Week 3 session focused on the GROW Model. We explored how mentors can effectively guide conversations by bridging the gap between current Reality and future Goals. By analyzing the best Options available, helping the mentees to map out a clear, actionable Way forward.
#GROWModel#growth#reality#opportunities#wayforward#skills#SkillBuilding
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The world doesn’t just need more leaders, it needs mentors who can shape them.
Since 2012, M.Olives Mentors has been at the forefront of transforming Africa’s leadership and mentorship landscape and now, it’s your turn to join the legacy
Cohort 10 of Ignite Your Mentoring Passion is about to take off and the clock is ticking!
We’re calling on purpose-driven educators, professionals, coaches and leaders who are ready to scale their influence and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and change-makers
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to formalize your mentorship impact, this is it.
Don’t just inspire. Mentor with purpose. Lead with impact.
Limited slots available. Secure your place today: https://forms.gle/C8G9ykkS4P2Saei6A
As an entrepreneur you have great characteristics; coming up with new ideas, new technologies, confident, charismatic, risk taker and the list is endless. However, these very same qualities can pose a risk to the long-term growth of your company. While making solo decisions and being inseparable from your company may have been an asset at some point, these traits will not be helpful as the company grows over time.
Think about it; What happens if you were not able to be present in your company anymore? ‘It could very well be the end of the organization’. What happens if you chose to stick around? ‘Your individual vision becomes the company vision. Alternative ideas are muted, and the business becomes more about you than the organizational mission’.
As an entrepreneur be on the lookout for these warning signs of the founder’s syndrome; The Company is largely associated with you, no strategy or planning, few systems and processes in place, lack of communication and decisions are often made in a vacuum with no collaboration or buy-in, excessive micro-management and censoring of new ideas, capable employees feel unable to contribute, irregular staff engagements where motivation is through fear and guilt, as a leader you are unwilling to ask or accept help and there is no succession plan.
“In the founders eyes there is no one who can lead, guide or grow the business like themselves and the fear that the business can be destroyed if handed over to their children or independent management is a clear and present danger to them” Carol Musyoka
Founder’s syndrome is a threatening disease since it involves founders constraining or undermining the company that they sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to build. The best method of dealing with founder’s syndrome is for it never to occur in the first place. This requires you as the founder to become more aware of your abilities and how those abilities might be constraining your company. It requires you to invest heavily in your own leadership development. It requires your board of directors to practice good governance and look after the long-term interests of the company.
Reflection
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.- Philippians 2:3-4
Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant M_OliveS Mentors
Business financing is raising the necessary capital to start or expand a business. Building a business requires capital-whether it is your own or other people’s money, you will need capital. Without access to capital, great ideas die and great profitable businesses go bankrupt. The entrepreneur’s ability to access financing is key to his or her success. It is not possible for every entrepreneur to self-finance and even if you start with self-financing, growth sometimes makes it difficult to continue doing so comfortably. Here are some things to consider when it comes to financing your business;
Seek advice; You do not have to be an expert in business financing but you can consider talking to a mentor, a business coach or a consultant. This should be someone with expertise in business financing who can guide you on the best form of financing for you.
Have a written business plan; Though it is not impossible to raise money without a business plan, a written plan allows for investors and lenders to confirm that you have a viable business with a clear business strategy. It is therefore important to have a written business plan.
Keep expenses to a minimum; Remember that self-financing is the best and keeping your expenses to a minimum makes it easier for you to self-finance. And even when you need external capital, it keeps the capital you need to a minimum.
Use your own savings and assets; What do you have in your hand? Don’t be quick to seek external capital, first use what you have. Furthermore, your ability to demonstrate that you have invested your own money is key to getting the trust of investors and lenders.
Leverage your personal network; Consider who you know and the relationships you have that can help tap into financing. The key to success is not just what you know, but who you know.
Reflection
Ask, and it will be given unto you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. -Mathew 7:7-8
Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant M_OliveS Mentors
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The key goal in managing forceful and unpredictable challenges is resilience– the ability to survive and thrive through erratic, changing, and potentially hostile events.
Five ways in which you can build your Business Resilience
A crisis like the one we’re currently experiencing requires quick thinking in the face of uncertainty. However as an entrepreneur you may find yourself dealing with “analysis paralysis,”- inability to make a decision due to overthinking.
Delaying decisions will only lead to more problems—and those problems will require more decisions. “In the military, it doesn’t matter in which direction you choose to move when under a mortar attack, just so long as you move. Decisions are never final for the simple fact that change is never absolute.” Jeff Boss
Some actions that are resilient in nature include;
What to do: Break down what you need to do into smaller steps and then attend to issues based on their level of urgency. “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”
While having access to the latest news is undoubtedly a blessing, it can also be a burden. Information overload is a very real thing that occurs when there is too much relevant information being disseminated at the same time.
When there’s an information surplus, we tend to miss out on important news or even succumb to potentially harmful misinformation. In fact, research shows that false news travels faster than true stories on social media.
What to do; In order to make sense of all the conflicting information out there, evaluate whether the information you are reading is fact-checked and from a reliable source. It’s also good to set a limit for yourself. Continuously exposing yourself to upsetting news will only heighten anxiety.
As a Business owner it can be difficult to know where to prioritize time and resources. One way to choose is to consider what is truly important to your business. For most of us, that’s people—employees, customers, vendors, partners.
What to do; Your first priority should be the safety and well-being of your employees. Up next would be communicating with customers. They may not be in a position to patronize your business, but they still want to be updated on any changes to its operations. The same goes for other stakeholders so they know what your status is and what to expect moving forward. Other areas of focus include; Cash flow and Insurance, Business Continuity, tax and audit.
COVID-19 isn’t the only threat on the horizon — and often you are most vulnerable when dealing with a crisis that dominates your attention. The many other risks that your business faces aren’t diminished by an epidemic. Cybersecurity, for example, should always be top of mind. Others include; Financial risks, Reputation risk, Operational risks, competition risks etc
We’re all experiencing a lot of intense emotions during these ever-evolving times, and as an entrepreneur/Business owner you have an additional level of stress as you try to do what is best for you employees and customers.
Remember “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Overextending yourself leads to burnout, and once you reach that state you won’t be able to help anyone. That’s why it’s imperative that you carve out time to recharge and take care of yourself.
What to do; Be intentional by setting a block of time in your schedule for self-care—whether that be going for a walk, spending time with your family, or enjoying a long’ hot bath’. The more you’re able to find inner calm during this crisis, the better able you are to make decisions and lead your business.
Conclusion
The scale of this crisis is unprecedented, but there is a silver lining. Eventually, you will come out on the other side of this pandemic with a greater sense of personal empowerment, growth and increased connection to your community (customers, employees, stakeholders)—all of which will be advantages for your businesses now and in the future.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wNCkMZ8KxqRYiVJVnzI3fQdEUUsqxYto/view?usp=drivesdk[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”998″ label=””][vc_column_text]Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant Molives Mentors[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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If you stepped down from your leadership role, would you leave with confidence that your team would adjust seamlessly and that the business will continue to thrive? This is what is possible if you coach or mentor to develop your team. It is absolutely worth your time. However, to effectively coach or mentor your team you must shift your thinking. Continue Reading
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Africa is demographically the world’s youngest continent. By 2030, about 20% of the global labour force and nearly 35% of the global youth labour force will be from this region. While 10 to 12 million Africa’s youth enter the workforce each year, only 3 million formal jobs are created. Indeed, the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will likely worsen this trend. With most African countries in lockdown, the impact of COVID-19 on economies and businesses will be significant and long-lasting. According to a recent assessment by the ILO, almost 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide as a result of the pandemic. Both the formal and informal sectors are threatened with destruction. Noting that 15-34 year-olds make up close to half of the continent’s working age population; young people will be the first to feel the effects of this recession – and most likely the last to recover. This is a sad reality on a continent with such an impressive pool of youth, talent and creativity. Lack of youth employment opportunities undermines Economic growth, Social cohesion and Political stability.
From the demand-side perspective, COVID-19 has reduced consumption, and neither African SMEs nor their countries have sufficient market infrastructure (such as internet connectivity or e-commerce markets) to help mitigate this shock. From the supply-side, the virus has affected workers in terms of employment and access to work, and mitigation measures have caused a slowdown of economic activity. The sectors that are most at risk of COVID-19 disruptions in Africa are: wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, administrative services, and hospitality (including tourism). Along with agriculture, these sectors represent many of the key industries where young people currently find employment.
In the midst of this gloomy scenario what opportunities may be opening up for the youth? Where would a youth start in a depressed Economy?
The truth is that this crisis comes with opportunities. The old Chinese proverb; ‘A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind’ applies even now. If you look around, you will realize there are more opportunities than threats. As long as the world has not come to an end yet, there will always be needs; people must eat, have a roof over their heads, keep warm & healthy etc. Allow the crisis to ignite the creativity in you; quarantine, lock-down and all other mitigation measures although painful gives a rare time for planning, reflection and self-examination. There will definitely be winners and losers during and after this pandemic; how do you align your ideas to the winning side.
For SME owners, Business Managers & Corporate heads, give youth a chance. Businesses are looking to bounce back quickly after the pandemic-it’s time we created opportunities for internship and apprenticeship for the youth. In addition let us consider mentoring our young people for sustainable job creation and succession planning?
Lastly as John Denver put it “I would so much like young people to have a sense of the gift that they are”, our youth are truly a gift![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”835″ label=””][vc_column_text]Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant MoliveS Mentors[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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A few days ago I had a chance to do what I love most-training mentors. This was not an ordinary group of participants but a group of youth, 30 years and below, who are interested in changing the lives of other youths within their circle of influence, thanks to ELNET-Ethical Leaders Network (ELNET) which exists to influence leaders both in the corporate and religious circles towards Godly transformation. As I conducted this training via zoom, which is the ‘new normal’, I was excited not just because these are youths who have decided to step out of the ordinary but also because of their resolve -the current crisis notwithstanding. Their presence in this virtual learning moment was clear proof of their determination.
My topic for the day, ‘Qualities of a good mentor’ is what I want to share with you this weekend.
What is mentoring?; While it is very difficult to provide an authoritative definition of mentoring, I will give a very basic definition of what mentoring is; ‘Mentorship refers to a relational experience in which one empowers another by sharing God given resources (Knowledge, skills, experience etc)’. Mentoring is intentional, empowering and unique.
“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could” Zig Ziglar
Biblical Basis for mentoring; Several verses in the Bible help us to appreciate that mentoring matters. We look at just but a few of these verses.
So what are the qualities of a good mentor?
First understand that you are unique and so your mentoring will be unique. There are however, key characteristic and behaviors that build a foundation for good mentoring.
While the above list does not exhaust all the qualities of a good mentor it communicates a number of things to your mentee;
Remember mentoring is a two way Street-both mentor and the mentee benefit from the relationship- long life relationship and mutual growth.
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“Anything can change, Mary, anything and I mean anything!” These were the words my friend, Ann, told me this week when we were discussing how quickly things are changing, making it nearly impossible to catch up with the speed of change. What once seemed strong, dependable and immovable has been shaken to the core. We are experiencing a never imagined change in all aspects of our lives; the way we work, do Business, forge relationships, run Governments, run churches & other religious entities, deliver essential services like health and education, etc. Yes, my friend is right, ‘Anything can change!
I got to ask myself; What does it mean to be a leader at a time like now? Be it a Business leader, company leader, church leader or a Government leader- my guess is there is nothing in your leadership past that is quite like the current COVID-19 pandemic. So, just how do you navigate this pandemic as a leader?
In the Old Testament, Exodus 14, the story of Moses at the Red Sea is one of great drama. The people are caught between the charging armies of the Egyptians on one side and the feared depths of the sea on the other. Yet, still God provides a way through – not by withdrawing either threat but calling Moses to lead his people into the very heart of the chaos of the sea. The walk across the Red Sea, surrounded on both sides by the water, must have been a terrifying place. The temptation to lose faith as individuals, and a group, and take the chance of facing the known threat of the army must have always been in the minds of the people.
I see three key factors (apart from fear) that kept the group from turning back: the clear vision from their leaders, the presence of their leaders with them and the sense of being a community on the move together. Note the focus of the leaders was on leading ‘through’, not ‘into’. It is therefore essential that as a leader you work hard at both visioning, presence and care.
At times like this everyone is stressed, and it is vital that as a leader you come up with simple clear strategies of how your organization may not just hold together, but move forward to a new future through this catastrophic event. In the case of Moses the the practices of leadership that helped most in the situation were: their faith, vision, support for people-acknowledging they are in a place of fear and not thinking they can do it all alone-working with the people
There are many ways your situation is not like the Red Sea, but I hope this provides you a chance to reflect on your own experiences. We are all going to be changed by this experience, but we will also need to acknowledge that our security can only be assured by faith, not in the clarity of what is going to happen next but rather in the one who says “Follow me” into the messy reality of life and “I will be with you always.”
My prayers are with all who have accepted the responsibility of leadership in these difficult times; You will overcome!
To all of us remember the words of my friend; Anything, anything, can change![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”835″ label=””][vc_column_text]Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant MoliveS Mentors[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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You possibly know about Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and that it helps a business continue operating in the event of major disasters e.g. fires. However, and possibly like me, less did you know that a disaster can get this close and hit this hard leaving your Businesses on its knees-that is what COVID-19 has done. It is, therefore, now time to not only think about BCP but to get it done as soon as possible.
And so we get to ask ourselves; What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)? Why do you need it? And how do you do it?
What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)? ; It is the process a company undergoes to create prevention and a recovery system from potential threats such as natural disasters (fire, floods) or cyber-attacks, relevant example being the current COVID-19 crisis.
Longevity in business is about being able to reinvent yourself: Satya Nadella
Why Business Continuity Planning (BCP)? ; Becoming an entrepreneur is all about taking risks. In order to ensure that your business is sustainable, you need to put in place systems that can prevent threats whether internal or external that may try to interfere with your day to day operations. BCP ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster. Some benefits of BCP include;
During the COVID-19 crisis BCP will help you to; 1) Establish the risk profile of your business and the level of vulnerability to COVID-19 in terms of its impact on your People, Processes, Profits and Partnerships (the “4Ps”).
and 2) Develop an effective risk and emergency arrangement for the business.
“It takes years to build a Business but only minutes to lose it” Warren Buffet
How do you write a Business Continuity Plan during this COVID-19 crisis? BCP is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel. It is important to consider using a Business Continuity Planning (BCP) tool. Let us look at a tool that is mostly targeted at smaller enterprises with limited resources and structured in two parts.
Part 1: Establish your risk profile (Self-assessment); Here you need to ask yourself questions around the 4P’s; ‘People, Processes, Profits and Partnerships’. You will then need to estimate your vulnerability level by use of a Risk Matrix which will help you do a comprehensive assessment and hence identify which of the 4P’s (people, processes, profits and partnerships) your business is most vulnerable to (and which aspects in particular).
Part 2: Develop a six-step COVID-19 BCP; The following are the six steps needed to establish your business continuity plan (BCP):
Step 1: Identify your key products/services. What are your most important products/services? Consider the following criteria:
Step 2: Establish the objective of your BCP. What do you want to achieve by establishing your BCP?
Consider the following; What departments will the plan cover? What are the outcomes of a successful plan? Which milestones should we track?
Step 3: Evaluate the potential impact of disruptions to your business and workers/staff. How long can interruptions last before becoming intolerable? What are the resources required and who are the suppliers/partners/ contractors needed to conduct key operations?
Step 4: List action to protect your business by using the 4Ps framework. Consider actions to minimize risk to your: People(lives of workers and family members), Processes(enterprise operations), Profits(revenue generation) and Partnerships(enabling environment to carry out business operations).
Step 5: Establish contact lists. Note that most of your activities will be non-physical (Mobile phone calls, texts, WhatsApp calls, zoom meetings, Googlemeet etc). Make sure you have accurate and updated lists of all your key stakeholders (suppliers/partners/ contractors).
Step 6: Maintain, review and continuously update your BCP; Once you have a business continuity plan in place, don’t forget to update and adapt it regularly. A BCP that is not constantly tested and updated will be of little help. Changes have to be monitored; impacts, risk and continuity strategies need to be reevaluated.
“The only thing harder than planning for a disaster is explaining why you didn’t”
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste” Obama Chief of staff
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