In rounding up, you must be able to understand the perception of your suppliers, customers, competitors, government and the general public. If you don’t, you won’t last long in the market space.

Carry out survey to know what your suppliers think about your bid process, payment timeline and method. Are you always asking for deliveries under terms that are near impossible? Do you know you may be responsible for those inferior supplies? Check things out from the other side and your view will become broadened.

Feel the pulse of your customers through customer focus group discussion or other means. Your customers may not be pleased with the value they derive from your products or services, the value they appreciate might even be completely different from the value you place on priority. If you carry out a proper survey, you might be shocked at your findings.
Knowing how your competitors perceive you will help your business to be properly positioned in the market. Do you see yourself as a major force in the market? Is this how other players perceive you?
Government perspective is usually along the line of ensuring a healthy environment, fulfilling tax obligations and compliance with regulations. If you understand this perception, you will avoid a lot of trouble.
In summary, what you see may not be what others see, you can only make informed decisions if you consider the perceptions of the stakeholders in whatever you do. 

Thank you for following through in this series. Have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

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Let us go further in our discussion on the impact of perception on business relationships, specifically employees – employers relationship. Understanding the  perceptions of your employees is important for you to get the best out of them. 

What are your employees perceptions about the work environment, about the working hours, about the processes, about the hierarchy, etc? Answers to these questions can help you improve on their productivity and the bottom line. 

We often assume that a raise is all an employee needs to put in more, it may not be so, all the employee might require may be a flexible working hours or room to be more innovative. You can actually achieve more with the same level of remuneration, if you understand what truly motivates your employees.

It may just be about the management style. The problem in most work environment is that leaders manage subordinates and rarely lead. It was Dwight Eisenhower who said “You don’t lead by hitting people over the head…that’s assault, not leadership.” Grace Murray Hopper said ‘You manage things, you lead people.’

If you truly desire an improved employer-employee relationship, you must therefore invest in finding answers to these questions either by yourself or through a consultant.

Happy Workers Day!

Adewumi Oni

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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

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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

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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

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09095321147

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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

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In every story of success there is the place of effort. Effort is the contribution of man to his own success story. However not all efforts will lead to success because some efforts are channeled towards the wrong end. Some efforts will also not meet with opportunities. While some efforts are not backed up with the right motives. 
Effort is good and should be expended in every endeavours, but there is a superior way, the way of Grace. Grace is the contribution of divinity to humanity’s efforts. It is that which magnifies a man’s effort so much that what seems like a big deal for others look likes a walkover for another. It is a when gift and diligence meet. Gift is divine and diligence is human. 
When you apply effort to that which comes to you with ease, it becomes grace and you will have astounding result. Diligence alone can only take you as far as your strength can go. Grace will take you as far as you can imagine. 
Find your grace and find Grace. 
Great week ahead. Cheers! 

Adewumi Oni

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It is amazing how many of us exert a lot of energy and put ourselves under so much pressure over vanities of life. I mean people kill themselves over plain vanities. I see people struggling to outdo themselves in who has the best wardrobe, who wears the most expensive wristwatches, the most expensive phone, the most expensive car, the biggest mansion, the list goes on. 
You cannot amount to anything acquiring everything to yourself. Your life is not measured by how much you possess financially or materially or even intellectually. A man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things he possesses. Your true worth is in the depth and reach of your influence on others. How many lives have been touched positively by you? Who have you affected positively either directly or indirectly? This is the real essence of life. 

Whenever I read about the latest acquisitions of some fancy luxuries by some of our leaders, I often wonder if they understand life at all. When the leveller eventually levels you to ground zero, you will only be remembered by your good deeds. I am not advocating for a cheap life, no, you should aim to live a rich life, but a rich life is not in wealth alone, it is in the use of that wealth for the improvement of humanity. 

Vanity is when you place materiality above the interest of humanity. 

Check your life today, are you on the vanity run? 
Good morning and have a great day. 

Adewumi Oni

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I came across a quote this weekend and I got inspired to share this broadcast with you. It says, “The difference between a corrupt person and an honest person is :The corrupt person has a price while the honest person has a value.”
Truly you can either have a price or a value. A price can be paid for, meaning you can be bought or compromised. If all you have is a price then your life and decisions will most likely be ruled by monetary factors or some rewards. Some rare stones are described as priceless due to the multiplicity of their usage. Some virtues are also said to be priceless, for example, patience is often said to be priceless. 
When what you have is a value, you have moved beyond the level of being moved by money or reward, what determines your decisions or actions are your values and principles. You become uncompromisable or incorruptible. You hold your principles far above any reward. Value is not something you can build by yourself, it takes the spirit of God in you to build it and say no to every compromising demand. 
One of the reasons for the mess in our world today is the abundance of people with prices and the scarcity of people with values. A society that places more emphasis on price than value is positioned for self destruction. Go for value and leave the realm of price. 
Have a great day and remain blessed

Adewumi Oni

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As we conclude this series, it is very important to stress the impact of prayer, a life of integrity and commitment on shaping our children’s lives. 

Prayer addresses the spiritual side of your children or wards or protégés and keep them from going astray. When you keep committing their hearts to their Maker, they will always find themselves being drawn back to the right side of life, even when they stray. 

Your integrity is infectious and can determine how faithful your children will be. How you keep your words and how you say the truth will rub off on them. When they find themselves at crossroad, the memories of your way of life may be the only guide between good and bad. That is why I said fathering is the most difficult job because it requires constant sacrifice and uprightness.
When you eat in your car and you wait till you get home before throwing the food pack in the bin, you can be sure that is exactly what your children will emulate, and if otherwise you know the result. If you are always lying, your children will find it so easy to lie. You are their mirror, they see themselves in you, so you determine what they see.  
Lastly, being committed through the thick and thin builds your children to be dependable, steadfast, strong, and committed. Stay through every course you choose. Complete every project you begin. Don’t run away from challenges,otherwise your children will always choose the path of least resistance, which hardly leads anywhere. 
As you work on becoming a better Father, you are laying a strong foundation for your children to be greater than you. 
May we not fail our children and generations to come. 
Have a blessed day. 
Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

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Twitter: onadol2010