One of the most popular quotes that you will hear on the subject of organizational culture is credited to Peter Drucker, the doyen of management who rightly said and I quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. To improve your approaches to gaining the commitment and buy-in of your team into the culture that you want, enroll for our micro-learnin…

One of the skills that sets people apart in their organizations is their ability to speak confidently in public. To learn more about improving your presentation and public speaking skills, enroll in our micro-learning course at Present Like a Star.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

A new field has emerged in management known as positive organizational studies which focuses on fostering organizations where people flourish, thrive, and support the common good. It is gaining interest not only among scholars but also among organizational leaders who want better and more sustainable organizations. We can only achieve this if we go…

As a service organization, you should try everything you can to prevent customers from becoming angry and lashing out at your employees and other customers. You can achieve this by applying the 6 steps of the fantastic service equation and incorporating them into your everyday service protocols. To learn more about improving the quality-of-service …

Our goal for today is to get you to improve your ability to solve problems, overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities more creatively, using the powerful tool of brainstorming. To achieve this, I will introduce a theoretical framework that explains effective brainstorming, share 8 rules for effective brainstorming and introduce three …

When performance appraisals are conducted improperly, employees are afraid, cynical, and disinterested in the appraisal process, and tend to underperform. However, when performance appraisals are done properly, employees are inspired, motivated, and engaged to not only participate in the appraisals but to improve their performance and results. To l…

The concept of “management by meetings” is very well enshrined in organizational life today and will continue to play a prominent role in organizational culture going forward, especially as more organizations transition to remote and hybrid workplaces. The truth is that most executives and managers now spend up to 70% of their day in meetings, and …

Research in the field of management and our experience over the years shows a clear relationship between the quality of goal setting and implementation and the success of any individual, team or organization. To learn more about goal setting, enroll for our micro-learning course at Effective Goal Setting…

A selection interview is a communication task that requires you to plan, prepare and practice. You cannot go into an interview hoping to just “wing it”. You must do better, and taking time to apply the 3Ps of planning, practice and preparation enhances your chances of success.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

If scientific evidence shows that the level of success that organizations achieve depends on the quality of leadership in the organization, then organizations that are intent on achieving sustainable success must pay attention to measuring and evaluating the quality of leadership on an on-going basis.…

Every organization desires the same thing: that it can galvanize all its resources together – physical, human, financial, technological and others to achieve its overall organizational goals and create value for its stakeholders on a sustainable basis.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

In this increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world, one skill that is top of mind for organizations and leaders are the skills for CREATIVITY and INOVATION - people working collaboratively to clarify challenges/problems/opportunities, identify options, develop solutions, and implement these solutions to create value for themselve…

Selling skills consist of the things you need to do to show people the unique value that your products and services offer and influence them to purchase them. Selling skills are important for survival in all human endeavours, but many people are afraid of selling, and will try everything to avoid a job that requires them to sell.…

In our increasingly Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world and workplace, line manager capability stands out as a critical success factor for any organization seeking to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Our managers need to be AGILE to add value to our organizations.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

One challenge that some people have in the workplace is getting along others. Unfortunately, while we may want to dismiss the importance of good relationships, studies have demonstrated that good relationships with coworkers, supervisors and subordinates is a predictor of personal and organizational success.…

Emotional Intelligence, that is how you manage yourself and others around you contributes more significantly to your success than your cognitive intelligence that measures just your intellectual ability. In fact, if you have read all the books in the world and are yet unable to manage yourself and others around you, all that “booksmarts” will not b…

One of the essential skills that intrapreneurs have is their ability to take ownership. The first thing every individual who is a member of a team or organization and intends to work with others to achieve results needs to do is to fall in line and take ownership.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

There is nothing more delightful than having people around you who want to be better, who are hungry and desirous of improving themselves, adding value to the work that they do and pushing themselves to do more.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

One of the biggest impediments to the success of our organizations is the dearth of business and financial acumen among employees and managers. When people work for an organization and do not understand the strategy of the organization, its business model, how it makes money, and how its financial resources are managed, such people struggle to add …

From watching too many gangster movies and listening to rap jams from the 1990s, I picked up the expression “Never get high on your own supply”. A code of conduct for drug dealers that proposes that you shouldn’t use the drugs that you are meant to be selling, so that you avoid the temptation of getting addicted, stealing from the mob, and ending u…

There is a lot of evidence in both research and practice that one of the biggest impediments to successful implementation of an organization’s strategy is the lack of commitment and buy-in of employees across all levels and parts of the organization. An evidence-based approach to increasing the buy-in and commitment of employees is to use a 360-deg…

A colleague of mine told me many years ago that every morning she would wait by the window facing the driveway to our office to see the expression on my face as I came out of my car to determine whether it was going to be a happy day or a sad one. A classic example of an “enigmatic” boss (putting it nicely), and an employee whose happiness had been…

In the last fifteen years, I have been actively involved in helping organizations craft and implement their business strategies. That journey has exposed me to some of the largest companies and government agencies, given me a chance to compete against some of the Big 4 Consulting firms and also to collaborate with some of them in this regard.…

Preparing leaders for the future is certainly the most important goal for any serious-thinking organization or society. The whole purpose of the education that you give your children for example is to prepare them for independent life, so that they can lead themselves and others around them.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

When you interact with many organizational leaders, they are very cynical about the investments that organizations make in training their employees. Unfortunately, the data supports their cynicism: most training does not translate to action and changes in the organization.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

We pay a lot more attention to coming up with bright ideas and new strategies than we do on ensuring that they are implemented and create the results that we desire. Organizations that really succeed are not those who have the biggest dreams, they are the ones that have the best execution.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

Right-thinking businesses are in pursuit of one thing only: achieving sustainable competitive advantage. This requires them to have a more balanced approach to setting priorities and pursuing goals. Some of the most successful companies in the world have adopted the Balanced Score card as their framework for strategy development, strategy implement…

I have always believed that the biggest problem plaguing our society and our organizations is the preponderance of square pegs in round holes – people doing jobs that they are not aligned with.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

Presentation and public speaking skills are the most sought-after skills in the workplace today. Thankfully, these skills can be learned with the right motivation, tools, training, and support.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

Idea generation is an important step of the creative-problem solving and innovation process that teams and organizations use to drive strategy and transformation. However, without a proper understanding of the foundational principles of ideation, your best efforts at idea generation may not yield the results you desire.…

The entire purpose of leadership is to influence people, so it is no surprise that most leaders and managers will agree that gaining the commitment and buy-in of their people is the hardest and most challenging part of leadership. Omagbitse Barrow is going to explore this important issue in this episode of the Efiko Podcast…

Many professionals were told when they were young, by teachers, adults, their peers and eventually themselves that they were not GOOD at mathematics, and may have decided thereafter to become math haters, only to grow up to find out that you really cannot run away from math in their adult life, work, and business. Unfortunately, this trend of math-…

There are a number of paradoxes and myths about innovation that sometimes stifle our ability to be innovative. In this episode, Omagbitse Barrow examines these myths and paradoxes to help professionals and organizations overcome them and create the culture of innovation required to drive organizational success.…

Mr U who works in the FMCG sector in Jos Nigeria just got feedback from his performance appraisal that he needs to manage time better. He reached out to the Online Efiko and we are happy to share our thoughts with him and the rest of our listeners on how to manage time better and stay on top of your game, using To-Do Lists.…

What do you do when you have a boss that is threatened by your ambition and drive, or colleagues that are envious of your skills or even subordinates who are constantly trying to undermine your leadership. These are the questions that the Efiko tries to answer in this episode in response to Ms T, a School Administrator from Abuja, Nigeria.…

Mr S has just transitioned from being a #team member to being the team #leader and he is concerned that some member of his team are still regarding him as "one of the boys", rather than as the "leader of the boys". What can he do differently? Well, he can learn to grow his influence, and the Efiko taps into his own experience from two decades ago a…

A Senior Manager in the TelCo industry based in Ibadan, Nigeria is not happy about the outcomes of his decisions and his decision making skills. The Online Efiko explores some paradigms in decision making and some of the cognitive biases of decision making with powerful examples from the Yoruba and Itsekiri ethnic groups in Nigeria. Listen, learn a…

Coaching is one of the most powerful skills that managers and leaders need to drive performance. Listen to Omagbitse Barrow respond to a Manager who wants to know why she should improve her coaching skills and how.By Omagbitse Barrow - Learning Impact NG

Ms N struggles to get her team members to do deliver on their responsibilities at work. According to her "I spend too much time and energy getting upset when things are not done and end up doing them myself. At the end of the year, these same people expect to have good appraisal scores, and make you look like you are evil if you don’t give them a g…

A first-time manager who is eager to make an impact is worried about being able to make the transition to a managerial role and meet the expectations of her multipole stakeholders. Omagbitse Barrow draws from his own experience as a first-time manager from about 18 years ago and shares his thoughts on the Leadership DNA that will help Mrs. P and ot…

One of our listeners, Dr D who runs a Private Hospital in Lagos Nigeria is concerned about the high staff turnover and the waste of time and resources spent on recruitment. The Online Efiko provides him some useful advice, not just about hiring but also about the structure and systems in his organization…

Today, we explore the very important issue of #SexualHarassment in the workplace as we respond to a question from Ms N based in Abuja, Nigeria. Omagbitse shares his thoughts for the benefit of the victims, perpetrators, and the rest of us who can do something to stem the tide of this problem around us.…

Happy New Year! In this episode, Omagbitse Barrow responds to a question from one of our listeners who is the Chief Executive of a Law Firm struggling with paying salaries and collecting income from clients. Listen to find out what insights Omagbitse shares that will no doubt be valuable to your business too.…

We all agree that building a culture of service in any organization is easily the most potent strategic focus that any organization can have. Creating and sustaining a culture of service excellence requires a relentless focus on five core capabilities as an organization – we call them the Governing Forces of Service Delivery. In today’s episode of …

If your employees really know who pays their salaries, they will pay the right attention to ensuring excellent service delivery and sustaining a culture of service excellence. In today’s podcast episode on “Who Pays Your Salaries”, Omagbitse Barrow explores the issue of service delivery and the commitment that organizations need to make to ensure t…

Business owners and organizational leaders must understand the language of business – that is expressed in accounting and finance. You do not need a degree in finance and accounting to be able to understand the basics of financial management and apply them to your work. In this episode of the Online Efiko Podcast, Omagbitse Barrow introduced listen…

If you really want to sell in a manner that ensures that the cash machine keeps ringing; that you have a healthy and consistent pipeline of leads and that you add value to your customers in a way that you get repeat business and referrals, then you must learn to apply the skills for consultative selling. In this episode of the Online Efiko Podcast,…

Business owners and organizational leaders need to be more deliberate about managing their human capital. Failing to do so means that you just keep paying salaries and struggling to get the return on your people investments – which can be a major source of frustration. In this episode of the Online Efiko Podcast, Omagbitse Barrow explores five ingr…

Many professionals and managers struggle with communicating effectively in writing and this causes significant man-hour losses due to continuous writing, re-writing, correcting, and editing. In this episode of the Online Efiko Podcast, Omagbitse Barrow explored some of the typical challenges that professionals have with business writing and identif…

Sometimes when my colleagues and I talk about teaching children about financial planning, some parents and educators are concerned – they tell us to allow the children to enjoy the innocence of their youth and not worry about things like “money” until they are older. In this episode of the Online Efiko Podcast, Omagbitse Barrow shared some of my pe…