The Peculiar Kenyan

Why are managers unable to make employees love their work?

by Sunny Bindra on August 30, 2010 · 2 comments

in Business Daily

“How would you feel about a physician who killed more patients than he helped? What about a police detective who committed more murders than he solved? Or a teacher whose students were more likely to get dumber than smarter as the school year progressed? And what if you discovered that these perverse outcomes were more [...]

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Time to finally slay the corruption dragon

29 August 2010

Jackie Selebi, former police chief in South Africa, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment this month on corruption charges. The presiding judge called him “an embarrassment to all right-thinking citizens of this country.”
Here, a new team under PLO Lumumba was finally appointed, after a protracted process, to head the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. And [...]

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Who are you appointing on your board, and why?

23 August 2010

“…when Lehman (Brothers) was first being spun out of American Express Co. Harvey Golub, then-chairman of American Express, was giving the AmEx board a presentation about the benefits of the spinoff of the investment banking firm…”The presentation — a basic rundown of the businesses within Lehman, and what the economics looked like going forward — [...]

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Why non-profit organisations are setting the pace

22 August 2010

It is almost an article of faith in Kenyan management that all the latest leading-edge techniques are practiced in the private sector by large corporates, whereas non-profit organisations are sleepy places wallowing in outmoded styles of leadership.
So large corporations deploy the best technology and the latest management tools, generate the highest motivation levels, and attract [...]

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When is it time to let go of your organisation?

16 August 2010

“How do owner-managers know when and by how much to loosen the apron strings? And how do they choose who should take over responsibility for their precious offspring?
Mayank Patel, founder of Currencies Direct, a UK-based foreign exchange and international payments business with turnover of £1.2bn ($1.8bn, €1.4bn), says he knew from the start in 1996 [...]

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Young men seeking handouts are a reason to weep

15 August 2010

Following the confirmation of a new constitution, those who were ‘Yes’ are now cock-a-hoop about fresh beginnings, renewals and new dawns for Kenya.
But right there during the election process last week, something happened that should tell us the scale of the task ahead. There were press reports indicating that a large and rowdy group [...]

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Do you suffer from the disease of speaking “professionalese?”

9 August 2010

“One night last month, a Virgin Atlantic flight left Heathrow Airport bound for Newark, New Jersey. As the plane neared the Eastern Seaboard, bad weather forced the flight to divert to Hartford, Connecticut, some 106 miles north of its destination. The plane sat on the runway there for four hours – without air-conditioning, food or [...]

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Now, finally, hand back real power to the people

8 August 2010

“All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya…”
If that single sentence – the first one in our new constitution – is implemented to its fullest, our twenty-year wait will have been worth it.
Those in favour outnumbered those against, two to one, and so we have a new constitution. Those who backed it fully [...]

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Recruit rogues at your own peril

2 August 2010

“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy. ”
WARREN [...]

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Win or lose, let’s do it with grace

1 August 2010

Next week Kenyans go to the polls again, to say yes or no to a new constitution. On Wednesday, some of us will lose and some of us will win. After Wednesday, we need to know HOW to lose and HOW to win.
The recent football World Cup final was an ugly affair. [...]

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Should leaders try to be popular?

26 July 2010

“Clement Attlee, Britain’s leader in the era of postwar austerity, was once approached by a BBC reporter who adopted the deferential style then thought appropriate. “Prime minister, do you have anything to say to the nation?” the journalist asked. “No,” said Attlee, walking on.
Attlee had never heard of a focus group, and it is not [...]

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What your organisation can learn from the World Cup

25 July 2010

I suffer from an affliction. Having spent the better part of my life studying management and organisations, I am unable to switch that part of my brain off. Even when I am enjoying myself on holiday, I find myself observing the processes, systems, leadership and strategies that underlie the excellent (or dire) experience [...]

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What matters more – strategy or execution?

19 July 2010

“The simple fact—frustrating though it may be to the great number of hard-working and capable people inside an organization—is that their best execution efforts can be negated by strategic choices that turn out badly. It may make employees feel good to be told that company performance is 10% strategy and 90% execution. It may inspire [...]

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Memories of the World Cup: sights and sounds

18 July 2010

It’s all over, and the best team won. Spain, consistently the world’s outstanding football side over the past few years, took home the trophy. Holland came to the final playing kung-fu rather than soccer, and deservedly went home empty handed. And so it’s over. I already see many bereft people in [...]

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Do you understand the true nature of leadership?

12 July 2010

“The true leader is a manager who works with people and considers them to be unique and unrepeatable, and seeks their excellence on all levels…Leading means being capable of directing people in such a way that you get the best out of them, unleashing their full potential by being a good coach and mentor. [...]

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How the MPs ruined my World Cup

11 July 2010

I was planning to write about the World Cup this Sunday, but those parliamentarians of ours had to go and ruin everything. So you won’t get my pleasant ruminations about the world’s greatest tournament; instead you’ll receive my diatribe against the world’s most overpaid elected representatives.
Like most Kenyans, I was sickened by Ghana’s tragic [...]

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Your chairman should be a great storyteller

5 July 2010

“The latest revised UK code…states: “There should be a dialogue with shareholders based on the mutual understanding of objectives. The board … has responsibility for ensuring that a satisfactory dialogue with shareholders takes place.”
But how hard companies find this basic task to be. Drowning in technical measurements – total shareholder returns, earnings per share, economic [...]

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