I Choose to Be A Farmer

People working on the biggest problems are compensated in the biggest ways. I don't mean this in a strict financial sense, but in a deeply human sense.

These words jump at me. Big compensation, I would love that.

Children typically like to inherit their parent’s dynasty. Oil companies, Telecom firms, Banks etc. Usually, they are hold management positions while their parents are alive going to work probably daily and learning the ropes of the business. However in the farm settlements, this is not so.

Enlightened Farmers’ children don’t accompany their parents to the farm. Recently, 2 farms were sold around the one i have interest and the main reason was that the owners were old and non of their children was interested.

Will that have been their attitude if their father was an oil baron or a Bank CEO?

I was reaching a group of 100 teenagers recently and asked how many of them would like to be framers and teachers. Not one soul raised a hand while almost all hands were raised when profession such as Law, Medicine, Accounting, Pharmacy, etc.

This meeting was taking place in a small town of predominant farmers. I told my students that “who will teach their children when they eventually have one? I know that somehow some people will be teachers because they may have no better options but is there hope for our Agricultural industry tomorrow?

I asked if any of them eat that morning. To which they all responded that they took breakfast. Are they going to have food to eat in 20 years time since none of them will be farmers?

I want to be a farmer. I have discovered a big problem I can position myself to solve. Yes I want to put food on the tables of the teenagers who would have turned adults, so also their offspring.
What problems do you want to solve?

Taking your Career to the Next Level

Is your Behavior pattern compatible with your Career Goals and Aspirations?

Fastracking your Career Progress Seminar -

Dear friends,

Join me and Wale Miciaiah this evening as we share on various issues on career. We will be looking at job hunting, Employability, C.V drafting, talents and careers, and also conduct mock interviews etc

Time: 11pm - Dawn
Venue: Freedom in Christ Mission
4 Freedom street off kosoko street
By Ogunlana B/Stp Ijeshatedo Surulere Lagos.
Date: Friday, 17, 2012

Career Seminar in Pictures

Wale, Oluyemi and some participants at the last Career Seminar facilitated by Enviable Youth Leaders at WEBIC

Career Clinic for Teenagers

Career Mentoring Session

Career Empowerment Seminar

Enviable Youth in Conjuction with Yaba Youth Corpers presents career seminar date sunday 8th of January 2012 at 1st floor Mr Biggs building by morocco round about, Shomolu, Yaba. Time is 2pm.

Wale Micaiah and Oluyemi Adeosun and a team of other seasoned professionals will be on ground to share knowledge.

Featuring:

Live job hunting
Mock Interviews
cv screening/Drafting
Volunteering/Intership tips
Networking/Mentoring

Invite someone to this event. They will be glad you did.

Admission is free.

RCCG /NCCF/Enviable Youth Presents Oct 3 Career & Employabilty Seminar

This is another opportunity for growth and development. Make good use of the public holiday.

Attend Career & Entreprenureship Summit (7th to 9th Oct 2011)

Also Wale Micaiah will be making a special appearance

Foursquare Host Enviable Youth Training

Enivable Youth in Collaboration with Foursquare presents a capacity training programme.

Featuring seminars on:

Career Development
Leadership Development
Budgeting
Leveraging on Social Networking
Escaping the poverty trap
Documentaries
Role plays etc
Date: Saturday 13th of August 2011.

Venue is Ilupeju Foursquare Gospel Church @ 33, Iseyin Street, Palmgrove, Lagos.

Time: 9am Prompt

Admission is free to participants.

Facilitating:

Wale Micaiah
Oluyemi Adeosun

BREAKING THE LIMITS

Obstacles are simply the frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals [Henry Ford]. The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can’t achieve success. According to M. D Babcock, one of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic or other qualities which we do not possess.

Not long ago, Dr Benjamin Bloom of the University of Chicago conducted a research based on the anonymous interviews with the top twenty performers in various fields. Included were a variety of professionals such as concert pianists, Olympic swimmers, Mathematicians, Neurologists. Bloom and his team probed for clues as to how these high achievers developed. For a more complete picture, they also interviewed their families and teachers. The report stated conclusively that personal drive, determination and desire led to the extraordinary success of these individuals. Most of them had no great natural talent to achieve this feat. Friends, no revivalist can wake up the sleeping don in you except you.

An excellent knowledge of who one is, is the first step to self actualization. Self assessment explores our strengths and weakness. You build your strength and work towards eliminating your weaknesses. Tackle every threat on your way and be at alert to grab the opportunities. Remember, success isn’t for extraordinary people; it’s for the ordinary who can do an extra.

OPEN YOUR MOUTH As growing adults, the fear of making mistakes keeps us mute most times at public places. Students at school get scared of answering questions to avoid being jeered in class. He doesn’t want to miss it. On the contrary, the student is making a great mistake. He hasn’t missed it, he has only learnt that his opinion isn’t correct. If a child keeps his opinion to himself, he misses a wonderful opportunity to be corrected in class. Invariably, he postpones the evil day. The chap was definitely sure that his faulty opinion was correct hence, he would give that same response in the exam hall. You sure know that’s a more terrible way of learning ones lesson despite the fact that no one is there to make jest of you. Pally, being an actor is a lot better than being a “spectator”. Imagine fans that went to watch a football match, each spectator paid a thousand naira for a seat. The spectators were glued to their seats for 90 minutes. However, they kept making jest of the footballers. Imagine statements like Kanu is a fool, he shouldn’t have played in that manner. Friend, in reality, who is the greater fool? Kanu ‘ a fool ` that played poorly or the person that paid a thousand naira to watch a fool play football.

The same applies to classroom situation. Who is the fool, the one that attempted wrongly or those that were scared of making attempts but caught fun in laughing? Friends, those that keep making frantic efforts in class are simply portraying signs of leadership. A leader keeps making attempts to solve problems. He’s never scared of mistakes and he rarely repeats mistakes.

The truth is, no leader doesn’t make mistakes. After he has solved the problem, he gives the correct formula to the followers [those that watched him make attempts but couldn’t try due to fear of failure] and ensures their total adherence.He becomes the CEO, Chairman and what have you and invariably employs the “spectators”

Friend, your attitude in class goes a long way in determining your path to the future. A leader or a servant, the choice is yours

Time Management

What is time management?

Time management involves utilizing time to create maximum personal effectiveness and efficiency. This is achieved by planning how best to use your time and successfully implementing the plan.

Benefits

· Achieve control over your activities

· Balance work, rest and play

· Develop a style that is proactive and not reactive

· Deal with problems as they arise rather letting them grow

· Build in time for constructive personal development

· Save money by increasing your efficiency and achieving more

· Complete important assignment on time and avoid wasting time on unimportant task

· Have time to listen to others

· Be well perceived by others and differentiated from less well organized colleagues

· Relieve pressure and stress

· Go home from the office on time

What do you do?

1 Establish how your time is spent

2 Identify your problem areas

3 Clarify your objectives and priorities

4 Tackle the enemy without

5 Tackle the enemies within

PLAN

· Map out your activities a week in advance

· Spend five minutes each morning reviewing your time plan; adjust it as circumstances change

· Build slack time into your schedule so that you don’t constantly overrun

· Have a back up plan for contingency situations-decide which task can be dropped, who can be called on to help out, and who need to be notified if you are consequently delayed with other activities

· Plan time for relaxation and recreation as well as work

OLUYEMI ADEOSUN

HOW I INTEND TO USE CONSULTING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN NIGERIA

This article was written by Kamal

While growing up, I often heard that the” greatest problem in Nigeria and indeed all black Nations is that of leadership” and ever since I had resolved in my mind to choose a career path that will help in building the leadership capacity of my dear country. I discovered also that the opportunity to actualize my dreams can be found in consulting where you have the opportunity of being a leader’s leader.

I intend to make a difference in Nigeria via consulting by providing creative and innovative solutions for people and organisations, as they face unprecedented challenges, fierce intra-industry competition, overwhelming governmental policies and regulations, technological advancements, multicultural diversity in the workforce, customer expectations and retention, and micro and macro economic unpredictability; this I intend to do using a blend of coaching, workshops, Role Plays etc. By so doing I would have provided them with information and advice which leads to real and lasting solution of a problem.

I will constantly think, analyze, brainstorm, cajole and challenge good organizations to become even better by adopting new ideas. I also intend to tread the path of great consultants by being able to step into ambiguous, sometimes hostile situations and sense what changes need to be made, driven by ideas and a strong desire to have a positive impact on clients.

By doing all these I would have increased my bandwidth and shifted my paradigm, which would have made me a better person, I also believe that “Repetition is the mother of skills” as I do these repeatedly I become exceptionally good and skillful at my work.

ENEMIES OF THE ORDINARY-Kamals position

While growing up, I came across a latinic phrase which says “Aut optimum, aut nil” which simply means “either the best or nothing at all”, ever since I have made up my mind never to stand plain and undistinguished. I have made up my mind not follow the customary, usual and normal but to constantly think out of the box, increase my bandwidth and birth the unusual. In essence, I declared a war against mediocrity and the average; I became an enemy of the ordinary.

Taking a quick look at those who have sculptured our world positively, I discovered that they were men and women who dared to take a stand different from the norm and refused anything commonplace and unexceptional. Early twentieth century, all the giants in the field of engineering came out with a consensus that “Metals can never fly” postulating different theories and backing their position with several mathematical facts, but Orville and Wilbur Wright refused to share in the opinion of the multitude and that’s why we have airplanes today; imagine what life would have been without aero planes today.

A call to be an enemy of the ordinary is a call to personal freedom; it’s a call to forever nail the coffin of mediocrity. It’s a deliberate attempt of moving from problem solving to creativity and from being reactive to being proactive. It’s an attempt to help deep- divers not to struggle in shallow waters because of the fear of the unknown. In my quest of being an enemy of the ordinary, I came across Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural speech, which I believe should be a uniform anthem for all willing to take this route.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us

We ask ourselves

Who am I to be brilliant, talented, gorgeous, fabulous?

Who are you not to be?

You are a child of God; your playing small doesn’t serve the world

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others won’t feel insecure around you

You are created to make manifest the glory of God within us

It’s not in just some of us, it’s in everyone

And as we let our lights shine, we give others permission to do the same

As we are liberated from our own fears

Our presence automatically liberates others.

Qualities of HR Leader

1. Leads – Inspirational Leader, initiates and leads change, shapes definition of the future and influences direction of company, provides long term solutions, delivers results, leaves a legacy of positive lasting contribution
2. Role Models the companies principles and values
3. Drives HR Competitive advantage for the Company and is connected to the external community
4. Demonstrates strategic understanding of the business, it’s leverage points and it’s organizational implications
5. Masters business partnering skills: influential, collaborative and effective communicator. – coach counselor and confidant to business leaders

6 Demonstrates breath and understanding of multiple business units

7. Demonstrate global understanding of multiple regions’ and countries’ business and organization

8. Delivers results through multi-skilled technical competencies in HR

9. Delivers capacity and diversity within, as well as beyond, the HR discipline

10. Balances stewardship of interests of consumers, shareholders, business leaders and employees.

Beefs at the Work Place....{conclusion}

I have had the privileged to witness how groups operate when they are divided into teams and some form of competition is introduced. As soon as their results start to vary, beefs start to set in. The trailing teams gang up to beef the leading team.

People beef others when they feel their chances of picking the prize is been threatened or diminished by others. People beef the man of the moment. People beef the man that is achieving result (or has the potential to). If you are a victim of “beef” that’s an indication that you have got greatness emanating from you.

Don’t “beef” others…….be creative

Creativity puts you in a class of you own. It places you ahead of the pack. Instead of envying someone learn from him and add to your knowledge base then come out with a better performance. Creativity makes you see your colleagues as complimenting your efforts and vice versa. The internal rivalry stays healthy and does not jeopardize organisational success. Creativity makes you innovative i.e. keep seeking ways to improve on processes, reduce cost and improve quality.

…….Coping under intense beef…..

v Anticipate the beef – if you are a goal getter know that beefs will come. This will at least prevent you from shock when you start perceiving it. For every mission their will probably be opposition.

v Talk to your professional mentors- your problems become small and inconsequential at the feet of the masters

v Know that it wont last forever- after a while the beef will stop. Evil carries within itself a self destruct mechanism.

v Don’t take it personal-it’s hard to do but do it all the same. Don’t hate or resent people who beef you. See them as your allies.

v Beef exposes your gifts and talent- you discover during this period hidden area of strengths that you have and untapped sources of energy that you were not aware of.

v Don’t bother to appease them- trying to appease colleagues who beef you usually aggravate the situation. Just ignore the beefs. Don’t disdain them but treat them as if they compliment you.

v Reach out to the invincible hand-Adams Smith believed in the activities of the “Invincible Hand” so do I. Put your hand in his hands and he will see you through the beef.

v Improve your performance- this is not the time to chicken out. Rather develop your capacity to deliver more. Nothing calms down critics like consistent results. Put your mind to work. When the opposition strikes, don’t let your mind go on strike.

My friend has weathered the beef. He has gotten a promotion and a raise. His outstanding value adding service has finally gotten the attention of the boss. Thank God he didn’t throw in the towel. Will you?

© Oluyemi Adeosun

www.yemiadeosun.blogspot.com