Let us examine how perception affects business relationships, however before we proceed, let us remind ourselves of this maxim, ‘understanding the how and why people think the way they think,  is key to having the right or broad perception’. 
If you don’t have the right perception, you will always make wrong decisions because you would have failed to consider certain important positions. This is most evident in business and business relationships. 
First, in business relationships, if you don’t understand the key stakeholders, you may not succeed. Some of these stakeholders are :
1. Investors or Shareholders 

2. Employees

3. Suppliers

4. Customers 

5. Competitors 

6. Regulatory or Government agencies

7. General Public
Investors or Shareholders: Most investors are interested in returns on their investment, so the key performance indicator for them is ROI (Return on Investment). For them, everything you do must result to profit, hence you must identify activities or divisions or products that drive up your profit and pay more attention to them. 
Sometimes investors want to discontinue a line of operation because they feel it is not profitable or has become a cost center, while you may have some biases for that line. It will do you well to let go of personal biases and be objective in decision making, unless their is a perspective you see that they haven’t seen. 
At other times, investors are so pleased with an existing line or product that they fail to pay attention to emerging threats in the market. At such times, you are in a vantage position because you relate with all the stakeholders and you can point out why you should start thinking of innovation either by new product development or diversification. Remember how Xerox became history when they failed to pay attention to the emergence of Personal Computer, they even ignored their own personal computer called PARC, which came before IBM or Apple! Learn from this example. (To be continued). 
Have a great week ahead and look out for shifts in your long held belief. 
Cheers! 
Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010

One of the areas where perception has great influence is in relationships. Many have suffered undeserved criticisms because they were misunderstood or their intentions were read wrongly. Many ‘would-have-been great partnerships’ have hit the rocks because of mistrust. 
Let us look at how Perception can help in a few relationships, the first being marriage relationship. 
Marriage is the union of two different people coming from different backgrounds, with different views about life and different tastes. This is one of the reasons why couples disagree over both petty and important matters. Having the right perception on how your spouse feels about an issue and why your spouse feels so, will help you to gauge your reaction correctly. Knowing the why and how is key to having right perception. 

Right perception comes by exchanging lens or placing yourself in the position of your spouse and asking how you would act if you were in your spouse’s position. You must be able to understand the point of view of your partner or spouse before taking any position. When both partners are willing to do this, lives will become easier for both. 
For instance, if your wife is from a wealthy background and you struggled to get to where you are, her taste and wants may come across to you as expensive and you may start seeing her as a demanding woman. It will be wrong to come to such conclusions. Her perception is based on the way she grew up, yours is based on how you grew up, both of you have to reach a middle ground on most matters. 
A man that was raised by a single parent will likely take decisions alone. If you marry such a man, you must be prepared to patiently work on him to start carrying you along in decision making. He doesn’t disregard you, he is only acting to type. He can’t change overnight, so you must see him (perceive) in the correct light. 
Having the right perception is one of the keys to having healthier relationships. We will examine other relationships as we progress in this series. 
Happy Easter Monday! 
Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010 

I got this inspiration while listening to a radio station and I think it is worth sharing. Almost everything in life is all about perception. Someone can perceive a half-full glass as half-empty. While someone perceives a place as a wild life reserve, some people may perceive it as a dangerous forest. Isn’t it funny that the most dreaded Sambisa forest is now being considered as an Arms training field? Most problems are not problems, they are actually opportunities, what makes them look like problems is your perception. 

To start with, what is perception? Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. It is the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted. Meaning perception is your view of things, persons, or events. Your view can be influenced by your background, upbringing, experience, knowledge and even taste. 

Sometimes we feel like something is wrong with our health and when we go for check up, the doctor may not find anything wrong, but because the doctor understands that if we leave without any treatment, we will return with a worse feeling. At such times, doctors prescribe some harmless drug to satisfy our concerns and immediately we start feeling well even before starting the medications. This is called Placebo effect. The real problem is the belief that we are ill, there may be no illness. 
There are also cases where we feel befuddled with so many challenges. It would appear at such times like everything is working against us. We conclude that life is not fair, and then we seek counsel or share our burdens with some other and after receiving counsel or comforting words, we start to feel better, even when the challenges have not been addressed. 
In these two examples, you will observed that the only thing that changed is the way we view the perceived challenge. Doctor has given us medication, so we will get better (perception). We have been counselled, so solutions will come (perception). It is therefore important that we understand how perception affects our choices, actions, reactions and relationships, with the ultimate goals of living a healthier life with all, changing our national psyche and mindsets positively. 
I will enjoin you to come along with me as we explore ‘Perception’  in this series. 
Wishing you a Happy Easter and pleasurable moments with all yours. 

Cheers! 

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010 

We often run the risk of getting overwhelmed with a lot of activities such that we end up frustrated because we seem not to be making impact or producing desired report. You can do a lot of things at work and still not score well during appraisal. You can be all over the place in your business and still record loss. You can be the most active person in your social or religious circle and still feel a sense of not being fulfilled. 
If you  are to overcome this challenge, you must learn the art of separating and doing the things that matter from the lump of activities. You must learn to differentiate these four activity types :

1. Important and Urgent

2. Important but not urgent

3. Urgent but not important 

4. Not important and not urgent

Give more of your time to those activities that are important and urgent. If it is important but not urgent, schedule a time for it, don’t make it your first priority. If it is urgent but not important, try delegating it,  where possible. Never waste your time on matters that are not urgent nor important. 
Also identify activities that will produce the most result or that will have the most impact and focus more on them. Learn to also know how to sometimes say ‘No’ to some tasks that are not yours. 
Define your days by setting daily agenda and evaluate yourself at the end of each day. Remember that what will count at the end of the day is what matters. 
Have a great day and stay on top. 
Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010