apostle AZ & friendz of Christ

 One day,my professor and I, had finished working on a scientific paper that was due for submission to a journal.  The journal's publication was coming early and if we were to miss that publication we were going to wait  for another year before the next issue. This was going to affect our performance appraisal data negatively. The Professor who was my boss too then directed that I send the script to that journal.   However, upon my own investigations it turned out that the journal had a lower profile and citation index than I had expected. I initially sought to drive this point to my boss that we needed to change the journal but he would have none of it. He insisted that we send the paper for publication to the same journal. With due respect, I then sought an audience with him at his office and I explained how the low profiled journal was also going to impact negatively on our work. I recommended a better journal even-though it was to publish 2 months later than...

 In my previous organisation, my immediate manager had gone for leave hastily and there was improper hand-over and take-over done. However, with excitement as it was my first time to work a bit independently and closer to the next overall manager, I felt it was not an issue but my time to shine. Within a week, I began to face lots of workloads as I was interfacing with the management, ordinary staff and clients. The overall manager requested that a tactical plan (which had been partially completed) be completed and submitted to him the following week. It became almost unbearable and my immediate manager was unreachable on phone. I then went to a sister unit, humbly explained my challenge and sought advice and tips from the manager there. He cordially and gladly showed me how to prioritise workloads. He said Information coming-in is filtered and categorized by marking as: 'priority-to-do-later', 'urgent-to-do-now', ' or not-necessary-file away or delete'. I follo...

 I ensure that I do not suffer from information overload by careful planning . I set out what I want to do with the help of technology enabled calendars, diary and  mind-maps.Anything that is not scheduled and urgent is not dealt with immediately. Information coming-in is filtered and categorized by marking as: 'priority-to-do-later', 'urgent-to-do-now', ' or not-necessary-file away or delete'. I organise and rank data sources and treat them accordingly. Files are organised in easy to follow structures. Sometimes it requires passing to and delegating someone to attend to the issue and asking them to give me feedback.  Taking a break for a while from computer screens , noisy TVs, phone calls and papers, sometimes keeps me fresh and focused. In the urgent-to-do-now the correct response, if it is a chaotic situation, it means I have to 'act-sense-and-respond'. Entailing assessing the situation, analysing what is known with the help of experts, if necessar...

 One day I was responsible for coordinating the marking and processing of examinations for our department at our university and we had a deadline of 2 weeks.Halfway through, one of the lecturers fell sick and informed me to coordinate the taking over of the marking of his allocated scripts. I then agreed and approached some colleagues and they were reluctant to take over.  I then failed to appraise my supervisor of this new challenge and we lost 2 days of marking. This meant, the incident  was going to affect the whole chain of results publication for the whole university. With 5 days remaining, I then individually approached lecturers and impressed upon them the seriousness of the matter and how my job was at stake including the reputation of the department. My colleagues and I managed to keep awake till midnight while marking those scripts. This put unnecessary strain on their workload including mine and I was to blame.  Eventually, we managed to meet the deadline....

 In 2018 till now, I was appointed a United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) Led Internship Fellowship Coordinator for my University. This huge responsibility besides falling on top of my  substantive role of a lecturer, entails identifying and selecting suitable candidates for reputable host organisations. In the early days,   the work was so taxing with lots of meetings yet without a stipend. I have learnt to ease the challenges by careful planning and diarising  meetings, networking and accepting the responsibility as a community service. Recently, my supervisor informed me  that the management  had been pleased with my dedication and was taking keen interests  in my case so as to ensure that I get a stipend.

  Lessons from the parable of The Pipeline by Burke Hedges.   ·         Bruno, like most people, wasted time clinging onto a job, on the grounds that it offers security while forgoing the opportunity to create systems that could bring perpetual income in a lifetime. ·         Good decision making is crucial when facing projects that affect humanity. ·         People should not trade off their valuable time for small, temporary monetary gains. The time, once lost may never be recovered. Bruno was physically spent at a time, he needed money the most. It was a case of misplaced priorities and goals. ·         Determination and focus yield success. Pablo was more determined to get the project going and he never lost focus. ·         Most partnerships crumble because of greediness. Bruno was greedy...

 Last year, 2019, our university students were anxious because of the intermittent supply of electricity and WIFI connectivity. Through their student representative body, they had made several attempts to  get their grievances heard and addressed by the authorities. The authorities did not have ready answers as they felt  that the situation was a national crisis and beyond them but lacked the courage to address the students.  The students began to demonstrate and disrupt lectures. It occurred that on this day, I was offering an important lecture and some rowdy students came to my class and demanded, ' why the lectures were ongoing, yet it was time to show the administration that it had failed' so they said.  I was caught in a dilemma. Whilst I understood their plight, honestly, I was not aware of the planned demonstration. At the same time I felt it was the right of my class to receive undisturbed lectures. There was chaos. I took the initiative, boldly and calm...

Lessons from the Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki •           In life, there are four (4) types of income earners placed in quadrants .E for employees; S for small businesses or self-employed people; B for bigger businesses; I for investors.   Attached to these quadrants are ways these people pursue a livelihood. •           95% of the people fall in the E and S quadrants provoking me to be sympathetic and want to change their predicament through one per cent club. 5 % are in B and I. •           I was inspired to occupy B and or I quadrants because they give me more financial freedom than E and S quadrants. •           And to stay in B quadrant, where the focus is to create systems that work in one’s absence, these traits are required:          ...

 We're called to the great commission. Not appointed by works but grace. Not elected because of our good grades, educational qualifications, smoothness of tongue, fastness of legs or good looks. It is divine favour; unmerited, indescribable and honorable.