Business

Careers in Africa conference, Houston Nov 16-18, 2007

Posted by beyond438 on Nov 7, 2007 in Business, South Africa | 1 comment

Have you ever wanted to work in Africa? The Careers in Africa recruitment summit in Houston is a great place to meet and interview with senior delegates from South Africa’s leading companies. Participating South African companies include:

• Africon,
• Anglo Platinum,
• Barloworld,
• Eskom, and
• Sasol.

Participating US multi-nationals include: Chevron, GE Oil&Gas, and Cameron.Other prominent companies include: Lafarge, Toyota, and Orascom.

Just-in-time (JIT) training for entrepreneurs

Posted by beyond438 on Oct 24, 2007 in Apple, Business, Entrepreneurship, SAP, Technology | 0 comments

I think that the exponential increase of on-demand video (youtube.com, Yahoo! video) will allow entrepreneurs to learn on-the-fly from some incredible sources. The problem with Youtube is that it takes time to find quality videos, like this Sellingpower interview of SAP Americas CEO, Bill McDermont.The Stanford’s Educations Corner is an entrepreneur’s best friend. It contains wisdom, knowledge, tried-and-tested experience from very well-known and experienced business people like John Doerr (Kerner Perkins), Carly Fiorina (former HP CEO), and Guy Kawasaki (Garage Ventures). This month’s Futurist click-of-the-month is SciVee.tv. This is a great example of a site aggregating some quality videos.

We expect to disseminate science to the widest possible audience, thereby bringing the YouTube generation–who are the next generation of leading scientists–the best science using a medium they have adopted and use on a daily basis,” says University of California, San Diego, pharmacy professor Phillip E. Bourne, one of the directors of the SciVee project.

Apple’s iTunes now contains a section called uTunes. uTunes contains audio lectures from prominent universities like MIT, Stanford, Duke and Berkley.Another interesting site is slideshare.net. On this site you’ll find lots of very well articulated business presentations. Again, you’ll have to search a little to get gems like this one:View on SlideShareWhich sites do you use for your JIT training?

US-Africa Business Summit 2007

Posted by beyond438 on Oct 8, 2007 in Business, South Africa | 0 comments

The Corporate Council on Africa’s sixth US-Africa Business Summit, taking place in Cape Town in November, will see some of the world’s top business leaders discussing trade and investment opportunities in Africa, best practices, and how best to grow business in ways that will promote sustainable growth on the continent.

Patrick Lencioni – The three signs of a Miserable job

Posted by beyond438 on Oct 4, 2007 in Business, HCM, Leadership | 2 comments

Pat said that this was the first time that he will give this keynote on his new book: “The Three signs of a Miserable Job.” He is also the author of “The 5 dysfunctions of a team”.I think work is under-focused on in our lives. Work is thought of that other thing we do. Popular TV shows don’t show people working. People on Dirty Jobs seem happy with their jobs. This is amazing because they have bad jobs. CEO, execs, football players are unhappy. Is your job fulfilling? Misery at work is universal – clock watching, Sunday night blues, ahhh I have to go to work tomorrow.People need to be reminded more than being instructed. – Samuel JacksonThe 3 signs of a Miserable job

1. Anonymity – All humans have a need to be known. If we feel anonymous we don’t feel appreciated. Managers should care about their people. We have to life coach the people who work for us. Why aren’t we all doing it? We’re too busy. Interest needs to be genuine. [The handouts read, accountability instead of anonymity — funny…]
2. Irrelevance – You make a difference in some one else’s life. As managers tell people how they make a difference.
3. Immeasurement – Measure for themselves why they’re doing what they are doing. Salespeople like their jobs because they know where they stand. We all have a need to measure. This is what I do, and this is how well I’m doing.

Someday I what to retire. Don’t wait until you retire to start your ministry. The way you treat your people will influence the people around them. Management is ministry!Pat’s final comment: Work becomes a great source of fulfillment and ministry.[amtap book:isbn=0787995312]

Andy Stanley – The most powerful man in the room

Posted by beyond438 on Oct 4, 2007 in Business, Leadership | 0 comments

[Note: ok I couldn’t do the real live blogging thing. The WiFi connection wasn’t strong enough, sorry…]Andy Stanley started off with a confession – I’m nervous talking @ Catalyst. He said, “We are like peers. You guys are like the leaders. What am I going to talk about next year?”Then he started his talk on “the most powerful man in the room”.If God trusted you with leadership — you wield power (we like to use the word influence). Our words have power. Whether you like it or not — you have power as a leader. How do we use it to honor God? Double-edged sword of power. Regulation is not the solution to control power. Same problem in churches. Always work in teams. Follow we, instead of follow me. Not the solution.What do you do when it dawns on you that you are the most powerful person in the room?This is the moment in the life of a leader that makes or breaks us and shapes our character. It says so much about your confidence in God. You have no idea how God wants to use you. Your fear of power (abuses you’ve seen) may be what God wants to use. God wants to entrust even more to you. Biography – read story of Moses. I (Moses) don’t want to be in a position of power — maybe God wants to use you.John 13: 1-7, 12-17, so he got up from the meal, and he wrapped a towel around his waist.What’s your first move when you become a powerful person? Jesus sheds his symbol of authority his robe. Jesus disciples were stunned by his humility. Jesus sheds all his authority (his robe is the symbol) and became a humble servant.What do you do if it dawns on you you’re the most powerful? Jesus just gave as an example. Your first line of respond is to shed symbols of authority and show humility.Don’t leverage your power for your own sake, but for the sake of the other people (in the room). Look for opportunities to leverage your power for the other people in the room. If you don’t apply this principle it shows your weakness. Jesus didn’t do it. [Note: Later in the day Rick Warren said a similar thing: He leverages his fame and influence to give people (the poor) influence who don’t have any.]George Washington story – he surrender his power. If he decides not to be King he would be the greatest person in the world. Supreme example of a leader that can be trusted with power — he gave it up.Legacy of your leadership will be to decide: I’m not greater than my Master and Saviour. He leveraged His power for the benefit of the others (disciples) in the room. We should do the same.

Catalyst 2007 – Convergence of next generation leaders

Posted by beyond438 on Oct 2, 2007 in Blogging, Business, Leadership | 0 comments

I’ll be attending the Catalyst 2007 conference at the Arena in Gwinnett County, just North of Atlanta, Oct 4-5, 2007. This conference usually draws over 10,000 people and is aimed at sharing leadership insights with young, upcoming leaders. It’s a great event with an impressive list of speakers including:

• John C. Maxwell – author of many leadership books including, 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership,
• Andy Stanley – Senior Pastor of North Point Christian Church,
• Dave Ramsey – Radio host and NY best selling author,
• Tim Sanders – Former Chief Solutions Office, Yahoo!,
• Patrick Lencioni – NY Best selling author: Five Dysfunctions of a Team), and
• Rick Warren – Pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life.

My plan is to do some live blogging for the first time. Let’s see what happens. Hope to see you there.