By Robinson Murage

I went out for lunch with my Luhya buddy *Dennis to his favourite joint in Westlands ‘Mabanda’ and he convinced me to try ‘their tastiest dish murenda’.

Everybody in the 6*6 hotel was shouting ‘Murenda! Murenda! Murenda! And I was inclined to shout also in case the ‘delicacy’ run out before my share. I was excited when my dish made its way towards me and I couldn’t wait to enjoy!

I scooped some piece of Ugali and dished it into the bowl with the best smile I could afford and boy….. That was the most disgusting food I have ever put in my mouth! I have had to go for counselling sessions that cost me a lot of money.

For those who don’t know Murenda, its some leaves that look like they grow somewhere close to where Museveni’s cows graze. There is so much sticky foul liquid pouring out of that thing and the smell is horrifying and I think if the thing’ is not cooked well it could carry a significant risk of death.

I also have to admit also that none of the foods I have eaten before prepared me for the Murenda nightmare and if forced to choose between crabs and Murenda, I would rather eat crabs for the rest of my life.

That’s not all, you can’t eat that thing without it sticking on your fingers…..now…. imagine this…. you walk into a hotel and everybody is licking their fingers, you sit there and think how awesome the food must be only to find out the licking is as a result of the food sticking on their fingers like some gum form the Eucalyptus tree.. Yuck!!!

I honestly think that anybody who eats Murenda should be avoided at all costs because the thing they stuff into their mouth could bloat you to death and you do not want to be near someone who eats foul-smelling sticky leaves and licks their fingers over lunch hour before getting back to the office. Personally, am not putting that thing in my mouth EVER again even with a gun on my head….PI stick to my Mukimo.

That’s all Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you.

Abiud Ochieng: The launch of mobile phone services by Equity Bank through the Thin SIM technology could be delayed further after the High Court on Wednesday stopped it until a suit on its credibility is heard.

Judge George Odunga directed the order to Finserve Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of Equity Bank, and Communications Authority of Kenya.

This is the third time the court is halting Equity Bank after Mr Daniel Murage complained in October and the Consumers Federation of Kenya in June.

The new request to halt was made by a lobby group Legal Advice Centre (Kituo Cha Sheria), which argued that the card was being used without a full audit of data security or Personal Identification Numbers on the primary SIM that will be overlaid by the thin one.

They argue that a commitment by Equity Bank offering to make compensation in case of fraud, does not match the risk.

Legal Advice Centre said the risk is high given that data on the primary SIMs, and PINs of millions of mobile telephone customers including banks, utility companies and security agencies would be compromised in an irreparable manner.

“The mobile money market currently serves over 25 million people in the country and beyond and these include banks, insurance companies, utility providers as well as security agencies with monthly transactions of approximately Sh200 billion,” Kituo Cha Sheria said.

Statistics published by the Central Bank of Kenya showed that mobile payments from January to September this year stood at Sh1.7 trillion, which Kituo Cha Sheria says, “is more than the country’s annual budget and it is not clear if Finserve can adequately compensate for such risks.”

The lobby, which fights for social justice, constitutionalism and the rule of law, said the communications authority has advertised for consultancy services to undertake evaluation of performance and security features of SIM cards in Kenya with specific reference to the anxiety generated over its use.

“It is apparent that the decision to permit the deployment of thin SIM technology then subsequently seeking consultancy services to ascertain its security reveals that the decision was taken in total failure to take into account all considerations,” Kituo Cha Sheria argues.

The anxiety arises from the decision to permit the card’s use before completing satisfactorily its security features. Justice Odunga yesterday agreed and stopped Equity Bank.

Legal Advice Centre said communications authority’s action are a blatant disregard of the information and communication law and consumer protection regulations.

“It is an obligation of the CA as a public body and regulator, to take into account all relevant considerations prior to and not subsequently make any decision that affects the general public,” Kituo Cha Sheria says. The case will be heard on January 20, 2014.

Recently, a friend confided in me that she’s actively looking for another job. She works for a good company and earns a decent salary, but describes her boss as mean, unreasonable and a pain. And guess what? She’s leaving because she’s had enough of that boss. Her reason for leaving didn’t surprise me.

Why not?

For a long time, it was a widely held belief that employees leave their jobs because of poor pay. Well, recent research findings tell us otherwise. A Gallup poll of more than one million workers established that the number one reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor. Gallup wrote in it’s survey findings, “People leave managers not companies…in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue”.

If a manager treats his employees badly, doesn’t care about them, is incompetent or doesn’t develop them, sooner or later, they’ll leave. They may stick around for a while because they need the pay, but as soon as an opening comes up elsewhere, they’ll leave.

Leadership expert John Maxwell arrived at the same conclusion following years of leading organizations, forming and leading his own companies and studying other great leaders. In his book “Leadership Gold”, he says that leaders would like to think that when people leave, it has little to do with them. The reality however is that the leaders are often the reason. Employees will leave good pay, jobs and companies if they can’t get along with the person in charge.

What does that mean for entrepreneurs and managers? Realize that if you exercise good leadership, morale will be high, productivity will soar and your business will benefit as a result. What does that look like in practical terms?

Under the acronym LCD, I share three things you as a business leader could do for people working with/under you.

Listen to them.

Take time to engage them in conversation and listen – really listen – to them as they express their joys and frustrations about the workplace. You may not be able to do everything they ask of you – and with good reason, you shouldn’t – but learning what is important to them will help you organize priorities.

Care for them.

Value them as individuals with feelings and emotions, ambitions and needs. Take time to find out what’s going on in their private lives. Of course this has to be done within boundaries, but communicate with your actions and words that you care for them beyond their contribution at work. Employees who feel valued are more engaged and perform better.

Develop them.

Is there training that you could send your staff to? Even if your company currently doesn’t have the budget for that, there are alternative methods of developing staff. Coach and mentor them. Give them challenging assignments that will stretch and engage them. Some people don’t develop their employees because they argue that if they invest in staff who then leave, the company will have doubly lost – resources spent on training, and staff who leave. Well, John Maxwell says that it’s better to invest in people and they eventually leave, than not invest in them and they decide to stay. Then you’re stuck with bad employees. Imagine what that means for your business!

Exercising good leadership is good for business. Listen to your staff, care for and develop them. Your business will benefit as a result.

As a business leader, what else has worked for you in retaining your best employees?

Article contributed by Joyce Kaduki an astute leadership coach/trainer and a John Maxwell Certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker.

View her profile on http://directory.biznakenya.com/listing/john-maxwell-certified-coach-trainer-speaker/

 

The number 1 taxi app “Uber” is finally landing in Kenya.

The company has advertised three vacancies for the Nairobi office on its careers site, an indication it may be starting operations in the city in the coming months.

The company is looking to hire a General Manager, Community Manager and an Operations & Logistics Manager to run the Nairobi office. Filling the three positions is the HR modus operandi for Uber in almost all the cities it has launched and comes immediately after a reconnaissance team that assesses the transport network, structure and policy of a city.

Fuelled by venture capitalists and investors – including Google Ventures and Goldman Sachs- Uber’s latest funding raised $1.2 billion, valuing the firm at a whopping $40 billion. Part of the cash, will go into hiring at least 1000 personnel in the expansion markets.

Uber is already operational in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo and Lagos and in over 200 other cities across US, Asia, Australia and Europe. The ridesharing company will have to contend with Brazilian start-up Easy Taxi, which is already in Nairobi and in 60 other cities

But it hasn’t been an easy ride for Uber. The company has faced resistance mainly from taxi associations in at least 20 cities in Europe and Asia which accuse the firm of circumventing taxi regulations and unfair competition. This week, Parisian taxi operators are planning to block main city roads to protest the decision by a commercial court not to ban Uber Pop – a taxi pooling off-shoot that turns private cars into taxis.

Ever dreamed of becoming a millionaire, or better, a billionaire? Those who have succeeded have done so through a combination of intelligence, resources and hard work.

But plenty of ordinary people have these qualities and that still doesn’t guarantee them the jackpot. What is it in their DNA, then, that makes them stand out from the rest of us, and how do billionaires approach the world compared with millionaires?

There’s smart and smarter

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Alex Moore knows a few billionaires, many millionaires and even more ordinary folks. He sees a difference.

“Millionaires tend to be really good at understanding systems of value creation (aka successful start-ups) and placing themselves into those systems effectively,” he wrote. “They are smart enough to understand the culture being put into place and they take on the values of that culture and expand those values. They go out and recruit their smart friends and add to the cult. Over-laced on this mind set is the idea that the world is a semi-set place. It’s changing, but they view basically their role as something where they can take part in it all.”

By comparison, billionaires view the world as “tangibly fungible,” he continued.

Often founders of companies, these billionaires, “see the world and want to move the puzzle pieces entirely around,” he wrote. “They look for the faults in the ecosystem and identify massive holes and what could be added to take (advantage of) that value.”

Billionaires are big-minded, according to Steven Tu, who takes it one step further. “Billionaires understand the power of leverage, the power of teamwork,” Tu wrote. “Millionaires and ordinary people don’t know the power of leverage or they don’t know how to assemble and lead a team.”

The odd ball out

With this brainpower, however, comes awkwardness. Billionaires are outcasts from society, according to Carlos Torres. “Billionaires would seem to have more in common with a homeless man on the street than a millionaire in the sense that they are completely unconventional and independent thinkers,” he wrote, adding that billionaires main focus is pursuing a passion. “They really don’t care about the money.”

That social awkwardness trickles into their personal lives. “The billionaires I know don’t look forward to the weekend,” wrote Moore. “They don’t drink. They work from 05:00 to midnight everyday including weekends. They don’t socialise with friends, they mix friends and work.”

Comparatively, noted Torres, “a millionaire might have more sense about herself or himself and scale back to preserve wealth and ‘quit while they are ahead’.”

A three-legged stool

Wendy Chen believes three main focuses dictate who becomes a billionaire and who stays three zeros behind. “The billionaires and ultra-high net worth [individuals] I know have mastered all three, particularly the third,” she wrote, whereas “the young millionaires I know seem to spend a lot of time working on 1 and 2.”

She defines these focuses as:

1. Inner/self: a keen sense of where you want to go, and self-discipline to get there
2. Others: empathy and the ability to inspire others
3. Outer: awareness of where the greater world is going, and what can be done to shape it

That third focus is key, according to Chen, who wrote that billionaires adapt the world to their vision: “They seem fearless. Perfectly willing to move mountains, change cultures, lobby regulation to achieve their vision.”

“Your workstation should fit you like a tailored shirt,” says University of California ergonomist David Rempel.

If your workstation doesn’t fit you, you’re in trouble. Typing speed goes down with discomfort, and error rates go up. If you ignore that tension in your shoulders, neck, or wrist, it can turn into injury.

But if your workstation does fit you, then your performance will go up. Studies show that if you’re comfortable, your performance increases by 10% to 15%.

Here’s a quick guide to setting up your workspace for optimal health and productivity.