Ethical Dilemmas of Right vs Right in Leadership

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When leaders have to make hard and tough decisions, they sometimes have to use personal values as a benchmark. Badaracco (1997) in his book “Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right. Boston: Harvard Business Review” opines, that often times, resolving such problems is not a simple case of “you have to do the right thing” as the school of ethics would have you believe. Instead of thinking about right versus wrong, he argues that the hardest things to really work through are when it is right versus right. Continue reading Ethical Dilemmas of Right vs Right in Leadership

Why women die from “appendicitis”!

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I remember one of those dreadful nights as a medical house officer fresh from medical school. I was rotating through obstetrics and was on-call with an obstetric registrar. We had been called to see a woman with a queried appendicitis but the ER doctor called us in to rule out a possible ectopic/tubal pregnancy. Tubal pregnancies and appendicitis have one thing in common -pain in the right lower abdomen. After the registrar examined the lady, he sent her for an ultrasound scan to rule in a tubal pregnancy. Shortly afterwards, a senior registrar (who had just passed his fellowship exam of the West African College of surgeons) did the scan. We watched eagerly as he pointed at the female pelvic area landmarks, more like teaching us as we watched on with ignorance but enthusiasm. His conclusion Continue reading Why women die from “appendicitis”!

Viral Hepatitis is deadlier and more infectious than HIV!

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Viral hepatitis ranks as one of the top killers in our world today. It is many times more infectious than HIV and has a death toll that is equal to that of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. Studies estimate that in 2014, TB caused about 1.5 million deaths, HIV/AIDS about 1.2 million deaths and Viral Hepatitis about 1.45 million deaths. Although Hepatitis is highly infectious, it is preventable with vaccines and it can be treated too. Continue reading Viral Hepatitis is deadlier and more infectious than HIV!

Emotional Intelligence- The Mandela Example

image source cyberschoolgroupEmotional intelligence is the ability to combine intelligence, empathy, and emotions to enhance thought and understanding of interpersonal dynamics. Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) is perhaps best known for his high emotional intelligence amongst many other things. According to Coleman (2008), emotional intelligence is the capacity of individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior. Continue reading Emotional Intelligence- The Mandela Example

The World’s Deadliest Infectious Disease- Tuberculosis (TB)

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For more than 5000 years, tuberculosis(TB) has been on a brawl with mankind. Today, TB is the deadliest infectious disease on our planet and many have had a broil with it. Charles IX, Louis VIII, and Louis XVII (France), Henry VII (England) contracted TB. In more recent history, Nelson Mandela (while in jail) and Desmond Tutu (as a kid) both freedom fighters, from South Africa have been victims of TB. Today, armed with a dangerous partner in HIV, TB kills about 1,5 million people every year. The sad news is that the partner (HIV) gets all the limelight and funding too. Continue reading The World’s Deadliest Infectious Disease- Tuberculosis (TB)

A peep at man’s future without crude oil- Can we survive?

globeIt’s not a matter of if but when. Crude oil usage is not sustainable and at the rate we use it, it won’t last for much longer. But your life depends on it more than you think. Take a look at the things we use daily that are made from crude oil by-products and see what life without crude oil will be like for humans in a future not too far. Continue reading A peep at man’s future without crude oil- Can we survive?

Doing Business In China (Part 1)

China FlagIt is no secret that China is the country to reckon with in this century. In many countries, Mandarin is being taught to school children as they are being prepared to live in the future dominated by China just like the U.S.A dominated the last century. In many organizations, global corporate strategy has moved faster than global leadership development. This outcome has created some leadership problems: global companies may not have enough leaders in their growth markets or leaders with the required critical global leadership competencies in their headquarters. As outlined by Canals (2014) Continue reading Doing Business In China (Part 1)

Poor Organizational Strategy and Design at South African Broadcasting Cooperation (Part 2 of 2)

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The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported a 395 rand million (approximately US$39,5 million) loss for the year ended March according to the Business Day, 23 September 2015. The SABC blamed this significant loss on South Africa’s poor economic performance and television license defaulters. Continue reading Poor Organizational Strategy and Design at South African Broadcasting Cooperation (Part 2 of 2)