LEAD THE CHANGE: THE EXECUTIVE SQUARE

Remember the Brian Tracy seminar organized by Leadership 300 (an arm of Benson Idahosa University aka BIU) I attended a while back that I blogged about and you loved? Well, I had the similar privilege of attending another powerful seminar held on the 23rd of August and organized by BIU’s Knowledge Development Centre, only this time I paid so don’t expect me to spill all the goodies I learned.

This seminar was titled The Executive Square and the Guest Speaker was Julian Kyula, the CEO of Mo-DE Africa (Mobile Decisioning) and the winner of IBM’s 2012 Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award. His company is the owner of the Telco, “Borrow Me credit” feature so whenever you borrow any amount from your network he gets richer, hehehe.

I had never heard of this Kenyan before but I felt a strong urge to hear what he had to say. Most millionaires make their money silently away from the watchful eyes of the paparazzi, while improving different sectors of countries economies. Enough of my philosophies, here’s an overview of what he taught or shall I say what I learned from my two hour session with him.

Starting out as an entrepreneur
The world of e-commerce is going global due to the value placed on people to share information e.g. Facebook - pictures and stories. The saying that entrepreneurship is not for everyone is a lie. We are moving into a world of partnerships, no one can do business alone, so anyone can become an entrepreneur. The world of entrepreneurship is one no one is prepared for. It feels like a lot or responsibility thrown at you very quickly once you decide to start a business. You don’t have to do it alone. The world is full of people that have the potentials to make your dreams come true.

Your passion/business is personal; nobody else is as passionate about your vision as you. Don’t confuse it for other people’s passion when talking to people like future investors/partners. Do not personalize your business plan; make it factual because people are driven by bottom-line (aka profit). Study who you are speaking to – what excites them, what their passion is, how your passion can be relevant to them and listen when they speak. Investors are serious about investing in people who will bring result and they spend a greater percentage of time assessing the risk factors associated with your business. Be ready to rewrite your business plan over and over again.

On your journey as an entrepreneur
Look at your business like a science, do your maths, get experts to partner with you, know your market size, get statistics on the sector you are venturing into to enable you position your business and break into the market. Get an accountant, history of your longevity in the business, a clear analysis of your competitor and outline the risk factors associated with your business in your business plan. Deliberate planning for positioning is vital for the survival of your business and it prevents you from being sidetracked by success when you’ve not attained your ultimate goal. Have a structure for your business and put people into it, people who will question what you do not yes men. Failure is part of your journey; it teaches you when you don’t get it right. You need to be resilient when venturing into business and plan to live off the interest of your interest. E.g. let’s say your seed is 1 billion and your interest is 10% (100 million) take 10% of your interest (10million) and live off it then invest the remainder or save part of it in Trust funds for your future generation and invest the rest.

What you must do today:
1. Take Charge of your dream because no one else will care about it until you’ve made it. Your passion is more important than your enterprise.

2. Take responsibility. Your time is very precious; don’t waste it on things that won’t add to your life. Find your compass and your true north, you’ve been inspired enough.

3. Take the fire. Don’t let your dream be crushed by external forces. What you have will be rejected so many times but you must have the fire to keep your dream alive.

4. Study your dream. Is it the solution to a problem that a bigger company is looking for? Start looking for global problems to solve. Whose problem are you solving?

5. Pray over your plans.

Lessons of Life
 Relationships are paramount for your next level. Ask yourself, who is my introducer? There will always be someone that will take you to your next level so be careful about ‘burning bridges’.

 Be grateful for the sacrifice of your parents but ensure you are living your dreams not theirs so you don’t pass yours on to your children.

 Spend time writing out your plans. Think trans-generational, let the legacy you leave for your children, their children and their children’s children be your focus and motivation.

 When people say you’ve changed, it means you simply stopped living life their way.

 Stop trying to perfect things, get it out there. There are people out there who are willing to put money into what you started that isn’t perfect.

Now that you have all this information, what do you do with it? Position yourself.

Movie Review & Spoiler

I haven’t done this in a while because I have been enjoying too many cinema movies, Japanese anime and TV series as well as mobile downloaded movies. After so much, I’m in the mood for some spoilers. Here goes:

1. Godzilla – In one sentence, it is a glorified mock-buster on a larger production scale than its counterparts e.g. Sharknado. It is the story of two ancient creatures that woke up to mate but are being stopped by a dinosaur while humans scramble around trying to obliterate them with their military prowess which just happens to be the creatures’ meal. I’m glad I didn’t waste hard earned cash watching this in a cinema. I advise you to watch this only when you are bored.

2. Transcendence – The story of the pros and cons of using technology to explore the potentials of the human mind alongside a tale of undying love among scientific-minded lovers. For all its hype it is more sci-fi than drama (genre); it reminded me of Tom cruise’s Minority Report. This movie opened my eyes to what blind faith in those we love can cause (it creates a monster that cannot be tamed) and in the end I couldn’t tell if the lead character was human or computer generated. I advise you watch this at home with a large flat screen TV.

3. Divergent – It had the feel of Susan Collins’ Hunger Games adaptation, maybe because it’s an adaptation from a bestselling novel as well. While it is simply the story of a young girl trying to find herself in a class system that kills out anyone who dares to be different, it is also about parents supporting their children in their life choices and being willing to sacrifice their all to save them if necessary. It was a young adult genre with a few popular actors and actresses like Shailene Woodley, Jodie foster and Kate Winslet. I actually enjoyed this movie even though the end left more to be desired. I just pray there’s no part two because I won’t watch it.

4. Blended – Another comedy film by the dynamic duo - Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. The tale of a bad date gone wrong that continues on a family vacation in Africa. I would say they at some point the comedy felt unreal like the part where the girl deliberately threw out the rubber slippers false external breast implants. Some funny parts were repeated like the walking down the stairs and certain soundtracks playing in people’s head. My favorite character was Terry Crew and the male singing/mocking choir, they were just hilarious.

5. Half of a Yellow Sun – So far this has been the most anticipated Nigerian movie not only because it was am original Nigerian tale played by Stellar award winning Hollywood actors but also because of its ban. It was the first Nigerian movie I have ever watched in a cinema. But I must say, even though it is a cinema must watch it did come across like a documentary with the use of real life clips from Ojukwu’s speech and so much focus being placed on the historical part of the story and sexual nuances of the characters. It made it hard to connect with the characters on a deeper level. Even though I haven’t read the book, I did find a strong need to do so after watching this movie as it is obvious a lot of important details were taken out to make the film as commercial as it was (like why the lead character was called a revolutionary lover – I didn’t think a few heated conversations were enough to brand him as a revolutionary). I must say besides making me angry at Ojukwu’s desire for self preservation at the expense of the many lives of the Ibo people who were lost & torn apart, it left me wondering why he was celebrated in his death.

6. Angriest Man in Brooklyn – This is the story of a pissed young medical doctor who happens to be sarcastic with the diagnosis of an annoying patient and the fear of imminent death makes the patient realize what a messed up life he’s lived as he discovers the infidelity of his wife, comes to terms with non-existent relationship with his son, hatred of his friends and generally the fact that he’s an unbearable someone. In the end he dies in peace as the messed up doctor helps him find the missing pieces of his and her life. An ironic film to watch in view of the recent passing of its main character Robin Williams by suicide, so glad he has three new movies to be released in December that’ll help us remember him in a positive happy light.

Time won’t permit me to share all I’ve watched since my last movie talk. Hope these suffice.