April—May 2008

Quality for a lifetime

EntrepreneurshipGetting back on your feet

Investing wiselyLadders to success

Management~ Customers

~ Bad News

Quiet Time

Esteemed this month is about collecting the pieces. From hearing the experiences of different people in the media and seeing first hand what the political crisis has done, it is only right for us to do this one.

On December 30 2007, you woke up a business mogul, and spent the night as a pauper on the run for his life. Not because you had unscrupulous deals that had finally caught up with you. Not because the taxman had frozen all your assets. It’s just that your neighbor had been mentally poisoned against you.

If this crisis has taught me anything, it is the simple fact that you can water down my efforts and burn the fruit of my labor, thus reducing me to nothingness; but as long as I have the will to live and fight on, as long as I hold onto the come back spirit with my eyes looking up to God. You have not de-stroyed me. You may have spiraled me back to ground zero, but just like the phoenix, I will rise up again and conquer even more ground, with double the success.

I am reminded of the story of Joseph. He was the beloved son of his father and his brothers just couldn’t handle it. So they dumped him in a well and sold him off for a couple of lousy coins. He lived the life of a slave, from being the apple of his father’s eye. His perseverance and faith in the God he had been brought up to worship kept him going; and God remembered him and smiled upon him. What did he become? The 2nd in command in the land of Egypt where he came as a slave! Eventu-ally the same brothers who disliked him for who he was bowed down at his feet as they would to a king.

All am saying is this, if you have been reduced to nothingness in this crisis, wait upon God. He will surely come and open doors that may never have been opened if you continued to thrive in the place you woke up in on December 30, 2007.

We have plenty for you in Esteemed this Easter period. Doing the balancing act for those of us han-dling both employment and side jobs. We also have ideas to help those affected get back on their feet with a lot less hassling. In quiet time, I have no words to summarize except say, PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your continued support and for sure, you guys are just the greatest readership an Edi-tor would want to develop with. Keep that feedback coming!With lots of love

Wangari

Dear Esteemed,

It is always a pleasure to read you since you started. Your articles give some of us a sense of direction and without your input, it feels like we are set to fail. As in, if Esteemed with all its fire could fall, who can’t fall at start up? Where had you gone off to? We thought you have collapsed and just could-n’t go on!

Our apologies for going off just like that.. We had a few hitches and we had to work through them if Esteemed was to go anywhere. But like our theme with this

edition goes, sometimes it is through the adversity that we grow stronger and achieve much more. The comfort zone for Esteemed had to die and that is why we

rose back as Esteemed Royalé! - Wangari

Dear Editor

Where can I get your older issues?

On our website www.esteemedonline.com. Let us have your feedback. - Wangari

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

Picking up the pieces

The story of Joseph3

Business Principles

Above the circumstances4

Investing wisely 6

Customer relations 7

Human relations 8

Quiet Time 11

Your say is shared

Happy EasterManaging Editor

Wangari Kimani

Advertising Executives

Frederick Mwarangu

Nahashon Mithanga

Contributors

Winnie Mwangi

Design and Photography

Frederick Rukungu

Nahashon Mithanga

Distribution & Circulation

Eagle Afric Holdings Ltd.

Published by:

Eagle Afric Holdings Ltd.

P.O. Box 24329, Karen

00502

Tel: +254 020 3597825

E-mail: info@esteemedonline.comCopyright Information

Esteemed is a bi-monthly magazine published by Eagle Afric Holdings Ltd. Views expressed in the articles and contributions are not necessarily those of the publisher.

All rights reserved. While every reasonable effort has been made and precautions taken to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the content herein, neither the Esteemed team, nor its advertisers, nor printers can accept responsibility for any damages or inconven-ience that may arise there from. The views expressed within the publication are those of the authors exclusively and not necessarily those of the Esteemed owners. Any material sent to us will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and may or may not be acknowledged as receipted. This material will also be subject to scrutiny for unre-stricted editing and commentary at the discretion of the Editorial team.All content, including adverts created by Esteemed are Copyright of Eagle Afric Holdings Ltd. and may not be recreated in part or in whole without prior consent of the publishers.

Copyright ©

We are glad to have a cup of coffee with you

P A G E 3

They may have shattered

my dreams but they didn’t

kill my spirit. If anything,

they just fuelled it.

Joseph’s answer

Starting over

Entrepreneurship picking up the pieces

We at Esteemed were not left untouched by the chaos that hit the country. We were pulled to empathize with our brothers and sisters that were affected and we just could not sit back and

watch it on TV or read the papers.

Esteemed is about making all of us feel esteemed. That’s exactly what we tried to do in our own small way.

In one of our encounters with the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) we met Joseph. A young man in his late thirties. By the time he was through with his story, our entire team was won-dering. In his shoes, could we have kept up the fighting spirit?

As you see the situation through Joseph’s eyes as brought out by Esteemed, say a prayer and thank Jehovah God that he kept you from this nightmare.

Our one question to Joseph was - What is your story?

This is what I know about starting over after something like this. It has to start from inside my heart and mind. I need to forgive all those who destroyed the fruits of my labor. Some of them are my own employees. Some of them are business partners or rivals. Bottom-line is, they are all people I will work with again. But granted, I will not turn my back or let them stand anywhere behind me. Lest they plunge another knife. I wish I could say to my wife that I will re-stock her shop and operationalize her salons. It cannot all be done at once. It needs time to build and effort.

I know God is not so unfair as to make me spend another twenty years to rebuild our lives. My story is similar to that of Job in the Bible. The man suf-fered greatly, his children, his cattle, his businesses, his property, his health and even his wife’s love. When it was all over, God replenished everything one hundred times more such that he had 200% of his initial worth. Why not me?

The truck was insured, so once we are able to get back to sanity in this country, I will go to Kisumu and recollect.

The land in Kitale is for my children’s future. They may have burnt the maize but the land is still productive so God willing, I will go and recover.

As for my house, God will renew my architectural mind. I will call you guys to come and see the finished product.

rented house.

What pains me the most is knowing that all my dreams, went up in flames, and what was not in my compound at that time was either vandalized or forcefully taken away. The maize in Kitale was all burnt down, the truck is a mere shell after all the important gadgets were removed as it was in transit from Uganda; and the house - an empty shell. I did not owe anyone any-thing. I have never raised a hand at any-one. All I did was work a little extra hard and extra smart to make sure my family did not know the poverty I grew up in.

I was employed in an architectural firm when I graduated from campus and I knew that I wanted to be independent so I saved quite some bit of my salary. Then I put one matatu on the road in the city. It was blessed and it paid itself back. The gains I made formed a bigger capital base and soon they were three. It took disci-pline and constant watchful spending.

I accumulated the wealth I have and I

thank God that He gave me wisdom to save up and so I am not rebuilding my life from nothing. I am don’t have much of a choice about getting back up. My wife and children still need me to be successful. I am re-sponsible for their well being. If our lives as a family were preserved then there has to be a way to rise back up.

Have I learnt lessons that if given a million years I wouldn’t put myself through that class? Yes.

You will have plenty of friends as long as you have the money, but as soon as you hit a down turn, they disappear - fast. I have also learnt that they who laugh with you may not necessarily be laughing; rather they just might be showing their teeth yet hat-ing your guts and plotting your downfall.

In business, you have to spend money to make money. I love my mother for many reasons. One be-ing that she taught me the culture of saving and frugal spending. I know what living poor and living rich is about. In business, you should not put all your eggs in one basket and remember this - when you harvest, some seed is replanted, some is kept aside for a rainy day and some is offered as thanks giving to God. Your future depends on your present. I know I

will rise again and not to the same levels. Higher

It is amazing that this is what my life has been reduced to - a story. (He smiles before the next statement)

I am businessman. Before the elections I had three shut-tle matatus on the Nakuru -Kisumu route, 3 acres of land in Kitale and I had just finished paying for a 10 tonnes truck from the showroom. My house stood on a five acre piece of land. I did all the landscaping and design. It took me years to come up with a design and this was to be the first time we spent Christmas and enter into a new year in the house. But I guess that was not meant to be.

My wife was operating a salon in Eldoret town as well as a grocery shop. Today, I am a house guest in a friend’s

Joseph’s house completed after building for 3years. It

cost Kshs. 3 million to build but it took less than a litre

of paraffin and one match stick to bring it all down

Joseph wonders what hap-

pened and how can he find

the strength to move on

It is a long road to re-

covery. Difficult but we

can make it

Business Principles P A G E 4

Conceive, Believe & Achieve

For sure, the corporate world is a serious jungle. Cut-throat competition, serious under-cutting in business deals, back-stabbers, com-promising of principles and so much more. Name it and its there. Despite these cruel circumstances, I want to believe that there are a few good people out there that stick to certain principles in their lives. Good people don’t survive easily. Their game is fair and square through various strategies, some of which are shared in this page

Necessity is the mother of invention

When someone you were working with on a certain project snatches the rug from under your feet, what do you do? Sit and whine, get angry and revenge, or do you get angry, for-give and re-strategize? Try this last one, it should work better than the rest. You see, when the need and craving for something is driving you, the word impossible ceases to exist for you. If you are not satisfied with the way things are going, quit whining and get down to work. By the way, don't just work hard, work smart too. When you work with the problem in mind, it takes longer to re-solve; but once you understand the problem and work with a solution in mind, then you will ultimately, and within a shorter time, have a great solution. It is when all ways and ave-nues look like they do not exist, that you need to create one. Look at it this way, if you are on a journey on a rocky mountain, and you come across this huge boulder that you can-not walk around it, climb over it, or move it

and the only way is to go back the way you c a m e , c h i s e l yourself through t h e boulder. It may take you month s

to make a big enough dent for you to go through but still, you will be finding a solution and not giving up on the journey. Never give up when the option of being inventive/ crea-tive still exists in the list of options

Shake it off

When someone says something negative about your business or about you, what do you do? Sulk all day and let those words and opinions take your joy and purpose? We forget that people’s words are just that -words. Unless of course we take and attach meaning to them. When someone from the blues comes over offers some destructive criticism the first reaction would be to get angry and ask them what right do they think they have to criticize. But remember this before you blurt out a retort. He/ she was not God’s assistant during your creation. When God was charting out your professional and personal life, God did not ask your critics for

their opinion or their input. Learn to take it all in stride. Let them criticize, but don’t internal-ize. Let it not get under your skin. Let it rest on the surface as they speak and when you walk away from them, shake it all off like chicken does after it is rubbed down in dust. Learn from the constructive one, but discard the destructive

Pick your battles like a professional

Have you ever watched a movie with alley cats. Those animals have learnt this survival skill perfectly. They know which battles to fight, which ones are just not worth it and which will bring death. The corporate world is more like that alley. You are busy doing your thing and someone sees you as a threat—real

or perceived and that is the beginning of your woes. You need to be smart and pick your battles. Know who to answer back and how. Know who are just empty debes clanging the

loudest. Know who are coming for your neck and heart. It is when you learn your enemies and friends that you know who, when, what, where and how to fight. There are people who cause you misery just to know what makes you tick. They

will drive you up the wall with anything and everything they have. You need to have learnt yourself well enough to know how to avoid

such battles. Reserve your energies for bigger battles like when your competitor is taking away every customer

you have considered loyal. In such a battle you have to gather all your wits round about you as proper armory for war. Imagine if you spend all your time micromanaging. You won’t even know when problems invade your office

Don’t be chicken. Be the eagle that you have been set to be

Eagles don’t scratch the ground for food like chicken. They don’t peck at bull backs for ticks like egrets. They also don’t hang around for a carcass like vultures. Eagles hunt from high above. They are skilled to see a fish swimming in a fresh water lake and before long, they are lifting the fish off the water with their claws. An eagle is smart and creative. Being smart and creative allows you the per-fect skills to jump at an opportunity presented by people who are either too blind to see their lot or are simply too lazy and stubborn that they refuse to step up to their responsi-bilities. If managed properly such gusto of stepping up to a challenge that everybody rejects might lead to high positions of author-ity and great achievements.

It is when all ways and avenues look like they do not exist,

that a you need to create one.

Business Principles P A G E 5

Conceive, Believe & Achieve

Be perceptive - opportunities are effortless to come by. If you listen carefully, they will be in the words of your friends, the com-plaints of your staff, the complaints of your customers and those of your competitors. The opportunities will not stand up and say here I am come and take me. If anything, they come veiled so that not everyone will hear, see or smell them.

Know this: Nothing you do, noth-ing that happens to you is a sur-prise to God

In the Bible, God says that He knew us even before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs. How great is that? That even before our parents got together and decided to have a kid who turned out to be you, God knew that you would grow into a president, a preacher and a successful businessman. God knew, that you would get into a busi-ness deal where you would lose everything you had and you would need Him to rebuild your fortunes. So when your business is suffering or you are going through a dry spell of non-paying clients, it is no surprise to the Lord. God knows of things that will happen to you that you have never even conceived in your mind. So fret not when things go haywire. Neither forget the Lord God when things are on the up and up for you. When you cheat someone in business, God sees that, when you tell God to carry out venge-ance on the one who has destroyed your

cherished business, He will. It may not be on your time frame; but know this, God does not forget His own. He had a plan of your life long before you came into the picture, so relax and seek Him to reveal the plan to you that you may do His will and become the success that He has destined you to be.

They say everyone has a price. What’s yours?

I once read a story of a doctor. She was a good person worthy of a high political office but her commitment to family and children and her husband made her stick her grounds and say no to the offer of being an Ambassa-dor. The big boys calling the shots got to her though. Her doctor husband was called in for an emergency at the local hospital one rainy night. He never made it as a truck with a drunk driver mangled his car at a junction. Long story short, her kids were enrolled in the best schools, she was given a house in the most expensive part of the country she was being assigned to and she moved. As far as she knew at that time, her husband’s death was an accident like any other. Years later after serving her country with dedica-tion and love, she learnt that the very people who signed her up, killed her husband. She left but what she did not know was that she had already served her purpose anyway, as far as her employer was concerned and they were even wondering how to get rid of her.

You and your destiny are God’s property. Trust me, you can’t sell your soul to the devil and expect your owner, who has full ownership rights, to let you go just like that. So before you put a price tag on your neck saying this is what my business, my family and myself are worth, remember to ask He who owns you and has been a driving factor for the success of your business and family.

You just can’t afford to entertain negative thoughts

It is said that the biggest enemy we have is ourselves. You are what you think yourself to be. If you believe yourself to be a failure, that you can never be much of a success, sure enough that is what you will turn out to be. In business, you have to believe in your success. Failure may exist but it doesn't have to be your oath. Your business will resonate your mentality. If you are driven by customer satisfaction, that is what will emanate in your business. If you believe in treating your em-ployees well, you will have a very low turn-over rate. If you believe that your business is a failure, you will surely fail in everything you venture out to do. It begins in your mind and works itself from there. So fill your mind with the positive even when the direct oppo-site stands as obvious. Good thoughts influ-ence your actions towards positive, enriching results. Success is for those driven towards a goal that can only be achieved by positive thinking.

The bull fighting in Luhya land

The Maasai initiation festivals

The Lamu cultural week

The bomas of Kenya

The Mijikenda and Pokomo

The Dorobo

Others pay through loans, others save for a life-

time. Just to visit our country.

We are residents. How much of it have we seen or

experienced?

Continued

Investing wiselyP A G E 6

Becoming a winner is pegged on one great deci-sion. To be a winner.

It starts from the mental and heart felt decision to be a success and not fall short of this.

This edition brings you the

very lucrative business of cleaning other peoples laundry. When you consider the middle aged women who go round estates seeking temporary assignment to clean laun-dry may not have much else to do; but one thing is certain. They do walk away with enough income to last a week.

For a load of wash, they will earn between Kshs. 100 and Kshs. 250 If they wash for two people, that would mean Kshs. 500 per Saturday and Kshs. 2,000 for a month if they work Saturdays only. If however the same lady does one wash load everyday - Monday to Friday for Kshs. 200 and two on Saturday, that adds up to Kshs. 1,400 per week and Kshs. 5,600 per month. The client provides the water, the soap and the washing basins.

So because we consider that every-one wants to earn, we will avoid the target market of these ladies and go for a more uncovered ground. Boarding students in high schools, colleges and universities. Apart from the high school students who live within the school confines, the rest live in hostels.

The business idea

Set up a laundry mart in the vicinity of hostels and high schools.

Why?

To free up the consuming time

taken when doing personal laundry

To make laundry cleaning eas-

ier for the students

Fortunate is the young man or young woman who learns, early in life, to use imagination, and doubly so in this age of greater opportunity. Imagination is a faculty of the mind, which can be cultivated, developed, extended and broad-ened by use.

If this were not true, this course on the Fifteen Laws of Success never would have been created, because it was first conceived in the author's imagination, from the mere seed of an idea which was sown by a chance remark of the late Andrew Carnegie.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you may be following as an occupation, there is room for you to make yourself more useful, and in that manner more productive, by developing and using your imagination.(Adapted from General Introduction to the LAW OF SUCCESS COURSE By Napoleon Hill)

What do you need to set up?

1. Conduct a research to assess the viability of the idea in your intended area of operation

2. Business plan

3. Proposals for the institutions you will need to ap-proach

4. Capital to:

buy the initial equipment and consumables

market your service

get a license for operations

set up the enterprise

5. Premises to set up the first shop

6. Action plan built around the concept of Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA)

Benefits?

Students can get to read and

socialize more as their laundry is cleaned

Students are less tired and their

clothes are cleaner and more presentable as they also get to use the facilities of ironing and starching

The fees charged are worth the

hassle saved

How will it work for college and university students?

Set up is the same as that of

the high school. It may how-ever be outside the hostel because of the management rules

For busy students, you can

have one or two staff members to do the laundry for them in exchange for a higher fee.

How will it work for High School students?

By setting up a self running

block with the retail washing machines.

Students are shown how to

operate the machines.

The students come with their

laundry to the laundry centre, within the school compound. The centre has a reserved quantity of detergent for every kilogram of wash.

Each student uses the ma-

chine on a first come first served basis

Cleaning your way to success

NB: Publishers Disclaimer: The publisher is not engaged in the business of rendering financial, legal or other professional advice. If such advice and or information is required in relation to the investment idea highlighted herein, the services of professionals should be sought. No responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of material in this publication can be accepted.

Today, investors sacrifice and

spenders enjoy. Tomorrow, investors enjoy and spenders keep working. If you buy a house today, you may have to work two jobs to make the mortgage payments now but you may own the house without debt in twenty years. If you give up TV tonight, you can take an evening course and in six years earn a college degree. If you start training today, you may be sore tomorrow and a black belt in four years.

Invest in yourself. Most wealthy people save between 15% and 20% of their income. Invest in fields in which you have a specialized knowledge. If you sell cars, invest in the auto industry. If you are a real estate broker, buy income properties. Be sure to diversify your holdings by investing in a retirement plan and a no-load mutual fund. There is a time value to money, so the earlier you start investing the better.

Invest in things that appreciate rather than spend on things that depreciate .

Secure your own retirement(adapted from success.org by Bill Fitzpatrick)

At Esteemed Magazine, our concern is not how you spend the money. It is how you make it.

Learn from other people’s experiences

Internalize and adopt applicable business principles

Build Ethics into your business

Esteemed Magazine - Quality for a lifetime

Why read anything else for

good entrepreneurial material?

Growing every day

Working with you everyday

We will stop at nothing

P A G E 8

Most people can’t give up their lunch hour to solve a customer’s problem.

You can

The jigsaw puzzle

that is customer

relations - a combi-

nation of many fac-

tors leads to cus-

tomer satisfaction

Customer relations appreciate your customersHave you ever considered your customer (s) as the person (s) who are going to give you their time, help or money, so you can have everything that you ever wanted in your life, your business, for yourself and your family?

When you get this perspective cul-tured into your business agenda for the customers, then you will begin to treat them differently and better.

Customers are ever so important because they are your greatest marketing point.

Here are some hard hitting truths about customers:

Listen to them. They let you in on a lot of information that you will not get elsewhere. About competition, about their needs, new opportunities, your staff, your performance in the market and in the office etc

Appreciate them. Imagine you take a vacation in a five star hotel every three months with your children, and none of the staff even bother to learn your name or mark your favorite dinner table when it is you and your wife only? You’d feel under valued. That’s the same way your customers feel when you don’t even take a min-ute of your time to appreciate

them. Write a letter saying that you value their business and as an MD, sign it personally. It mean a lot to that client. People who feel appreciated will remain loyal and will become your goodwill ambassadors as they happily sing your praises to others.

Support them. Customers will always come back to you for something. They expect that if they are loyal enough to give you their money, it won’t hurt you to give back a little inform of support. They could probably be organizing a charity walk and all they want is your staff to participate. It would make a difference between losing and keeping that customer’s business.

your competitor. Just as nobody sees the football game mistakes as well as the specta-

tor, the customer knows your product better than you think. They use it, they spend money on it, they recommend it to others. So when they compliment you or raise a concern, you

had best listen.

Your staff is your number one customer. Though we are yet to cover this aspect of customer relations here at Esteemed, please allow us to say this. Your employees are the most important level of cus-tomers your business will ever encounter. Their daily income and sustenance is pegged on the success of the product or service you are selling. If they do not own it, they will not sell it. They will be disappointed cus-tomers who will work at selling it for their own selfish gains and not for the companies benefit. Imagine a Sales Manager of Mercedes driving an Alfa Romeo; or an Account Manager of Nokia using a Samsung flap phone. Actually if someone like that came knocking on my office door, the first question would be, “if you believe in the product enough for you to sell it, what are you doing using the product or service of your competitor?” Allow your staff access to your products and services. You’d be surprised at its positive impact on your numbers!

Customers buy appeal. In addition to the product, cus-tomers will always buy into you as the sales person. Sometimes, it may not be that your product is supe-rior to the competition. It is because of how you treat your customers. As much as you are a salesperson, overshadow that with you being a cus-tomer service person. In this economy full of insurance and assurance packages, we are more likely to give ear to someone who introduces him/ herself as a personal finan-cial consultant rather than a life insurance salesperson.

You don’t run a business solely dependent on find-ing new customers. The customers you acquire need to be retained and loyalty in your product and service devel-oped in them. The loyalty is built by concentrating on service with an attitude clear to everyone that customer retention is very important to your business - both staff and customers.

Customer compliments and complaints are impor-tant tools to improve efficiency. In this case, you need to consider that nobody knows your product better than

Customer service is important for the customer, but essential to your business. Without customer ser-vice, you don’t have customers and you don’t have a business. Sometimes it calls for you to presume your custom-ers are your equals because they are. Speak with and not at or to your customers. Build in the culture of customer service within your entire organization, not just the small customer relations department. Great customer service ought to be a prerequisite of your business.

Customer is always first, not always right. It petrifies me every time I here someone saying in a resigned voice with shrugged shoulders - “the customer is always right!” How can I sell you a vehicle spare part, you go inter-change it with another one and then come claiming it is what I sold you based on the premise that the customer is always right, It doesn’t work that way. The customer comes first, because we rely on his purchase to make our income but that doesn’t mean they are always right even when it is too obvious that they are on the wrong. Work at solving customer related issues first hand and professionally without making them look bad, but don’t lose your business in the name of adhering to a false presumption!

P A G E 9

20 Distinguishing characteristics of a Master

1. Commits to ethical behavior.

2. Matches words with actions.

3. Strives for excellence.

4. Works independently of criticism and praise.

5. Organizes methodically.

6. Stands tall.

7. Listens to learn .

8. Teaches softly.

9. Tests strictly.

10. Proceeds patiently

11. Treats everyone equally.

12. Assumes the lead.

13. Accepts responsibility

14. Seeks simple solutions.

15. Dares to risk

16. Reacts calmly.

17. Lives now.

18. Appreciates all life

19. Improves her/ himself.

20. Helps others.

(adapted from success.org by Bill Fitzpatrick

Human relations Communicating the bad newsWe live in a world where bad news is the order of the day. At home, on the road, in the office, with friends in the local pub and even at school.

In the work place, I have realized that one of the hardest tasks any manager has is to communicate bad news. In large corporate, it is easy to pass responsibility to others to do the communicating, or use e-mail or no-tice boards. In one man companies and smaller outfits, the burden squarely falls on the owner’s shoul-ders.

So what is the best way to tell some-one that you have to close down due to financial strain? The best way to tell someone they are fired? The best

way to tell your managing director that you are leaving? The best way to say that you were unable to clinch a deal that meant everything for the company?

The starting point is devel-oping a culture of com-munication. Negative news will always be existent and so the best thing is to nurture grounds of dealing with the downside of business before it occurs. Developing a cul-ture of communication means that information is shared before it is too late. For in-stance, a marketing executive

will constantly be sharing the proposal she/ he is working on to sign up a new client. In these discussions with senior management and colleagues, it will be noticed if something is amiss. That way, it will be dealt with before the main meeting with the client. If still the deal doesn’t go through, the marketing executive will not have such a hard time saying why the client did not sign up.

Don’t personalize issues. As a pro-prietor whose company is going under, don’t take it personally. Yours is not the first company to shut down. Nei-ther will it be the last. Be objective in analyzing what caused your downfall. Poor management, competition played

Join us in the next edition as we highlight the challenges of hiring and sorting your way through résumés. At Esteemed we respect that every great corporate and successful SME heavily relies on its Human resource and as such we are committed to giving the best Human relations info

Sometimes I ask my colleagues one simple question (when they say I am daring) - what’s the worst that can happen if you dare the status quo? Sometimes com-municating bad news is about say-ing the very thing that nobody wants to say. The other day we attended a company sponsored training and one of the ice breaking questions had to do with what each person intended to achieve at the end of the training.

Tongue in cheek, I mentally asked myself, what’s the worst that can happen? Then I rambled on about how I hoped that it would build my résumé and I would be a great catch for the competition. Holding onto the bad news for the best time does not help anyone. So when it is tough to give the bad

news, grab the bull by the horns and charge. What’s the worst that can happen anyway?

Wisdom an tact must reign. Contradictory? It might seem so but it is not. Even before you say “kama mbaya, mbaya” (if it’s bad, let it be bad). Wisdom must reign. If our boss comes in moody in the morning and he changes after two cups of coffee, don’t ride in the elevator with him just to tell him that his most valued client pulled out of a million shillings deal last evening. Be wise in knowing how and when you want to communi-cate the bad news. Lack of wisdom and knowledge is the greatest cause of downfall for mankind. Don’t be a victim of the same. Tact is knowing that saying, “I need a raise or I quit” will get you out the door faster without a recommen-dation letter than, “Sir, I appreciate the opportunity to grow with this organization but I feel that we need to work a little extra hard at motivating the team for more of their output.”

dirty, you had some wrong deals that compromised you or you were just not appointed for that business. Value your team.

Downsizing affects everybody. When you have to do it, be hu-man about it and do unto your team members what you would want to be done to you if you were in their shoes. The com-pany values your input greatly and we will help as much as we possibly can but the company cannot sustain itself through the tough times. If you are a good employer, you might be sur-prised that your team would willingly stay on with you for less pay and fight to steer the com-pany to greater heights. Be hon-est. If for instance you are leav-ing your employer for a competi-tor who is offering you more, sooner or later, your boss will find out that you are working for the competition. At your exit interview, if any, be plain but respectful, “I am leaving for bet-ter prospects but I am grateful

for the opportunity you have continuously given me for contributing to the achievement of the com-pany’s goals. I will be pursu-ing greater career advance-ments in the same industry but unfortunately, not within this company”.

when it is tough to give the

bad news, grab the bull by

the horns and charge.

What’s the worst that can

happen anyway?

Qualifications:

Above 21 years

Fluent in English and Swahili (other languages will be an added advantage)

Easy going

Professional outlook/ etiquette

Driven to get ahead and a self starter.

Applications deadline:

May 15, 2008

Please send your application to:

The Managing Editor

Esteemed Magazine

P.O. Box 24329-00502

Karen, Nairobi

E-mail: info@esteemedonline.com

Tel: 020 3597825

Esteemed is out in search for an innovative, advertising and sales person.

Our requirements are simple:

Are you looking to grow a career in sales and marketing and do not mind starting small?

Do you need flexible working hours so that you can manage your client portfolio well?

Are you the kind of person who people won’t mind giving at least 5 minutes of their time?

Bottom line is the cash you earn; but are you willing to work for something more than the money?

If you answered yes to all these questions, we would love to hear from you.

Esteemed Presentations

Don’t sweat through preparing a presentation. Just tell us

what you want to present, how much time you have, your

audience - simple, professionals, politicians, children, young adults and leave the rest to us.

You can even tell your boss you did it on your own!

You will walk away from the podium - NOTICED!!!

Talk to us - 020 3597825 or E-mail liz.esteemed@gmail.com for personalized attention

Account Manager - Appointment

Standing outWhen you last made a presentation did this happen:

Your audience dozed off

Your audience made noises

Your audience kept walking in and out

You walked away with nothing but a simple morale boosting ‘good presentation’ pat on the back

To place your advert in Esteemed Magazine, contact us on info@esteemedonline.com or call +254 020 3597825/ + 254 720 838446

P A G E 1 1 Quiet Time what’s your biggest fear?While going through some literature on Napoleons Laws of success, I decided to share some great input I got from the text in Quiet time.

Every person on earth is afraid of something and unfortunately most of them are inherited. Hereditary in terms of family line-age, superstitions and beliefs. There are six fears which do the most damage and if left unchecked, they will completely hinder us from successfully pursuing any worthwhile undertaking in life. As we go through these fears, reflect to understand how they relate to you and more importantly, develop a strategy to work through and overcome them.

Fear of Poverty

Let’s be honest, every time one of our media houses airs a feature on a poor family in the slums, we si-lently say a prayer of gratitude to God that we are not the ones going through that. The very thought of poverty sends a chill down our spines because we know it means a whole lot of things. Sacrifices, no medical cover, no surety of a meal in the morning or in the evening, no surety of life tomorrow. The fear of being poor is so deeply entrenched that even the most egotistical man will do anything including injur-ing his pride to make sure he doesn’t end up poor. Yet everyday, we drive ourselves towards this state by the things we do and don’t do. We procrastinate, we choose to gratify our desires in the present at the expense of our future, we act selfishly so that our colleagues don’t go ahead of us. That’s your fear acting up and getting the better of you

Fear of the loss of love

Ever heard of the mysteries of love triangles? What about cheating spouses? What about people who willfully submit to black mail over their love affairs? The very thought of not being loved by someone who has dedicated their lives to loving you, will drive you to do some insane, out of this world things. Its amazing how men and women are willing to dare a perfect home with children just for a passion of fleeting pleasure. Its amazing how people are willing to mess others up while their own lives remain intact. A gentleman was once quoted as saying, having hang out in clubs with women of all caliber, some who even drunk more bottle of beer than him, he would need to go back to his roots for a woman to love and a woman who would not be taken from him by his mates, or by the pleasures of this world - the fear of the loss of love at work

Fear of death

It is said that the worst enemy to fight is the one who

does not fear death. For some reason we all want to live

forever, yet the Bible clearly states that we shall all die.

The best we can do is appreciate every moment we have

alive and prepare our souls for either eternal peace in

heaven with Jesus Christ, or eternity in hell going through

fire and brimstone. Being one to want the best, it is only

logical to follow through the straight narrow in this life-

time, so that I can enjoy the awe and wonder of walking

the streets of gold. Read the Word of God to seek un-

derstanding and a way to deal with this fear, otherwise,

you will die of worry!

Fear of Ill-heath

There is this new trend of using herbal medicine, herbal tea, herbal skin care, herbal make up and so on. All in the name of having a good healthy body. Ill health means you are relying on someone else to put a meal on your table; it means you can’t go to work, it means you deplete some of your hard earned cash. Fear of being sick is so real that some people end up self treating rather than visiting a doctor. Others are so afraid that on getting one sneeze from their babies, the next minute they are the doctors. Ill health may be because of your internal composition, or because you ne-glect yourself. Can you imagine an asthmatic smoker? What about a pneumatic bungee jumper? You need to take care of yourself and be armed with health related information so as to deal with this fear. Worry in itself is a source of ill health and it will mean dealing it from psychological to physical and social platforms. Take care of your body. Your body will take care of you in the long run.

Fear of old age

I have often heard it said that old is gold. The fear of old age stems out of (a) the thought that old age may bring with it poverty; and (b) the fact that old age means approaching your end hence a choice of streets of gold or fire and brim-stone.

In our culture, there is the saying “ukuru uriaga wethe” that means old age feeds from our youthful life. If you get a good job with good income and you invest while still in your twen-ties, chances of growing poor when ld are minimal because you will have saved for old age. Your children won’t even need to sign you up in an old folks home. On the other hand, if you have lived a righteous life, adhering to the word of God and being a follower of the gospel,, what would make you doubt that your name is written in the book of life. Re-member the Bible has it that the average lifespan of a man is 2 scores, 3 scores is an extra from God. Four score or 4.5 score is a bonus from the Lord in heaven. Live your life in the best way that you can to ensure you never say—I wish I know. Don’t do anything you will regret in your old age, because whether you like it or not, it’s coming!

Fear of criticism

I walked past a mall the other day and inside one shop they were selling

toupees (hair wig for men). I wondered to myself, why would an aging

man want to buy that? It was fear of being laughed at because of losing

hair. When I think about people who thrive on criticizing others, the first

thing that comes to mind is that they are weak. They would rather spend

their energies criticizing others than work on their own shortcoming. For

example, a married woman who did not enjoy her freedom before mar-

riage, may be critical of a single woman who is having the time of her life,

globe trotting and advancing her career. It is against such criticism that I

ask a simple two words question - so what? I mean, so what if the rest of

the world criticizes the way I am, God made me with short hair among

people with long hair. It doesn’t mean am weird. Am just different. Fear of

criticism dwarfs us in so many ways that sometimes it halts us on our path

to success. Woe unto us if we pay attention to it. Look at it this way, if

people are criticizing, then it means, you must be onto something great!

We do:

Social badges - weddings, birthdays

School badges - performance recognition; manage-ment; student roles

Staff Badges

Church Badges

Event Badges - conferences, seminars etc

We think outside the box with you

Join our list of growing clients and enjoy the beauty of variety with Kilimara badges

Kilimara Investments

Mr. George Kimani

P.O. Box 24979 - 00502

Tel: +254 020 2099502/ +254 733 549099

E-mail: kilimara@gmail.com

Nairobi, Kenya

For those who have seen and used our badges, the feedback is gener-ally the same.

People like and cherish personal-ized items.

Students will gladly wear a badge with their name and de-clare their achievements.

For the young boys in games, it means a lot to have a badge that says - Best game scorer!

For those events that last a

lifetime such as the international Women’s day - it feels great to spot a colorful badge saying I am proud to be a woman

Badges say what is in your heart, what you are proud of and that is what Kilimara badges do.

We bring out your heart’s mes-sage at the most affordable cost with the highest quality possible.

Badges that make a difference