[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

For an organization to thrive, a healthy Board-CEO relationship must be at the Centre. Creating a healthy relationship between the board and the CEO not only affects the two entities involved, but flows down to affect staff members, clients or the beneficiaries and all the organization’s stakeholders. Due to our human propensity to drift, the Board and CEO’s relationship must center on and routinely return to a shared commitment to the mission. Otherwise the organization runs the risk of bending towards the interests of individual leaders as opposed to the mission.  Healthy Boards and CEO’s understands that mission is what matters most and should never let personal ego undermine the potential of their organizations to succeed.

It is important for any organization to provide clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the Board and the CEO. This way everyone becomes more productive since the Board and the staff members are not spending time doing another’s work. The relationship between the Board and the CEO might be best described in terms of the relationship between the coach and the quarterback (captain). Both have a shared agenda: win the football game. There is clarity on the goal and each one of them knows they do not have the same role. The coach selects the quarterback and creates a strategy, but on game day, no matter how involved the coach is on the sidelines, you’ll never see him or her step into the playing field. The coach can shout use signal language, direct the overall play, run around but can never hit the ball. For better for worse, the field is the quarterback’s domain.

Similarly the Board functions as the coach. They select the quarterback (CEO), make game plan (set overall direction), and then empower the person to play his or her role. The Board doesn’t and should never engage in the day-to-day affairs of the organization. If the CEO is consistently not meeting performance expectations, it is time for the Board to either empower or find a new quarterback. Like this basic analogy the core roles and responsibilities of the Board and the CEO do not need to be complex but they do need to be distinct and clear.

Reflection
But all things should be done decently and in order.- 1 Corinthians 14:40

 

Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant M_OliveS Mentors

 

Borrowed from the book; ‘The Board and the CEO by Peter Greer & David Weekly[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

You can only grow your Business/Company to the extent that you grow yourself. The good news is that time invested into your own personal growth is completely under your control.

Here are four simple ways to build your capacity

Expand your horizons; expanding your horizons unlocks the world to you by introducing you to unusual experiences-inviting the unfamiliar into your life. Build your capacity by always striving to be just a bit outside your comfort zone. Whatever is routine in your life actually keeps you from growing in the ways you could if you did just a few things a bit differently on a daily basis.  

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore”. William Faulkner

Be imaginative; all success begins as imagined outcomes, opportunities and possibilities. The more imaginative you allow yourself to be, the more open you are to creating innovative and effective problem-solving techniques. Creativity is a key trait you need to be a successful. There is no such thing as “not creative.” It is God given and we all have it.

Consistently learn; there is always something to learn-never be above education. Be passionate for acquiring and developing new skills and information. Always be searching for what is new and what is not yet fully understood in your industry. The more you learn the more you realize how much there is still to know and the more information you have available to you when making critical decisions.

Physical activity & sleep; Physical activity not only gets you in better shape, but it gives you a higher functioning brain. The brain responds best when it is full of oxygen. Secondly, working around the clock makes you as dangerous to yourself and others as someone who is intoxicated. Getting enough sleep determines your ability to sustain attention and maintain desired excellence.

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Jim Rohn.

Reflection

2 Timothy 1:7 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant M_OliveS Mentors

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”lead mb-xl”]Market Focus[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

We decided to celebrate our entrepreneurs during this Customer service week (csweek2019), those who we have mentored over the years. The ones who helped us realize that the word ‘mentor’ just like the word ‘mummy’ is not just any other word but it comes with responsibilities. Those we can look back to and say, “We raised them” and they can equally look at us and say, “Here is our ‘mentor’ (‘mummy’). For us to ‘LIKE WHAT WE GET’ we realize that we have to pay attention to some key aspects of Mentoring. The first one is the Empowering aspect of mentorship; a mentee in the end needs to be proud of their positive growth after a mentoring journey with us. This positive growth can and should be measured. Second is uniqueness; a mentor should never ‘cut and paste’ a mentoring approach. Each mentee is unique to us and we therefore treat them as such when designing our mentoring methods. The third one is ‘Relationship’; being a value adding relationship our mentoring is driven by honesty, respect for each other, clarity of goals as well as being a win-win for both the mentor and the mentee. The last one and not the least is commitment; We will go out of our way to support our mentees not so much because of the value of the currency but because of the ‘personal satisfaction and shared accomplishments’ that comes with this commitment.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”lead mb-xl”]We like what we get[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Last month one of my nephews turned 14 and being a first born his mum (my sister) wrote down a sweet birthday message with a part of it saying.” You introduced the word mummy to my life” and I thought ‘how sweet and how true’?  For those of us who are parents you agree with me ‘mummy’ or ‘daddy’ never meant much until you became one. You also agree that it is one thing to be called a ‘mummy’ and another thing to take up the responsibilities that comes with being one. There are needs that a child has which only you as a mummy or daddy can meet and hence they become our responsibilities. However, whether you take up these responsibilities or not the child will still grow and you will still be called ‘mummy’.  My friend and a sought-after speaker on the subjects of marriage and parenting, Dr Stanley Mukolwe, writes in his Book ‘Rising Future Parents’”. …you may choose when to have children, you may even choose how many children to have. But once you have these children, you cannot choose when to raise them. Your choices are gone! If you do not raise them, they will still grow. But you may not like what you get!” We decided to celebrate our entrepreneurs during this Customer service week (csweek2019), those who we have mentored over the years. The ones who helped us realize that the word ‘mentor’ just like the word ‘mummy’ is not just any other word but it comes with responsibilities. Those we can look back to and say, “We raised them” and they can equally look at us and say, “Here is our ‘mentor’ (‘mummy’). For us to ‘LIKE WHAT WE GET’ we realize that we have to pay attention to some key aspects of Mentoring. The first one is the Empowering aspect of mentorship; a mentee in the end needs to be proud of their positive growth after a mentoring journey with us. This positive growth can and should be measured. Second is uniqueness; a mentor should never ‘cut and paste’ a mentoring approach. Each mentee is unique to us and we therefore treat them as such when designing our mentoring methods. The third one is ‘Relationship’; being a value adding relationship our mentoring is driven by honesty, respect for each other, clarity of goals as well as being a win-win for both the mentor and the mentee. The last one and not the least is commitment; We will go out of our way to support our mentees not so much because of the value of the currencybut because of the ‘personal satisfaction and shared accomplishments’ that comes with this commitment. We desire to be like Paul in the Bible who committed time to mentor Timothy his ‘true son in the faith’ (1 Tim 1:2). Through their close relationship Paul empowered Timothy by giving him direct input and many opportunities so that he could grow personally and develop in Ministry. It is our prayer that each one that comes to us for mentorship will experience an empowering, unique relationship driven by our commitment to see them grow personally and develop in what they do. And they are right. As an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to give it your all – energy, time, and attention at any time of the day or night. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]