Don’t Cast Your Pearls to Dogs

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

No matter how nice you are to some people, they will never be nice to you. Some relationships are just not worth it and will never be worth it. Some just can’t place value on anything valuable, and will always abuse what others would pay premium to have. Except for marriage relationships that might need counselling, prayers and working out, any other relationship in which one party suffers abuse, should not be tolerated. 
Don’t give your valuable resources to people who don’t know your value. Not all that glitters is gold. Some only carry face value, beyond the make-up, they are empty. Some are just opportunists, they only surface when the going gets good. Some are plain parasites, always asking and never giving. Get rid of them. Stop wasting your time and resources on such people. Some assume you will always be there and take you for granted, move away from them, let them appreciate your absence. 
Be wise in dealing with people. Don’t assume about the other person, check him out before committing to him. The rule of thumb is Check/Test before Committing. Be guided.
Stay blessed and happy night rest. 
Adewumi Oni

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Don’t Keep Quiet in the Face of Evil

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

​We were rudely awakened to the reality of the rot in our nation, when a church structure collapsed in Uyo leaving scores dead. Unfortunately, headlines in dailies focused mainly on the fact that the Governor of Akwa Ibom escaped death in the collapse,  as if the faceless scores who lost their lives are of no value. 
Just maybe if the Governor had been one of the casualties, the reaction may have been different. Maybe the Presidency would have ordered a probe by now. Maybe heads would have been rolling. Maybe the Pastor of the church would have been in police custody. Maybe a national or state mourning would have been declared. Maybe… 
But the reality is that the Governor didn’t die so it can be business as usual. The bereaved families can bear their loss and bury their dead. They can bury their deads without suing the church and the construction company. The church is untouchable so they can convene another crusade few months down the line, just like it happened with the Synagogue. 
Until we begin to speak against perpetrators of evil, regardless of their position, whether  in the church or government, we will continue to witness such calamitous spectacles. Followers still throng to Synagogue after the building collapse and faithfuls will still continue to throng to the Uyo Church. 
May we wake up to call evil what it is regardless of the cloak it puts on. 
May the souls of the departed find rest with their Maker. 
Happy Eid-El Maulud. 
 Adewumi Oni

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Keeping Your Eyes on the Mark

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​We often lose sight of our main dream while in pursuit of the milestones in between. We get carried away with the attractions by the way side and shift our gaze from the ultimate goal. For instance, many people have forgotten their talents and they are lost in the corporate world. Some have sacrificed their dreams on the altar of attractive and juicy job offerings. 
This is a trap we all so easily fall into and we must do all we can to keep our gaze and focus on our dream. Nothing wrong in white collar jobs and aiming to build a career in your profession. However it will amount to a waste of time and heaven’s resources if you ignore your dream, talent and purpose in pursuit of building a career. If you can make a career of your dream or purpose, you would have achieved what only a few dare to attain. 
Here are some guides to keeping your focus on your dream:

1. Set targets and time lines for yourself. If you are employed and your job is not along your dream or purpose, then it is important that you set targets of when to quit and pursue your dreams. You can equally set things to achieve within the set time. 
2. Have a mentor and submit yourself for evaluation from time to time. Discuss your dreams with your mentor and be guided on how to manage your time better. 
3. Try and fuse your dream into your job. When passion mix with job, then your job becomes pleasurable. Find a way of bringing your passion into your job or business. 
These guides will help to prevent you from losing focus and forgetting what you set out to do. 
Stay blessed and great day ahead! 
Adewumi Oni

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Noon Reflection – Watch Your Tongue

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

The tongue is one of the smallest parts of the body, yet it possesses the power to set the entire world on fire. In August this year, a boy was reported to have blaspheme against Prophet Mohammed  in Zamfara and this led to the death of eight students Abdu Gusau Polytechnic. One tongue sent eight people to early grave. When God began the work of creation, he employed the use of His tongue and spoke, “let there be…” and there was.

 

The tongue carries so much immense power and can cause both positive and negative change. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”- Proverbs 18:21. If you know how to use your tongue well, it can lead to life for you, if you also abuse the use of tongue,  it can cause death. It is therefore important that we master and control our tongue.

 

The following are important points to note about our tongue:

  1. Your tongue carries power to bring to pass what it utters, so watch what proceeds from your mouth. Avoid negative utterances. Confess positively.
  2. Your tongue can be used to build others through encouraging words. If you use it well as a leader, you will raise strong successors. If you misuse it, you will only have weak followers, which in effect makes you weak as a leader. Build up with your words and stop tearing others down
  3. Your tongue can be the difference between peace and war. Don’t ignite fire of war with your words. Avoid flaming words, words that create dissension and division should be avoided, whether in workplace, home or government. We have too many leaders with uncouth tongue. They speak without restrain and with little or no concern about consequence. Many civil wars were results of uncouth tongues
  4. Your tongue can be controlled. There is a time to speak and there is a time to remain silent. You don’t reply every word or everybody. You must learn the art of tongue control. Proverbs 26: 4 says “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” The very next verse goes on to say“Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” This shows the need for tongue control.

 

The more you master your tongue, the less trouble you will have, the less information the enemies will have to work against you. Start taming your tongue today.

Stay blessed and enjoy the rest of the day!

Adewumi Oni

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Night Reflections – Be Sensitive

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

​In a bid to reach some of my followers who may not be able to read my morning broadcasts due to their busy schedules, I will be alternating my broadcast between mornings and nights. 
Let me share my experience on our way home tonight. As I and my wife were approaching the beginning of Berger long bridge on Lagos exit, we noticed a Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Officer who kept pointing to us to take the alternative route. I was hesitant because I don’t like taking the route for two reasons, one it is dusty, two the bridge itself has always been having less traffic since they opened the alternative routes. 
Anyway I was about ignoring him, but I felt it is unusual for an FRSC officer to be directing a particular vehicle to take alternative route. I wound the glass down and asked him if the bridge is blocked, he answered but I didn’t hear jack from what he said. I followed his leading anyway and we took the route. 
We ended up spending less than 15mins on the alternative route before we came out at Wawa exit. In all, our journey from Berger to Mowe took less than 50mins. While we were on the alternative route, we noticed that the bridge wasn’t moving as it used to. 
My point is that we need to be sensitive to divine leadings. The officer was the angel God used to direct us away from traffic. If we had ignored him, we might still be in traffic now. God can use anything and anyone to lead us, we however need to sharpen our spirit man to recognize His leadings. Don’t despise His leadings whatever shape it takes. 
As the year draws to a close, you will not be misled in Jesus name. You will always hear a voice behind you leading you right at all times. You won’t miss your time and season in Jesus name. Amen. 
Have a restful night and stay blessed. 
Adewumi Oni

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In Spite of Your Imperfections 

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

Some people don’t reach their full potentials because they are over conscious of their imperfections. You should be conscious of your imperfections and keep working on improving them, but you shouldn’t become so worked up with your imperfections to the extent that you forget your strengths. You should take full advantage of your strengths and use it to downplay your weaknesses.
As a matter of fact, great people are not without their weaknesses, but they ride on their strengths and move on to achieve greatness. 
It is also important to know that God uses more of the imperfect to show His awesomeness. 1 Cor. 1:27 says “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
Therefore, in spite of your weaknesses or Imperfections, God can still use you.  You can still achieve GREATNESS. You can still reach your potentials. Use your strengths more and worry less about your short comings. 
Richard Branson suffered from dyslexia as a child. Moses in the Bible was a stammerer. Don’t let your weaknesses become an excuse for not achieving greatness. Get going! 
Good morning and Stay blessed. 
Adewumi Oni

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Guides to Choosing Your Team (5)

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Still on Cultural factor, checking organizational culture fit is not just enough, the candidate must fit into the culture of the environment where the venture is located. Sometimes induction and reorientation help in this regards, but this depends on the candidate’s willingness to accept other culture. This is why some people find it difficult connecting with customers in their new environment. They may be averse to the culture and unwilling to learn or adapt. These are extreme and radical people. You therefore need to ensure that the candidate profile fits into both organizational and environmental cultures.

 

Language factor: Closely related to Cultural factor is language factor. Does the candidate speak both the business language and the locality’s language? How well can he converse both internally and externally? Can he easily learn the language? In case of expansion beyond the national frontiers, does he speak other languages that can be an added advantage? These are some of the relevant questions to answer before selecting a candidate.

 

Finally, there is the sixth sense factor, but it is only used by those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern the right or wrong candidate. This is called gut feeling or instinct. As a leader, you need to develop your sixth sense, so that even after considering all the other factors, you can apply your sixth sense for final judgment.

 

I wish you all the best as you make up your team.

 

Stay blessed.

 

Good afternoon!

 

Adewumi Oni

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Guides to Choosing Your Team (4)

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

Today we will look at two more factors.

Personality Factor: The person behind the person is more important than the person. That sounds confusing isn’t it? It sounds like a repetition but it is beyond that. Knowing the name, skills and experience of a person is quite different from knowing the temperament of the person. He can have a nice look and solid Resume but with a temperament ill-fitted for the role in mind. The real person behind every name is revealed by the temperament.

 

If your venture is a customer facing type, you won’t want to recruit a shy and introverted person as your Front Desk staff. Front Desks are for people with outgoing dispositions, and the introverts are more suited for back office roles. It is therefore important to know the temperament of your candidates before you sign them on. How do they handle stressful situations? How do they handle pressure? Your screening test must be designed such that the personality of the candidate is revealed.

 

Cultural factor: There are two aspects to the Cultural factor, these are Organizational Culture and Environmental Culture. It is important that whoever you are considering as part of your team fits into both your organizational culture and environmental culture. Cultural misfit can cause serious trouble for any venture. The candidate must fit into your organizational culture and also be able to adjust to the culture of the environment in which your venture operates. Some people excel in an environment devoid of too many rules, while some are process and rule oriented. You must ask questions that will reveal the cultural orientation of your candidates.

 

We will pause here today and continue tomorrow.

 

God bless us all.

 

Good morning!

 

Adewumi Oni

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Guides to Choosing Your Team (3)

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

​Another factor that should influence your team selection is the market you are playing in or you intend to play in. 

Is your venture a market interfacing venture? 

Which market are you playing/do you intend to  play in? 

Which segment of the market do you intend to play in? 

Does the candidate understand that market segment? 

Does he have any experience in that market? 

Who are the major players in that market? 

Does he know about these other players in the market? 

Does he know the rules and regulations of the market? 

Where is the market located? It could be physical location or online? Does he have easy access to the market? 

Is the market regulated? Does he have the qualifications to be a player according to the regulatory body? 

These are some of the questions that must be answered before you settle for a team member. 

We will continue with the other factors tomorrow. 
God bless us all. 
Good morning! 
Adewumi Oni

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Guide to Choosing Your Team (2)

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

Every vision requires people to become reality, however you can’t choose those people based on sentiments. You choice has to be objective and be based on several factors including affinity of vision. People who have vision similar to your vision will likely be willing to work with you and they will work with passion. People of no vision usually lack passion, they are mostly driven by monetary rewards. Having them on your team may not help you because they wont see beyond the immediate returns.

So apart from your own vision, you need to be sure the people you are selecting have visions and the visions are not diametrically opposite yours.

 

2. Skill Factor: You don’t want to have square peg in round holes in your venture. It is necessary you test those you want to include in your team for requisite skills. There are several ways to do this including interview, aptitude test, psychometric test, case studies, etc. Beyond technical skills, you need to test for some soft skills like relationship management skill, communication skill, how well can they cope under stress, and other skills can directly impact on the success of the venture.

 

You are not testing to completely exclude some people. Some have basic knowledge and skills and have a ‘willing to learn’ attitude. Depending on the stage of your venture and availability of time, you can take on those with the attitude to learn and basic skills. Some have the core skills and can be engaged, subject to scaling attitude hurdle.

 

In summary, skill factor is important and will help you have the right kind of people on your team. Don’t undermine the success of your venture by allowing emotions to rule your judgement when selecting your team. If someone doesn’t have it, the next question is can he be trained? If No, there is no need being emotional, even if you like the personality of the candidate, unless there is another area the candidate can be engaged.

 

God bless us all.

 

Good morning!

 

Adewumi Oni

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