Insights for Leading

Last week, I told you a story about how I won a mathematics competition after I was pumped up by the encouraging words I heard from my mathematics teacher. What I did not tell you was that I and my colleagues that formed our school team lost in the final to the host because we missed one question; nevertheless, I was awarded as the Best Mathematician at the tournament. Now, consider if while ‘feeling myself’ at the peak of my emotions, someone walks up to me and says, “Bright, you are so amazing!” What would ensue is a ‘dance of happiness.’ By that phrase, I mean that he will radiate positive energy to me in the form of happiness and I will do the same to him. Our energy will increase exponentially. Again, consider, if another person comes and says, “Wetin you dey feel like? Na luck una take reach final sef.” Either of two things could happen. I could allow his words to puncture my balloon of happiness if I reckoned it to be an attack, then my emotions will be reset to launch m...

Growing up in the streets of Lagos, I discovered that one prerequisite you must have in order to maintain your peace on a public bus is a good sense of humour. It is both a helmet and a breastplate, keeping you immune to mental, emotional and psychological attacks. Interestingly, it is not only on the bus that you need this all-important tool. Today, tomorrow and the day after, you are likely going to be situations where emotions run strong and can tip off into anger, verbal exchange, and even physical attack and injury. Whether in the office with a boss or colleague, at an airport, or in the market place, to keep your peace intact, forearm yourself with a good sense of humour with which you can also transmute attacks into raw materials for social bonding. People are not necessarily bad, but when they are stressed, it is quite difficult for them to really be themselves and extend their goodness to you. Do not fall victim to ‘their other side’ lest you reg...

“Energy cannot be created nor destroyed” we were taught in our science courses as the first law of thermodynamics. But when it comes to the dynamics of work and productivity, energy can be created and destroyed – and can be transferred. I recently pointed this out to someone who asked about how to create and sustain positive energy in order to stimulate and maintain top performance. “There are usually three important ways to create and amplify positive energy,” I told him. And I want to share with you those crucial ways of bringing freshness and vitality to your work. First, be intentional about your THOUGHTS. Your most prominent thoughts will determine your feelings and energy level. If you focus on positives, your energy increases. But if you keep your mind on negatives, your energy drops rapidly. My mathematics teacher in secondary school, Mr. Kola Deji, played that game with me. During a Mathematics Competition, I was to face a prominent school in my area. My friend...

The very definition of competition is “the activity or condition of striving to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others.” Anthony Joshua’s weekend defeat further buttresses the key fact in our previous motivation capsule: The cat (Joshua) was committed to catching the mouse (Ruiz) to eat as a routine whereas the mouse was determined to survive. In fact, Joshua’s sloppiness eventually cost him his invincibility and three world titles. I have had my own share of such experience at different times, beginning from my primary school years. I was the undisputed champion until I was dethroned in the last term. I mean, I didn’t graduate as the best student. It was just crazy! Crying did not return my crown – hard work did. And in secondary school, I wrote a better story of consistent success. Many of us have also been there – slumping to defeat in a surprising and shameful way after being invincible for a long time – and the public never spares...

When it comes to authoring a book, many aspire, but only few achieve their aspiration. Previously, I have shared six (6) important reasons why your book project might have stalled. Today, I will cap it all with the most practical issue on this series: Many aspiring authors lack understanding of the book writing process. Note the word "PROCESS." Process is defined as a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. Rather than mastering and working with a process that works, you might fall into the common trap of using a laisse a faire approach. T ruth be told, ideas come to us spontaneously, but we achieve excellence by processing and organizing our ideas properly through planning and discipline. If you merely act by the impulse of inspiration and without planning, you would put the cart before the horse at different times. For example, you might want to title your book before writing it. While that has worked for some people and some...

After publishing my first post on why many book projects of aspiring authors stall, I have been getting responses from people who have caught renewed zeal to pick up their manuscripts and finish it up, in light of what they now know. This is encouraging indeed, but there is yet more to be known about this. What other challenges could account for non-completion of your book writing project and how can you surmount them? 1. YOU LISTEN TO NAYSAYERS. It is good to be surrounded by well-meaning people, but you must sift what you receive from them. Good intention does not always mean good insight. If you keep listening to people who tell you that “You are not good enough,” you will never make progress in whatever you are doing. Others may say “People don’t read books” “Books don’t sell” “No one has done it like this before” “I have tried it but it didn’t work for me” Naysayers might mean no harm, but their words also afford no help. Their words only drain you. Surround yourself ...

“Coach Bright, I have been writing a book for years now, but I have not been able to finish it. I have two to three other manuscripts too. In fact, I have abandoned them for a while, but I guess I’d pick them up now that you have urged me to write and publish my book.” I often get this kind of comments from participants at events where I speak as well as prospective clients. But the fact is, if you share the same complain with these people but don’t know the things I am about to discuss in this article, you would still have your book unpublished by the end of the year. So, why exactly do people fail to finish writing their book and merely pile up manuscripts? And how can exactly can you move from the aspiring zone to become a published author in record time? Having a book idea is never enough, neither is determination. So, what really works? Come with me and get these secrets! First, like many other aspiring authors, you did not state your objectives for writing from...