make.

Remember this: When things are not working as we want them, frustration can set in!

The reality is however that every human being feels frustration.

What is crucially important is that YOU NEVER let it get you down!

That is the key to succeeding at anything in life – no matter how hard or tough it gets.

I’ll end this by linking you to an article I wrote years back, about dealing successfully with frustration…

It’s titled “How to Make Yourself Immune to Frustration” (click now to read it)!

I wish you well.

 

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Why More People Prefer Teaching Others, to Doing What They Teach

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What I discuss in today’s article – in my experience based opinion – afflicts adults in both paid and self-employment – especially the well schooled ones. They typically possess great knowledge, and competence, but often lack the know-how to MONETIZE what they know/can do.

The seeds for that problem are however sown in them long before they arrive adulthood.

Their teachers, in conventional schooling systems drill them relentlessly on the need to focus on schooling to the near exclusion of virtually everything else. They get told to “wait” until they “graduate” and get their certificates, diplomas etc.

The problem is even those telling them to wait, and drilling them on subjects being taught, do not know better themselves.

In this regard I recall something Robert Kiyosaki said in one of his books that I read several years ago.

He explained that we need to bring people from the real world who know what they are talking about, to teach in our schools. This is the only way to successfully use formal schooling to prepare people to succeed in the real world.

But this problem of ineffective teaching does not end with schools: Even vocational outfits/trainers are making the same mistakes these days.

This is actually the main reason I’m writing on this theme today.

We have all sorts of adult-learning or coaching events happening all around us these days. From people learning PC and Internet related skills to those learning to make handicrafts (like carvings) and household consumables (like soap, disinfectant, air freshener etc).

Those teaching these adults I have noticed keep using the same approach used by the school teachers

In other words, they focus almost exclusively on teaching the subject, and rarely give useful attention to showing learners how to go into the real world and successfully apply what they learn.

Indeed, what I have even noticed, which concerns me the more, is that many of the so called vocational trainers seem to make MORE of their income from TEACHING others to do it, that they do from actually DOING IT.

The worst part is that for some strange reasons, those who learn from them rarely take notice. And the few who do are given the lame argument by the “teachers” that “we love helping others”…even when it is glaring that THEY have yet to NOT need help themselves!.

I’ll give 3 examples:

1. Catfish Farmer Who Earns Bulk of His Income Running Teaching Others

The guy gets a plot of land and builds a few ponds, then sets up an operation that enables him produce fish at different stages of growth e.g from fingerlings, to juvenile and ultimately table sized catfish.

Once he succeeds in making some amount of sales from a few batches, he begins offering training services to aspiring start-ups. As part of the training, he will create videos, manuals or handbooks, and possibly offer pond construction etc services.

As more people attend his programmes, he stops (or drastically cuts down) commercial production – to begin using the farm more for demonstration.

For instance, if a training event is due on Saturday, he would – few days before – prepare needed brood stocks for use in demonstrating spawning (production of fertilized eggs for hatching) to the audience.

After that, the resulting fingerlings would be sold to interested attendees or past attendees of his training.

In essence, most times he would be doing  little or no selling of his own products, except what the captive audience of learners buys from him. The rest of his income would come from doing training and more training.

2. Forex Trader Who Earns Bulk of His Income Teaching Others

The same scenario plays out with most of those offering  Forex Training. Rarely will you find one who has already made it big doing it himself. Instead, even the person who just began trading several weeks ago, will readily offer to train you for a fee, if you show the slightest interest.

I saw enough of this over several years, while I was still based in Nigeria.

My exposure made it easy for me to see through what most of them were doing. So, none of them wasted much time on me – they quickly got the message that I simply would not bite.

But the uninitiated kept biting, and after paying hefty sums, based on the promise of what the magical automatic trading robot would earn for them, they were also caught in the web of deceit. And most would eventually revert to trying to pull the same stunt on others.

As a result, what you tend to see, if you look carefully enough is A WHOLE LOT of teachers, who only just stopped being students in forex trading seminars.

Very few had any proof of major earning success to show!

3. Maker of Disinfectants, Soaps etc Who Earns Bulk of His Income Teaching Others

I consider this the worst. Almost everywhere one turns now, graduates of these “training events” can be seen selling (or should I say trying to sell), their products.

Unfortunately, they are all producing basically the same range/type of products, using the same methods (which are far from world class) .

Few if any are applying their own creativity to the production process they’ve learnt.

As a result, the buyers are having a field day down pricing their products, and basically paying them peanuts.

Margins are close to being microscopic for some of them as a result!

In most cases, those raking the big bucks home seem to be the persons who preoccupy themselves with teaching others.

The reason why this is happening is that both teachers and learners do NOT know how to monetize what they know PROFITABLY.

I keep hammering on the need to make this distinction in my articles on entrepreneurship.

You CAN make money without making profits. It happens all the time – but it’s rarely funny. People who do that barely manage to break even. They are often able to keep going, but very rarely make enough to have anything left over.

Like I said earlier, it happens both in paid employment as well as self-employment.

For instance, when discussing your pay with a new employer the mentality of taking what you are given, developed via the drilling from your schooling, makes you accept to be underpaid.

I agree that sometimes you may have to take up a job as offered, to at least get your foot in the door.

However, what I have learnt is that by diligently developing yourself to deliver superlative workplace performances, you can make the employer gladly give you BIGGER pay, again and again.

Or you can creatively negotiate conditions that will earn you MORE pay for delivering superior results!

The mistake most people make is to simply focus on working and working and working on their salary jobs,. That’s why they end up aging fast, and not having much to show for it in terms of what they get paid.

You can change that from today. To find out how, get in touch with me (click here).

Now, for those persons outside salary jobs, I offer a similar message – but from a different perspective:

I’m talking here to those who know how to do “something”, but choose to make money by teaching IT, instead of doing IT.

I am also talking to those who learnt from those who TEACH how to do “something”, and are now struggling to make enough money DOING IT.

Both groups lack the same thing:

By this I mean they lack the know-how to successfully package, price, promote, and present their different products to the RIGHT buyers that will pay them enough to earn decent profits.

It’s the same mental attitude that prevents those in paid employment from THINKING up ways to make those they serve VALUE them enough to pay MORE, that’s hold these  groups back.

Another good example of where this happens is FREELANCE WRITING.

I need not give examples. Just think about it, and you’ll agree with me. It’s why many writers accept poor pay to write for exploitative clients in job forums!

Simply put they do NOT know how to achieve Power Positioning (PP).

PP enables you achieve what is called Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA) with those most likely to need what you offers.

Once that happens, you stand a much greater chance of not only SUCCESSFULLY requesting profitable payment from them, BUT also having them choose to go for YOU, over others – including those who offer lower prices.

This is what I do – and have done  for years: If you’d like to learn how to do it, I can help you!

You can sell what you create (be it product or service) for MUCH MORE than you currently do.

In paid employment, you can successfully negotiate conditions that will make your employer positively disposed to paying you more, for adding superior value to the company.

If that appeals to you, get in touch with me (click here).

But just before you do, here’s a warning I need to you carefully consider:

If you are looking for overnight results or automatic, sleep-while-clients-bang-your-door-down-solutions, I do NOT offer them.
PLEASE do not contact me if you’re looking for a quick-fix.

What I offer works: That’s why you are reading THIS right now (It enables me relentlessly grow my profits, even as I serve fewer buyers)!

But you to have to WORK IT before you start seeing the results you want consistently.

In truth, you will succeed in relation to how hard you’re willing to diligently apply what you learn, with persistence.

If you can deal with that, click here to tell me how I can help you!

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

FACEBOOK AUTOMATION: How to Auto-Schedule New Posts to Appear On Your Facebook Wall At a Future Date or Time (For BUSY People Who Need to Save Time!) – FREE PDF Download

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This document is password protected. If YOU are able to open and read this document, after downloading, it means you are my web marketing client and had password access that I supplied via phone SMS – at my own expense.

PDF: How to Auto-Schedule New Posts to Appear On Your Facebook Wall At a Future Date or Time (<em>For BUSY People Who Need to Save Time! Click now to download

[NB: If you have yet to receive your password, let me know and I will re-send: but ONLY to the phone number you have on record with me, and on which I communicate with you.]

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Start Something You Never Need to Retire From (Hint: Why We All Need to Emulate Muhammad Ali – the BOXER, and the MAN!)

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“When you saw me in the boxing ring fighting, it wasn’t just so I could beat my opponent. My fighting had a purpose. I had to be successful in order to get people to listen to the things I had to say.” – MUHAMMAD ALI, The Soul of a Butterfly

I recently watched a video – click here to watch now – of Muhammad Ali (at age 35) speaking to a large audience (comprising adults and kids). A young boy asked him “What will you do when you retire?” Ali’s answer proved his boxing genius was matched by an acute sense of “life purpose”.

Basically, Ali told the young mane and the listening audience how he’d emerged from deep reflection to realize that after he retired from boxing, the best way to spend his time would be helping others.

Now, he did not just state it simply in a few words. Ali – always a man who practiced what he preached – took the audience on what I would call an intellectual journey of self-discovery. Especially as it relates to finding one’s purpose in line with the creator’s will.

In order to prepare their minds, Ali started by asking if there were people in the audience who believed in God. Then he asked to see the hands of any who did NOT believe there was a God. In both cases there were hands raised.

To one of those closest to him amongst the latter group, Ali then used the analogy of how the different parts of the world came into existence.

But before that he took asked if man made objects we use daily – like cups etc – could have made themselves. The answer was no.

Following upon that, he then asked if those who claimed not to believe in God could explain how such well planned collection of parts that make up the earth came into being.

Ali went on to conclude that the amazing complexity of the earth itself provided ample proof that a superior and supreme form on intelligence, well above ours, was at work.

So, for him, he said that was why he was convinced of God’s existence.

And as a result, he knew there had to be a purpose for which God had made him. Ali added that if Hell – where those who fail to do God’s will are said to be sent – existed, he would rather work to NOT go there after he dies.

In order to achieve that goal of making heaven, Ali said he had thought of the active years in his life outside those spent sleeping etc – and decided he would use his fame and success to help others e.g. by partnering with NGOs and other support groups.

AND THAT, he said was what he would do after he retired from boxing.

What Amazing Foresight from a Man of Real Vision!

Today, everybody knows that Ali has kept his word with regard to what he said on that day. Several decades ago as a young man.

And his fame has not waned up till now. Neither has the respect and admiration AND love he enjoys from people across the world diminished. This is one man with the rare ability to make people forget their differences. The Muhammad Ali Centre continues to carry on the Ali legacy of helping those who need it.

And Ali remains a central figure – even now in his old age, and despite the health challenge he has had to deal with.

His words spoken over the past decades that get shared on the wall of his Facebook page continue to inspire millions across the world. I, for one continue to draw MASSIVE inspiration from this man’s words that I read as a fan on his page.

Each of Us Needs to Emulate Ali – By Choosing to Start Something We Won’t Need to Retire From

Ali did that. He looked beyond his vocation, to carve out a vision – and a mission from the vision.

He had a message for the world, and he was determined to share that message. But he knew the world would not easily pay attention to a person who was not NOTEWORTHY. So, he let that need to make them LISTEN to him drive his boxing efforts.

That led him to explore all sorts of creative ways to draw attention to himself while boxing.

For example, Ali’s habit of using rhyming poems to communicate – especially to opponents – was unique. Till date, no other boxer has succeeded in doing what he did so well.

As a result, even when he was not boxing, he remained in demand.

People wanted not just to SEE him. They also wanted to hear him speak. To know what he thought about issues affecting them. Even to know what his stand was.

Evidence that Ali’s thinking was as described above can be found in material he shares from his archives even today.

For instance, not long ago, he shared a photo of himself, with a quote that helped me better understand why he chose to adopt such a boldly vocal approach to his own brand of boxing.

When you saw me in the boxing ring fighting, it wasn’t just so I could beat my opponent. My fighting had a purpose. I had to be successful in order to get people to listen to the things I had to say. – MUHAMMAD ALI, The Soul of a Butterfly [Click here for source]

Each of us can do what Ali did i.e Use your VISION for the future, to drive yourself to EXCEL at what you do NOW!

No matter what it is. Think of how you can link what you succeed at today, to what you can do well into your later years that can make the lives of others better.

That desire to achieve your long term vision will help you do what it takes to excel in your more immediate pursuits.

Then later on, you will find that the platform of success you arrive on in future, will make it easy to carry on with your bigger vision/mission right into your old age.

That’s why Ali’s impact continues to be felt even today – LONG after he retired from boxing. Each one of us can make our impact felt the same way too – if we emulate the great Muhammad Ali!

“I try not to speak about all the charities I help, because I believe we can only be truly generous when we expect nothing in return.” – Muhammad Ali