How To Meet Aliko Dangote: be in the right place at the right time.

....And just when we least expected, Aliko Dangote (the World's Richest black man) himself shows up at Radisson Blu and my friends Toyin and Chukwuka were on hand to welcome him...

LBS meets Stanford

A fantastic evening in deed it was when MBA's from Lagos Business School met their counterparts from Stanford at Radisson Blu, Victoria Island, Lagos.

It was not an evening of toooo much eating as I would have expected, but meeting these Stanford guys was well worth it. The three remarkable personalities I remember meeting are Andrew, Rachael and Mary Ellen.

Rachael because I spoke the longest with her and she was so much fun. She practically got so much information about Nigeria out of me that I became exhausted. We talked about governance, electricity, lecture patterns, college and so on. She has a passion for media and intends to know more about nollywood but unfortunately, I ain't the best in such areas. Of course, we talked about American politics.... she is a Democrat. We talked on how the Republican contenders are wearing themselves and their party out and creating more room for Obama to snatch a big win.

Mary Ellen who happens to be the team leader and the brain behind the trip to Nigeria is so much fun to interact with, she's got so much energy and believe me, there is never a dull moment with her. She believes greatly in "flexibility" and this is the word she used to describe internet down time, power outage and lack of air conditioning. In some parts of Nigeria, these are described as luxuries one can survive without...

Andrew, from the moment I saw him, I smelt Finance! as in this kind of Venture capitalist guys with sharp suits and fast cars...lol. He did not disappoint me at all. This is a guy that has a private equity company that has built two schools in Ghana and provides quality education at less than half the price....now, that's major.

Generally, it was fun hanging out with guys from Stanford, I hope we can pay them a visit too.....this time, I'm thinking "an online visit will do" ...lol

A PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: A Case from our Learned friends

Professor Patrick stepped into a law class and threw an Orange at one of his students and said. "Give it as a gift to any of your friends as a gift now".

The boy said to one of his friends "Apos, I give this orange to you as a gift".
...
Professor Patrick gave him a stern look and said "Like a lawyer!!!!!!".

Immediately, the boy straightened up, cleared his throat & began...........

"I Stanley Tamuno, adult, male of M16 Sapele Drive, hereby with all intent & purposes willfully give unto you Messrs Apos Tompolo of Ughelli Street, this citrus with its skin, seeds, segments, juice and supple innings that you may exercise actual & proprietary rights thereon, to hold unto same as a gift, a bequest, an endowment validly so transferred, given out, be-quested, alienated, assigned, that you may eat, lick, devour, suck, make juice out of, munch or grant, give out, devolve, alienate in your rightful capacity as the owner either in actual, virtual or constructive capacity of an agent or attorney as may be chosen by you, that the said citrus may be treated in the aforementioned ways or other ways not so listed but not as a weapon to be thrown at persons or animals with malicious intent to hurt, inflict pain or serve as an incendiary action to incite unrest of any kind, but that the said citrus may be used in such beneficial capacity or simply be destroyed in such exercise of legal and equitable ownership as may be deemed fit by the beneficiary of this bequest.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT" replied the Professor.


....big ups to whoever the original author is.

WHAT WE SEE: A Case for Personal Vision

It is commonly said that, “we can only reach as far as our eyes can see” ...but I would like to ask, “what happens to the image we see in our mental mirror (which is obviously right in front of us)?” The answer I got (of course from myself) was that it limits us.

A bird cannot take a flight until it first sees its wings, take a dive, flap the wings and then commence flying. Lets take note of the fact that it first saw the wings.

How do you see yourself? A popular brand has a slogan that says “image is everything”. When you have a positive view about yourself, then you can have a positive view about your ability and eventually about your environment.

With this mindset, you automatically become a solution provider because every problem will appear to you as an opportunity and every form of disadvantage will challenge you to work harder and smarter. Ultimately, you will appreciate yourself for who you are and make the best of what you have.

PLEASE: A Case for the Marketing P's.

Whether it be the 4 P's or 8 or 21 like my Marketing Professor, Dr. T taught me. As for me, what I think is that the P's are as important as the essence of the Marketing Course itself but Please, "don't quote me!"

Surely you must have heard of Product, Price, Place, Promotion to mention a few, today, I introduce the 22^nd P *rolling drums...*

PLEASE!

I will be doing the introduction and explanation with definitive help from the ever useful Microsoft Encarta Dictionary.

Please: to give pleasure or satisfaction

A best selling product or service is one that seeks to satisfy the needs and aspirations of the buyer. The need especially for pleasure as the buyer more often than not, seeks a product or service that will bring happiness and relief, create a satisfactory feeling and very importantly, make seemingly difficult tasks done easily and in less time.

Please: to like or wish to do something

A best selling product or service is one that seeks to fulfil the plans and desires of the buyer either by quality or by quantity. The average buyer at every point in time has goals and objectives he or she will like to or wish to meet, it is the duty of your product to be of help.

Please: to be the wish or will of somebody

A best selling product or service must of necessity meet the psychological and mental need of the buyer for value. It is the buyers will that the stated price of a good or service is commensurate to the offered good or service and it is your responsibility as a marketer or sales person to prove it.

Please: used to make a polite request or command

Here, we get to acknowledge that the buyer is King or Queen if you like, you should never ram a product or service down a buyers throat. IT IS NOT BY FORCE! You should be able to persuade your buyer first with sound logic then appeal to his or her emotions and hopefully, your credibility will seal the deal.

Please understand that Great Marketing can only be achieved with tact and finesse, the buyer comes first and remains first and that is the only way your product or service can become first in an ever increasingly competitive market place.

WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? A case for Personal Fitness

Well my excuse is simple, I am not yet 70 ...lol

Have you ever heard that success belongs to the fit? If you have not, then I am glad to be the one to tell you. Just like every successful business, Personal Fitness must be handled in a holistic approach.

Businesses are characteristically viewed in such a way that the whole system, processes and procedures are collectively analyzed and seen to be harmoniously functioning together to achieve a set objective. This should be the same with us as humans. We must take into account and constantly monitor our mental, physical, social, spiritual and if you like entrepreneurial fitness.

So, take a long walk today, read that book, attend that get together, go for service this Sunday, attend that seminar and of course, start your own business today.

INFORMATION SHARING: A case for WOMAN Communications Unlimited

WOmen's Mobile Area Network Communications Unlimited

An effective means of information sharing that existed since the beginning of human existence.

According to some sources, this medium was very instrumental to the Serpent in communicating the benefits of tasting the 'forbidden fruit' to an innocent Adam. Whether it was successful or not, we can all tell today by the clothes we put on.

Taking a critical look at the role ladies play in information sharing according to what is generally believed, it is not negatives all the way... The positives are significant and the proof is how our increased information sharing ability has significantly changed the way people live and relate, the way businesses are run, the way people are lead and how they accept leadership.

The emergence of the social media industry and how it revolutionized our thinking about information sharing generally has been remarkable, billion dollar businesses have emerged from a simple computer program, a couple of Governments have been toppled, organizational models have been reconstructed and the list goes on.

Instant and effective information sharing is the life blood of today's successful establishments. Customer complaint can be reported at a touch of the button, work efficiency and reporting has significantly improved, performance is evaluated faster than ever, people that never seemed to have a voice now have a say, effective information dissemination is cheaper than ever and the world is ultimately a better place.

All thanks to the women who will stop at nothing to make the world a better place and the men that love them.

THE EMISSION TEST "FINE"

Sometime in August 2011, while driving through Ota, an industrial town in Ogun State, Nigeria, I was stopped by some law enforcement officers that were meant to be responsible for traffic control.

After I parked the vehicle they told me that they were randomly conducting "emission tests" for vehicles plying the highway and started by giving me an ill informed lecture on global warming.

Before now, I was hurrying to beat the traffic I would have to face on entering Lagos State, a densely populated state with plenty of traffic but to ensure that I did not give the officials any undue advantage over me, I kept my calm.

So I told them that they could carry out the test, just then, one of the officials told me that the test would cost me two thousand naira to which I responded, What!

It was bad enough for them to force me to allow them conduct the test on the exhaust of my car, now I have to also pay for it. Immediately, I made up my mind that I was not going to pay for such and the amount itself was ridiculous for just conducting a test. It’s not like they would make repairs to my car if it had emission problems.

My vehicle being fairly new was not emitting smoke at all and I made effort to draw their attention to all the heavy duty trucks that passed by emitting terribly carbonized substances into the air. But they were not bothered and threatened to issue me a ticket which I would have to clear by paying an amount in the bank.

I told them that if they were looking for ideas to internally generate revenue, this was not the way. It was pure extortion. Even the roads in that place have been bad for years why don’t they fix it and maybe install a toll gate or something better and stop harassing innocent citizens. I eventually was let go without having to pay anything but my time was well wasted any ways.

.....picture gotten from zazzle.com

ONLY THE GRATEFUL SUCCEED

Imagine how tough the job could be when all one does is receive requests again and again....very few "thank you's" and an abundant amount of "please". It has a way of killing internal peace. I personally will feel unduly taken advantage of.

We live in a world where being content is "not cool". We fail to understand that we are uniquely endowed for unique purpose and that getting what we want is tied to our ability to use or develop what we have.

So what we see is the fat starving to become slim, the slim over eating to become fat, the black in a desperate attempt to become white, the short wanting height, the tall craving a reduction...such that reconstruction of every and anything is such a big business.

Its time we pause and be grateful for who we are and where we are...only then can we see that every dark cloud has a silver lining.

When you are grateful with what you have, you can make better use of it regardless of how little or how large because just as there is a curse attached to mismanaged abundance, there is also a curse attached to ignoring the little.

Gratitude increases positivity and fuels creativity and that is what inspires people to succeed despite the obvious limitations while ingratitude does the exact opposite.

It is hard to start with what you have when you do not even appreciate what you have. In essence, if you can learn to be grateful with what you have and who you are, you can easily create a success of it.

STRATEGY IS EVERYTHING

One of the finest lessons that can be learnt in business is that "Strategy is Everything". You don't need to be the first, or the fastest, or the largest, or the best.....all you need is to "first desire to be", put in place "an Effective Strategy" and VIOLA!! you become whatever you want to be and achieve whatever you want to do...

So, don't panic.....just organise (strategize)

Time out with the MD of NLNG, Mr Babs Omotowa

So, there you have it, we made it to the news again ... Myself far right, Dr Nubi (MBA Adminstrator, LBS) 2nd right, Mr Babs Omotowa, Suberu Mustapha, Toyin Sanwo, Tolu Olaoye, Chukwuka Nwagbara, Olatunji Oke. After a session with the MD of Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas company at Lagos Business School on the 10th of March 2011.