Showing posts with label people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label people. Show all posts

Sunday, September 12, 2021

represent, represent! 🎤♩ ♫ 🔊

Posted by . . at











Make sure you subscribe! 
Follow all my blogs on one twitter.  
Follow on facebook.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
3 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 17, 2020

What's going on in Nigeria?

Posted by . . at




The News summary @premiumtimesng











































The people have spoken.  

Make sure you subscribe to UpNaira! 
Also subscribe to NewsBuka.
Follow all my blogs on one twitter.  
Follow on facebook.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
2 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Olamide making money moves #Blessed

Posted by . . at
It's called PLAY TV, check out full report on notjustok.com 

“It’s been all joy and blessings for me since I started my journey to being the man I dreamt to be. Though I had a lot of hurdles and setbacks, I kept moving because I was certain of what was inside of me. Today is another special day marking the beginning of another special year in my life and I also have the privilege of owning a T.V station that would change the face of entertainment in Africa."
- Olamide, Baddo, BGEL, YBNL



He has that savoir faire
and largely because he
Never forgets where he came from.


Me and grandma actually jammed to this tune wella.  God bless her and keep her. 

Get email updates.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
Music: Abule Sowo, Anifowose (linked), and Sitting On The Throne. 
1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Saturday, March 10, 2018

You like money. You like (white) chicks. How do you feel about female billionaires?

Posted by . . at
-- see one-page catalog 

Just don't go and disgrace yourself. 
😂😁😅😎
Get email updates.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Megachurches - Pros and Cons

Posted by . . at
Reading list:

Eat, pray, live: the Lagos megachurches building their very own cities ... 


Nigeria's 'megachurches': a hidden pillar of Africa's top economy 


Nigerian pastors 'living like celebrities' in London | TheCable



Related:

List of pastors in Nigeria - Wikipedia


Gallery of web-famous Nigerian pastors

Get email updates.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
If you like words, Pros and Cons are not just the positives and negatives of the matter, they could also refer to professionals vs. confidence artists.  :)
1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, August 07, 2017

Of negative psychology

Posted by . . at
Enjoy: 
How assholery works - a case study.  
 
Take this Dark Triad Personality Test to learn to what extent you're psychopathic, machiavellian, and narcissistic.  Would you share your results?  Why or why not? 

Get UpNaira email updates.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.
1 comment:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Tell Me Your Dream

Posted by . . at
He travelled across the world and asked:

Bonus: 
You tell me your dream, and I'll tell you mine - is a classic song and jazz favourite.  

Get email updates from UpNaira.
Order Big Girl and Big Boy.

Bonus 2:
You have to see this 4-minute clip of life in Nigeria. It would seem that the traveller saw everything. Almost.  ?
No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The Unforgettable Boss

Posted by . . at
Unforgettable bosses possess qualities that may not show up on paper but always show up where it matters most -- in the minds and even hearts of the people they lead.

NOTE: THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM A JEFF HADEN PIECE FOR LINKEDIN.ORG , also here on Inc.com

Here are some of the qualities of truly unforgettable bosses:

1. They believe the unbelievable.

2. They see opportunity in instability and uncertainty.

3. They wear their emotions on their sleeves.

Memorable bosses are highly professional and yet also openly human.
Professionalism is admirable. Professionalism -- with a healthy blend of humanity -- is inspiring.

4. They protect others from the bus.
Terrible bosses throw their employees under the bus.
Good bosses never throw their employees under the bus.
Memorable bosses see the bus coming and pull their employees out of the way often without the employee knowing until much, much later... if ever, because memorable bosses never try to take credit.
And if they can't, they take the hit. (And later speak privately to the employee in question.)

5. They’ve been there, done that... and still do that.

6. They lead by permission, not authority.

7. They embrace a larger purpose.

8. They take real, not fake risks.

In short, memorable bosses inspire others to achieve their dreams: by words, by actions, and most importantly, by example.

Get email updates from UpNaira
No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 12, 2014

On unwarranted praise

Posted by . . at
“Flattery is a kind of bad money, to which our vanity gives currency.” 
  – François de La Rochefoucauld
You may have experienced the social farce about which Chuba Ezekwesili wrote:

...Flatterers offer ebullient greetings with the expectation of immediate financial remuneration for their ‘arduous’ task of unabashed adulation. With money, criminals can instantaneously become ‘honorables’. They can also become ‘elders’ in the church and most possibly ‘saints’, if it was permitted. Money in Nigeria also has this wonderful effect of reversing age differences. Suddenly, you can become ‘daddy’ or ‘uncle’ to someone who’s competing with your grandfather’s grey hairs.

And because half my readership comes from outside Nigeria, I’ll drop a few commonly used Nigerian greetings you should be wary…just in case you venture back into Nigeria. These include “We remain loyal”, “My Oga”,”My Chairman”, “Well done Sah”, “Anything for your boys?”, “You too much O!” ,”Happy Weekend” etc.

Flattery’s a unique product because it’s not only exchanged for money, it also takes the place of money in many cases. Like currency, flattery can be ‘exchanged’ for other goods/products such as job opportunities, political appointments and sexual favors. Religious leaders use flattery to placate their congregation and keep them hoping. Politicians use flattery-as well as other expensive and forcefully persuasive resources- to garner the votes of the masses. Nigerian men prolifically use flattery to win the favor of women and vice-versa. And the most amusing of all are the Nigerian policemen who flatter/hustle money from you.

...Nigeria. A country where the bitter truth is anathema and flattery is the cherished medicine. Don’t ‘embarrass’ the President, Minister, Governor, Pastor or authority by being honest. Instead, allow their ineptitude to continue.   Little do those who constantly have an excuse for the ineptitude of authority realize that they are only worsening the performance of those they adulate.

Overall, flattery is not necessarily detrimental and can be invaluable…especially when you’re in a relationship. It just depends on how much of it you decide to take in. Those who fail to control their demand for flattery might end up getting so much of it that they begin to trade in their own coins…and I believe that’s called self-flattery. And to those who love to trade in flattery, remember – your flattery is like cash, the more you dish it out, the less value it holds over time.


More...
No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, October 04, 2013

Quotable

Posted by . . at
“The Indian tiger and the Chinese dragon have had their days; it’s now the African lion’s turn”
 says Ashish J. Thakkar
- 32 year old considered Africa's youngest billionaire
- Founder and CEO of Mara Group 
- First African ever on Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40
- World Economic Forum Young Global leader

Sources: bellanaija feature and venturesafrica story
1 comment:
Labels: , , ,

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Process thinking

Posted by . . at
I once worked in a place where things would often go wrong, and the question on the boss's lips would be "Who...?" as in "who did this?" "who was in charge of this..." so that the person would be in trouble and presumably the problem would go away.  
Engineering processes
As an engineer, I found this to be the most puzzling thing.  Why waste your time on such an irrelevant question as "who"?
Because the more important thing should be maybe "what" happened, and then "why" it happened, and then "why" that happened, and in that case you find yourself with the "root cause" which you can fix (along with the team, the who's that run the process) and then hopefully that issue would not crop up again.
Good engineers are lazy
 Along with the inclination to abuse the "stupid employees" was this baffling habit of designing stupid processes, ones that put a great deal of strain on the boss and the people, and that relied more on hard work than on intelligence, and still produced a high error rate in the results.
I think the missing knowledge was of something called Process Thinking.  Process thinking is important.  It will make you calmer, and make your work many times easier and your results a lot better.
Individual and society
So too in my country in Africa, we think relationships are key to everything.  In the name of basic relationships (what does my wife or my father think of me is the familiar question) we have institutionalized actions that harm self and harm the larger population too.
We think in small groups (I better pass my neighbour, God give me promotion) but ignore the self (does this make ME happy, can I sleep at night?) and ignore the whole too (is this the right thing to do, does it hurt somebody else?)
This mindset is understandable because we've come so recently from small worlds - small village, small ethnicity, small clan - but in the current world we all see that it doesn't produce very good outcomes.  Individuals are frustrated and the country is poor.  Working harder may not solve the problem.  Defeating your neighbour, "feeling rich", getting promoted, "achieving success" may not be the answer. 
Engineering systems
Even on the political front, have some not tried to solve our misidentified "leadership problem" by replacing people?  But we come to the realization that no, we must re-engineer systems instead.  We must fix a risk-reward system at the individual, group, and institutional level.  This is to say, we might think of a country or an economy as an abstract thing, or as an organism, or as a machine, in order to repair it. 
School for intelligence
This is why I respect a good engineering education.  It's one of those things that (hopefully) prepares you to understand systems (like the human body, the global economy, or the market for films) and processes (like the workflow at a branch office, the election of a president, the Arab spring).
a sketch of a helicopter by Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago
A decade ago, I read that engineering was "the new liberal arts" degree. Along with whatever specific facts and knowledge it might give a student, it would develop his/her critical thinking, systems understanding, process thinking, and design ability.  Then also it should broaden knowledge of the world and importantly of self.  It is a good training for an uncertain job title in an interesting life. 
Cartoon showing laziness as the mama of invention
 Links for more learning
Lazy engineers: Unusual habits of good engineers
Process Thinking: It can make you happier at work and at home
Policy analysis: The Nigerian subsidy example, The technocracy example
4 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Previously on UpNaira

 

Followers