Sorry to have been off for a while. The truth is that I have moved to my own domain – www.busayoakanro.com. I apologise for my negligence but encourage you however to log on to my new site so we can keep the communication line.

I love you all.

Busayo

He started by showing the audience a quote of one of his mentors on a power point presentation slide. Two things immediately struck me hard:

1. The name of his mentor.
2. The veracity of his words.

Immediately, I decided to adopt the same man as my mentor. Please note; this man is a situational mentor. This means that he’s a mentor in a particular area or dimension. He is not a full or rounded mentor. He’s not exactly someone my mentor or I would like to model in terms of lifestyle or values. He is just a mentor by virtue of what he said in his aging years and the application of those words to our lives and other. His name is no none other than Lucky Luciano.- greatest mafia boss who ever ruled in America. Even Al Capone for his fame and terror fades into 2^nd place beside Lucky Luciano. What made him unique:

• He was the only Mafia boss of his time who died a natural death – Charles “Lucky Luciano” (born Salvatore Lucania) died of a heart attack in 1962. He was 62 years old. Most of his colleagues died by assassination.
• Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime.
• He is also considered as the mastermind of the massive postwar expansion of the international heroin trade.
• He is the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family.
• TIME magazine name Luciano amongst the top 20 most influential builders and titans of the 20^th century.
• Even today Luciano is recognized as the biggest gangster ever and one of the most influential criminals in world history due to his direct participation in major criminal conspiracies like the establishment of Cosa Nostra in the United States and the importation of heroin during his exile in Italy.
• He was regarded as one of the wealthiest men living in America during his lifetime.

What qualified him to be my mentor’s mentor and my own mentor by extension? Just before he died, Lucky was asked a question at an interview with journalists.

“If you had the privilege of starting over again, what would you do differently?” and he replied

“ I discovered too late that the same effort it took to make a honest million dollars is the same effort it took to make a dishonest million dollars, if I had the opportunity to start over again, I’ll do it legitimately.”

Learning and applying all available skill sets on the dishonest side of this world to add value and succeed legitimately is the area where Lucky stands as mentor to my mentor.

“Everything you have applied wrongly to get results can be applied rightly to achieve positive results.”

One of the things that struck me immediately I entered into the conference room used for the seminar was the array of young upwardly mobile-looking guys who you could almost bet your life on were some of the most law abiding and straight citizens of this great country. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them and at the same time feel utmost joy.

The former feeling was in relation to those who they who would have caused pain and tears; families they might have wrecked; businesses they might have jettisoned; lives they might have destroyed and so on; the latter feeling because they were seated in the room where a process of change was bound to kick off in their lives for the better.

That they were present in that room was an indication that they were not ultimately satisfied with the means by which they were living large. It pointed out to me that they had been there and back and were probably asking themselves if “this” was how they’d live all their lives. How much consolation could they derive from the fact that they would be cursed most of their lives by those whose lives they intentionally ruined.

But most importantly, I believe the reason they were there was because somebody’s life was a challenge and mystery to them. One guy who seemed to have performed the ultimate miracle -  live off the streets and make more money than can be made on the streets legit. One guy they’d been whispering about to each other “Have you heard?” they’ll say in hushed tones “Omo the guy  no they job again o but e still dey hammer, how the guy they do am?”  This young gentleman is who I am celebrating in this article. His name is Felix Ekpa.

If you are curious about his profile or want to find out more about his life on the streets please hit this link – www.felixekpa.com. Felix lived and thrived by making “magas” of people in times past. For a year and some now, he has been going legit and making huge chunks of dough as well. When he was still on the streets, he had successfully trained, mentored and employed tens of youths like himself in the trade.

Having gotten out of the quicksand which never seems to stop sucking you under the more you try to get out, he decided it was high time he took responsibility for getting others out of it as well. The result was a high brow seminar titled “Using Street Skills to Make Money Legitimately”.

How did I meet this great chap? I had heard a lot about him without meeting him from my mentor. Coincidentally, we share the same mentor so I can safely say he’s a brother of some kind. By the time I finally met him, I felt honoured to know such a brave man as he. Not many people would live uncertainty for certainty, especially when that uncertainty made you comfortable and the latter seemed void. He braved the odds and is the better for it now. Besides, by the time we met, his uncertainty had already become certainty. He was back on the money making track using the skills he had learnt on the streets to do it lawfully. In fact, as I learnt later, he had started returning in bits the money he had conned people out of to those he conned and could still get in touch with.

It was the rebirth of a great visionary. The making of a new man. Now Felix works as a leading Business consultant with Generis Solutions. He is a mentor and coach on financial intelligence among other things. He is a pioneer member and leading strategist of the New Nigeria Club.

Another feather that has been added to his cap is his crusade to convert street guys to legit guys and Saturday, 8^th March was when the maiden event took place. It was a huge success. The first of its kind and certainly the point of turnaround for his erstwhile friends and business colleagues on the street.

All I can say is Felix is fast approaching the state of a true Icon in the New Nigeria. If I was the president of this new country, I’d probably endow him with a national award – GCON – Grand Commander of the Order of the New Nigeria. KUDOS!!! THREE HAPPY CHEERS FOR FELIX!!! HURRAY! HURRAY!! HURRAY!!!

I remember attending an assessment at a multinational a few months ago. I passed the written tests and was told to wait for an interview. I was kept waiting for about 5 hours without lunch or newsletters, magazines or a video of the organization. I felt so terrible and immediately concluded in my mind that human and employee relations in this organization aren’t what I’d like to experience. As if that wasn’t enough, when I finally was interviewed, there were no apologies made with reference to the delay. I was vexed to say the least. I’m sure a lot of other people have suffered even worse a fate at the hand of hiring managers. There are some things recruiting and seclection/hiring managers out to know with regards to treating applicants improperly.

You can find out as you read an excerpt from HR advisor reviewed and edited by me.

The Engagement Cycle

We are not talking about “hiring” here but about the “engagement cycle.” That means finding and retaining the best employees—the “keepers”—through a continuous cycle that goes like this: Build a great workplace with a unique culture; use that culture to attract the right people; use those people to strengthen the culture, and then use the culture to hold onto the people.

Attract, Acquire, Advance

Three parts of the engagement process: attract, acquire, and advance.

(1) Attract—This involves building and promoting the employer’s brand. You build a brand around the key attributes of your company as an employer and then reach out to skilled workers. (Meanwhile, candidates are researching companies and deciding where they’ll apply.)

(2) Acquire—You create a great candidate experience by leveraging your brand during the hiring process and setting up a working relationship. (Meanwhile, the candidate is evaluating you and comparing you to other companies.)

(3) Advance—You retain top talent with rewards and growth. (Meanwhile, employees are continuously evaluating what they get from you and what their value is in the marketplace.)

Most Workers Are Available

Employers tend to think that only about 20 percent of employees at other companies are “available” to recruit. But the truth is nearly the opposite. Check out three types of candidates:

Settled loyalists (about 30% of workers) are happy where they are and hard to displace.

Poised Loyalists (about 11% of workers) are happy but could be enticed to move.

Poised Opportunists (about 59% of workers) are actively looking. They’ve posted their resumes, will apply for your job, and are amenable to job offers.

When skeptical managers or employers find out how large the potential pool is, either by losing some employees they thought were loyal or when they find out that those preconceived loyalists were actually sourcing for other job opportunities; they are surprised, but they quickly realize it means that many good employees are in the marketplace.

The Interview Experience

Most interviews involve sitting in reception, filling out an application in a room, enduring a grilling by HR, and then listening to hiring managers talk about themselves. That sends the message “We don’t care,”

In contrast, I recommend treating candidates like customers. Show them to a comfortable room with fresh coffee, drinks or bottled water, and a video playing about the organization. Offer help in filling out the application (if there’s one to fill). Then follow with a professional interview and a meaningful interaction with the hiring manager.

Applicants can be taken to some type of gathering area where they can meet and relate with current employees of the organization. It’s a comfortable place where happy employees are relaxing. It sends a powerful message. Otherwise, they can be treated to lunch or breakfast as the case may be in the organizations restaurant. The important thing is for them to feel a sense of belonging, care and regard even though they haven’t been certified as employees yet. It generates a longing to join the organization and they’ll perform their best at the interview.

Making the Offer

Don’t just send a letter with start date and salary details. Write a letter that recaps everything you offer:

“We think you’re the best person for the job, not only because of your skills and experience but also because of the deep understanding you showed, your can-do attitude, and your desire to step up to management.”

It’s also encouraging when other managers or line supervisors within the organisation give the candidate a call. “Hi,, I heard that we made you an offer. Any questions? I think you’d do well here. There are lots of opportunities here, etc.”

The fresh recruit immediately warms up to the company and feels welcome there even before his first day at work.

Many organizations miss an opportunity to hire the best because they don’t understand that in the process of hiring, the organization is also been sized up by the intending employee with regard to their human relations culture.

A few weeks ago, we had as a guest minister in my church a Nigerian and I put a stress on the word Nigerian, who has been able to etch is footprints in the sands of gold of a non-Nigerian nation. In fact this renown man achieved this feat in a European country. He has been dubbed as one of the ten most influential and impactful men in that country. He has been the subject of many world leading magazines. e.g. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Ebony magazine etc.

He titled his message as “The sin of irresponsibility”. He told of how to be truly great and described it as taking responsibility for a problem and providing the relevant solution. In fact, according to him greatness is regional because problems are regional. The region of coverage of the solution you provide is the area in which your influence or greatness is bound by.

If you solved the problem of incessant power outage and inadequate power supply for a state in your country (say Nigeria for example), your area of influence is bound within your state. You are a hero to those who are under the influence or effect of your solution. To people in India, for example, you are a Nobody. As a matter of fact, in other states or regions within Nigeria, you are not different from any other regular citizen; but if the influence of the solution you provided spreads across and beyond that state and filters into or covers other states or regions, the level of greatness that can be applied to your name increases in proportion to the area your solution now impacts.

Mandela is a world-wide leader because he provided exemplary leadership abilities in a country that lacked such. Now because leadership is generic and affects every part of humanity and because human rights can not but be considered as important in every country of the world, his influence and greatness is bound by the area the whole world covers. Little wonder he’s been referred to as the “Most influential man alive on planet Earth at this moment.” Heads of countries must welcome him if he’s visiting their countries on an informal trip. State recognition, service and accolades are awarded him wherever he visits, though unsolicited.

So I ask myself, how can I be as relevant as Nelson Mandela? And I answer “ Find a global problem and provide a solution to it, making sure that I remain alive until the fruits of it begin to grow around the world”.

Jesus Christ put it this way “He that must be great among you must become the servant of all”. The sure path to greatness is selfless service. All we need to do in Nigeria is to take responsibility for the issues we complain our Government isn’t taking responsibility for and we’d be surprised at how speedily Nigeria will become the most desirable place to live in 2025.

If it’s politics that irks or annoys you the most in the country, please get legitimately involved in it and do it right. Whatever you complain about is an opportunity waiting for you to become great as you provide a solution to it. If it’s depraved sexuality that is the problem, become a sexuality consultant and work at turning things around. If its education, do the same ….bla..bla…bla.

What you complain about that you are not willing to create a solution for becomes a sin on your path.

BEWARE GUYS OF THE SIN OF IRRESPONSIBILITY. Greatness is a proof of responsibility and atonement from sin. Are you great?

I am sitting down on the floor of my mentor’s sitting room writing this post at about 12.09am at night. I’m actually supposed to be working on some content for the website of the organization I work with but I just watched this movie and couldn’t resist the urge to write about it.

The title is as above “The Devil wears Prada”. The lead part was done by Academy award winner Meryl Streep. For those who have watched this movie, I won’t need to explain some stuff, but for those who haven’t, first I need to tell you to go and get a copy, sit down and watch it carefully. There is a lot you can learn. These are some of the things I learnt.

1. There are no limits.

The movie stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea “Andy” Sachs, a recent college graduate who comes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. She came on the job as a novice. She was not interested in fashion nor did she know the first thing about succeeding in the fashion industry.

Meanwhile, her boss did not relent or compromise on the deliverables she expected. After going through a lot, she eventually made up her mind to come up to par. The moment she decided, she took action in the direction of her decision and she immediately became noticeably different. Even her boss started to note the way she looked, her sense of fashion. etc……….

The limits we have are those we place on ourselves. Every skill can be learnt. Your background is not a limitation. We are products of our choices. You can become anything you set your mind on in within the time you desire. 

1. Collaborate with experts

When Andrea decided to improve on her fashion sense, she didn’t immediately go to look for books on the subject or try to get the knowledge herself. She rather went straight to the Design Head at the organization and asked him to get clothes that would suit her. She came back to the office looking smashing.

Most of what you seek or desire is close to you or present in your immediate environment. All you need do is ASK. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Leverage on what is working already. Somebody close to you has either done it or is doing it or has an idea of what to be done. What you need to do is get in touch with this “somebody”. 

1. Give a little more

Andrea didn’t just begin to match her boss’ expectations, she exceeded them. She understood the impact of the little extra. The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is the extra. She understood the little things that made a big difference.

Consider everyone you are accountable to as a client as make up you mind to EXCEED CLIENT’S EXPECTATIONS ALWAYS. Some of our careers, relationships and paradigms just need the little extra. The difference between nine hundred thousand and ninety nine and one million is 1. A little extra can change you level.

• I read about how Indians from before they were teenagers could ride horses bareback. They could mount them at top speed and get off the same way.
• They could literally put their ears to the ground and tell how many horses or riders or vehicles are moving, in what direction they are moving, how far out they are and how soon they’d reach them.
• They could look at the bent grass and tell how many horses road by, when they rode by and how many men each horse carried.
• They could stalk wild animals in the forest as well as wild animals can stalk human beings.
• They could look in the direction of the sun’s rays and still see beyond it.
• They are not blinded by the sun’s rays. They could shoot arrows accurately over very long distances. They can survive on the littlest amount of food or water.
• They had excellent hearing abilities. Infact, there was a teaching among them that if you heard the twang of a bowstring releasing an arrow change the direction you were heading towards immediately.
• They could concoct all sorts of potions from vegetation to dress injuries, bleed poisons, feed nutritiously, abate pain and all that.
• They could withstand unbearable pain. As a matter of fact, in some tribes, real men weren’t supposed to cry out when pain was being inflicted on them.

All together, they were a very dangerous bunch of people to go against because of their understanding of nature and the way they blended with it. However, when the white Americans (there were blacks among them, I’ll just use this term to refer to them for now) came, they eventually defeated the native Indians and drove them out of their lands. How did this happen? – Relevance

Even though the Indians were exceptionally good at natural abilities and skills especially measured against what the white Americans knew or could do, they still didn’t succeed in keeping their lands. Why? The white Americans fought the Indians with weapons that were more sophisticated than those powered by natural skills or strength. Relative to the time, the skills of the Indian could not hold as effectively as they should have because newer technology had reduced the potency of such skills.

The potency of your skills is a function of the time or season you display them in.

What skills, knowledge and attributes are you using to keep your place of influence in this time and age? Are they skills that had a premium in the past, or are they skills relevant to compete and excel against opposition or competition around the world? Are they local skills or are they global skills.

The sphere of relevance your skills, knowledge or attributes can command is the maximum area you can dominate or excel in.

A few days ago I spoke with one of my mentors about some goals I intended to achieve this year. I had the privilege of asking him what books he read that formed his values and business acumen. They said that if you want to hide something from a black man, hide it in a book. They went further to say, if you wanted to make sure he didn’t find it, buy the book and give it to him. He told me that it wasn’t necessarily the books you read that mattered but the treasures you might have dug up within the books. He summarized it as follows; if you must read a book:

• Make reading the book like a voyage. An adventure to seek out treasure.
• Go into the book with a purpose.
• Look for something definite in the book.
• It is not the books you read that matters; it is what you find in the books you read.
• When you find what you are looking for in a book, you should digest it until it becomes a part of you.
• What you become in life is a result of how much you have ingested and digested from reading, not what you have read.

180 degrees Seminars

There’ll be a string of personal development seminars this year. There will be different features every week for the span of 40weeks. At the end of 40weeks, everyone that has 10units will be given a recognized certification in a range of personal development topics for each of the modules of 10units. These seminars will features series on Financial Empowerment, Business Development, Finding Purpose, Self Awareness, Public Speaking, Making Money Online, Stock Trading, Forex Trading, Networking to Millions, Business Financing, Social Skills Development e.t.c. The seminars will be featuring the best of facilitators from within the development industry. These seminars will cost N1000, per session but will be discounted for New Nigeria Club members. The first Unit – Introduction to Financial Empowerment will kick off on Sunday the 24th of February. (It will feature seasoned professionals making money with stock, forex, real estate, integrity, networking, intellectual property, public speaking e.t.c.) Attendance is on a first come first serve basis and it’s strictly by registration. To register, send a mail to info@generis-solutions.com with your basic contact details and 180Degrees as Subject of mail.

Mentorship Session

Mentorship Session will take place on the 16th of March, 2008. This mentorship or guidance session will be with Gbenga Sesan, Niyi Adesanya and Adeolu Akinyemi, the theme will be -Taking Responsibility. It will be an opportunity to discuss together and share experiences on how we can all take responsibility for our lives, and then some other issues around us. It’s usually a 2 hrs session. We’ll be hosting participants in a hotel this time around and there will be slight refreshment. The fee per head is N1200 to take care of overhead costs. New Nigeria Club members are also welcome at a discount. If you are interested in attending this as well, or you want to register your friends, please send a mail to info@generis-solutions.com  please leave all your basic contact details and subject – Mentorship Session.

Billionaires in Training

For all who have no clue on how to plan for their retirement, for those who don’t have clear strategies for becoming financially free. This is an opportunity for you to engage in one of the greatest eye opening opportunities into financial freedom. It’s a 6hrs plus course that is designed to give you an opportunity to network with great minds from different industries, make new friends and move from zero financial intelligence to hero financial intelligence in one night. This is one session backed up with an interesting board game that will keep you wide awake all night with your adrenaline firing on all cylinders. You will not only gain mastery over your financial future, you will have a ball while at it. The testimonies we have gotten from participants of this course have been so extreme, we’ve had people practically thanking us for the opportunity of showing them the true picture of their lives. You can’t afford to miss this. Facilitators include Adeolu Akinyemi as well as a number of other seasoned investors. The training comes with buffet, cocktail, breakfast and accommodation. The event will be taking place from 8pm on Friday the 28th of March till noon on the 29th of March at Elomaz Hotel. Couple N50,000, single N40,000. NNC members’ discount (20%) applies. To register, please send a mail to info@generis-solutions.com indicating your interest in BIT, and providing all your basic contact details. This current class already has 20+ participants. Hurry while sits still exist.

HR MBA (Human Resources Methods Become Action)

This is our 4th season of HR MBA in our desire to establish a center of excellence for HR. We have had sponsored candidates from a variety of companies and industries. Ranging from Oil and Gas, to Banking and Financial Services, Manufacturing, Services, Consulting to NGOs. The learning opportunities have been exceptional, with seasoned HR veterans facilitating different aspects of the course. Our lectures have been taken by Human Resources Directors in multinationals, General Managers, Senior HR Managers, Senior HR consultants from leading consultancies and Human Resources experts. The HR MBA spans a 4-day tenure of Saturdays and Sundays. This HR MBA Season will be holding on the 29th and 30th of March and the 5th and 6th of April, 2008. We have already secured the alignment of our seasoned facilitators and have an 1/2 filled class already. This course costs a token of N80,000 per participant with discounts for companies sponsoring up to 4 people and above. Non-company sponsored participants and NNC members enjoy discounts of 10% and 25% respectively. If you are interested in Registering for this, send a mail to info@generis-solutions.com indicating your interest and providing basic contact details.

Team Effectiveness

If your department or company wants to go for a retreat to bond better together, and you have been considering any other company, it’s because you have not experienced us. Our prices are not particularly the cheapest in the market, but our services are quite in a class of their own. We ensure we give our clients more value than they paid for, and leave them with experiences they’ll relive all year long. We’ve done Team Effectiveness/Team Bonding an obscene number of times for a number of units in Multinationals and Indigenous organizations, and they loved and enjoyed it. If you are thinking about having the time of your life… try us. You can send a mail to info@generis-solutions.com to indicate your interest. You can facilitate our meeting with your decision makers. We are adding Billionaire in Training as a special feature to all our Team Effectiveness Workshops till April ending.

New Nigeria Club

The New Nigeria Club is waxing stronger, and we just bagged two  additional world-class endorsements. We got the support of two new New Nigeria Icons that have global reputations for excellence, integrity and leadership. I’m also proud to announce to you that we are living up to our declarations of our objectives. We’ve covered so much ground and done so much work. 3yrs from now, the side of history we will occupy is a function of our positions today- whether we were hearers or doers. If you want to join and have only not understood how, pls send a mail to admin@newnigeriaclub.net. Do join us today.

Keep the flag flying

Busayo Akanro

08034717104

b.akanro@generis-solutions.com

busayoakanro@gmail.com

For New Nigeria Club