Join the tribe, change your status quo

Saying or writing that I knew what I wanted to do with my life would be one of those famous white lies that people tell. For the longest time coming, I was not living, I was surviving, I was not thriving I was existing. I was one of those guys who would let life happen to him instead of making life happen. I remember making those popular personal timetables back in school, I would even pin them on the locker so that everyone can see that I was also in the league of elites. In one way or the other, whether good luck or sheer tenacity *I wasn’t sure which was which back then* I managed to get to campus.

Once I got into university, we formed cliques depending on how urban or cultured we felt we were, I started living life on the fast lane, I became a Y.O.L.O kind of guy, my crew used to live on the motto “live fast die young, it’s our choice!” and we were not about to let anyone tell us nothing! You feel me! This trend continued and by the time we were in third year (last year) we were so lost in it that neither of us knew what we would do next after campus. Heck! None of us was even thinking that campus would ever end, we even did not think we would have to change for anything or anyone! It was our life, we would live by our rules and no one’s opinion or approval was needed!

This was basically my life until Lapid Leaders Africa (LLA) happened!! I still regard joining LLA as the best mistake I have ever made, because it has completely overhauled my life for the better. How? Let me explain…

Where the rubber meets the road

LLA runs a 3-month program that equips young adults to be values driven leaders in the marketplace and Africa by first leading themselves. The facilitators push you hard over the edge of your comfort zone and make you realize that you can do things you never thought you could.

They don’t just theorize everything, they put you in groups and then give you real time, hands-on experience through practical projects and activities. Being used to being a freelancer made me uncomfortable in facing these time-bound tasks, I was stretched to meet deadlines, pushed out of my cocoon to make people work together and achieve the desired goals for a certain project. Throughout the training, I have had personal contact with the movers and shakers of business sector as well as social entrepreneurs who would come to share with us and I got three common take outs from these two groups of people: Time management. Commitment. Communication skills.

They say time waits for no man, but my favorite: time is money, literally! Think of it this way, you use your time to acquire knowledge and skills which then translate to money when you put them into use. Therefore; time = knowledge and skills = money. However, there is a catch, if you acquire mediocre knowledge and skills, you will get mediocre returns, but if you acquire great skills, you get great returns. Therefore, managing your time is the best decision you will ever make. Have a plan and don’t let anyone waste your time.  If you keep someone waiting, that is the equivalent of stealing their time, and do you know what they do to thieves?

Commitment and Team work

Being committed is making sure that an activity scheduled to be done gets done, and in time. You have to be committed and it will not be easy, through the pain and the difficult moments, even with the ones with the personalities you don’t like, you have to believe in the ‘we’ and the ‘us’ and not the ‘me’ and ‘I’. It’s a commitment, it’s not a feeling. If you are not committed, you will never make it.

I have learnt the value of teamwork through my group at LLA and the Global Management Challenge (GMC) Kenya competition. GMC has broadened my leadership skills, analytical skills as well as decision making skills while engaging my team towards achieving the set targets and objectives.

Communication skills is also another aspect that every leader should excel in. It is not about how much you know, it is how you say and express it. How you speak and communicate that which you know will determine the effectiveness and efficiency of your message. It is the only way that you can make people believe in what you embody. Most people cannot do public speaking because of fear of people and stage fright. Get out of your comfort zone and if you need help to get it done, enroll in Lapid Leaders Institute, now!!

You never know what you can do until circumstances push you to do it, but most often than not, the circumstances are not pleasing, they will be difficult and vexing. However, you could minimize the agony and enroll at Lapid Leaders to get the skills and values necessary to handle and maneuver the harsh situations that come your way. There are plenty of leaders, but there is an acute shortage of values-driven leaders, a shortage of Lapid Leaders!

Enroll now and join this amazing team of like-minded individuals who are tired of the status quo and are willing to change it. They say we should always surround ourselves with those on the same mission as us, and remember, as a man thinks, so is he.