Edited by author 12-06-2007 11:49 AM
To all those, who I have not responded to, I apologize for not responding on time and thank you for your comments.

Well, it has indeed been a fantastic and equally challenging year. We commenced business in October of 2006 and to-date I am a proud owner of this new business initiative that is clearly going to blossom in a little while….
Why do I say this, in the year under review, in our consulting division we had the pleasure of getting involved with Safaricom, Suntra Investment Bank and Ericsson whose assignments were successful. Recently we have been contracted by a Mauritius based, not for profit organization. Whose delivery area of focus is on strategy development, gap analysis, and quality management systems development and implementation. In some cases, training and coaching will be a continuous delivery area for the next year.

In our training division, we had the pleasure of being involved with Coop Bank for a short stint that was organized by Power Play who brought us in as part of a consortium of trainers to train on the Power of Purpose in line with the changes that were taking place at the bank, which we delivered successfully. This whole experience was very exciting, the entire staff of 1400 employees participated in this process; you have to congratulate the CEO in seeing this value for change. Equally, Ericsson Kenya engaged us in corporate coaching and training, in particular harmonizing the team dynamics at two levels, where team building/alignment with corporate objectives is the primary focus. In our public training sessions we delivered Quality Management Systems (QMS) and Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) Lead Auditor accredited International Standards (ISO) training respectively at the Safari Park Hotel. The target audience, were senior staff from small and medium size organizations including but not limited to Ernst and Young, Discount Securities, Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), Ebenezer Communications, SOS Rwanda, and ABC Bank amongst others. These were the focus areas for the first year.

We are now well into our second year, currying on with the project relationships that we engaged in, last year whilst creating capacity for new ones with vigor and excitement. A recent facilitation at the UN Complex promises to open doors at the international level for additional consultancy services and training. The experience with African Youth from Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia was an eye opener and a very inspiring one. I had a chance to interact with Glocal Forum, World Bank and UN Habitat.

So, in balancing the operations and growth of Ignites’ revenue generation. We have developed one and three day programs. These relevant personal development programs are Discover Your Purpose, Effective Leadership (scheduled for delivery January 22, 23 and 24) and Entrepreneurial Capacity Building & Business Planning, which will be schedule throughout the coming year. Discover Your Purpose has been well received by the market and the first series of sessions have been very successful. So far, participants are spreading the workshop by word of mouth, which we appreciate greatly. During the DYP one-day workshop, we deal with a number of areas related to your personal life. In particular, the financial and wealth creation session is very telling, interesting and a memorable experience. I am so excited at how these programs are taking shape. These new business development areas were driven by the financial report for 2006/07. It was obvious where the market was aligning its interest. After soul searching we realized the need to quickly re-group and re-think. We are convinced that the new products will deliver more value for money to our clients and customers.

The international arena is also an interesting opportunity. I am hopeful that I will be running a one-day Teen’s session in Toronto, Canada early in 2008. In the meantime, I am developing a web interactive and e-commerce driven portal that will create private chat rooms and possibly a blog or wiki for our participants to continue engaging one another. This platform will help us sell streams of our on going sessions and programs to the lnternational market place as well as help create a discussion forum that can help participants to continue to engage each other for progress!

At a personal level, changes have been related to learning and aligning from a pure service business that did not require my direct involvement in determining whether I get paid or not. Running a business where if I am not working I have NO MONEY has been quiet a re-learning experience and an eye opener, life really in time brings you to the beginning, this is how it was when I was a hairdresser. I am not complaining, I am just noting the distinct difference. In fact, this has other benefits, consultants understand that they only get paid for work they have done. Which is helping Ignites’ general structure going forward, if you cannot carry your weight, you ship out, as others cannot be responsible for your payroll…. Unless of cause you are handling administration processes which are clearly related to the work output, which drives the revenue generation. Importantly, I am able to drop and pick Waruiru from school. This is such a pleasure coming from my previous structure/process or work lifestyle. I also have benefited three holidays with family in simply 16 months. What an accomplishment compared to what I was used too. Mind you for all of my 22 years of working, I have always taken at least two weeks off annually as a rule. You know life is short, you must enjoy as you move along.

So, in a nutshell, if you are in the middle of planning your next career development or business alignment! Join us at one of our three workshops, Discover Your Purpose, Effective Leadership and Entrepreneurial Capacity Building & Business Planning programs.

I recently, finished developing my 50-year plan, the roadmap that takes me to 2057. God willing I will be alive and kicking even then… be blessed.

Good

The educational system debate in Kenya and beyond, in general. In the recent past, this has been an ongoing conversation everywhere i go!

At this stage, I believe that we all agree they are indeed deficits in the educational systems that are! There is a need to evolve from a culture, where instruction based and cramming methodologies, to pass exams, whose days are long gone, must come to pass. If the government/private sector has any real intentions in forging economic improvements, it must start with a serious self-actualization of what works. As follows;

1. We need to identify other methodologies of learning beyond the ones we focus on and will in most cases die for, the degree process and focus in this country and others is creating a deadlock for fostering initiative driven from the self entrepreneurship and open mindedness of thinking out of the box. Today's Jua Kali is tomorrows economic boost for industry, but one would argue that these new economy businesses are not poised to meet the criterions set by those who see things from a narrow and in the box, already not working poverty eradication concepts. At the end, practical teaching gains more benefits, and this is a missing link in our educational process today.

2. The systematic approach methods of developing ICT opportunities and other areas of possible partnerships, is missing. It is obvious that the current structure of government is suffering the same major issues of private sector where decisions are made in silo's and therefore in most cases, have no connectivity with the larger potential benefit which brings about first time, first right equals success. The organizations that create capacity to involve key recourses in their decision-making processes stand a better chance of knowledge transfer and ability to plan succession. If succession structures were in place, we would be aligning those stepping out into the market to take up new positions that foster capacity to bridge the current glaring gaps, which will hinder growth in the coming years.

3. We need a serious intervention on how we communicate as a people; we also need to start hearing each other’s views. They are too much of an adherence to status quo, anything that is different has to be questioned and then questioned instead of opening ourselves to possibilities. The fact is we are a developing economy; we are not the first and or the last to pass through this passage of development. What I believe we MUST do is to embrace changes together and to break the structures of the norms. What do I mean? We cannot continue to use the local benchmarks of the past into the future of Kenya, we must look at the external benchmarks of other countries, of cause as you read this you will argue that we do this, well the fact is, since we are not high risk takers on areas we are not good at, we end up recoiling to local benchmarks. The extent of this is that our own are recognized by outsiders, we do not even notice them. Look around you… anyway, I must admit that this is slowly changing, in fact I am very excited by the new approach of positioning the new generation of entrepreneurs who are up and coming and moving at very high speeds, which I encourage and appreciate. The only concern being we are not seeing these young and energetic minds being absorbed in key decision making positions. What I would like to see more is knowledge transfer from the godfathers and godmothers who need to move into more advisory roles and leave the busy, working and engagement structures of boards and executive leadership positions to younger executives. Again, someone would argue but they are not mature and even not exposed enough, well, who are these people being lead and coached by???? Who coached those before you and how is it that you can do it and others cannot. In South Africa the Black Empowerment is working, even though with some difficulty, but working never the less. If you teach a man how to fish, your better off than feeding him for life… well the saying goes something like that….

4. Well, having been in the training and development arena for one year, these are my findings.
a) We are not a reading or continuous learning society
b) We are exposed, but narrow minded in our views for change and improvement, perhaps this is brought about by the fact, since one is educated (has a degree(s) they know all that they need to know and they are therefore not interested in furthering their scope of continued improvement of knowledge. If one were an expert in IT for instance, how would you better improve your marketability and scope of understanding the business dynamics of your area of interest?
c) Self initiative and drive is a value that people must respect, in my findings, I have realized that people replace their own potential for success with someone else, other than themselves, of cause this statement will be used to counter a statement on this very email, but the questions are, who is leading whom? Where are we headed? What are the values that we hold and how do those with whom we interact with recognize them. At the end, this election process should teach us a lesson or two, I cannot wait for the announcements. But in the end, if you are reading in between the lines, it is time for ACTION. Seating on the fence is for the fearful and weak. Forging forward is for the strong and confident in self. Looking at the entire continent we have a huge potential but we must stand up to be counted. Let’s not look at those we know and expect them to take the leap of faith, they are already doing it, what are you doing??? Secondly, quest for knowledge without the competency to apply that, that one knows is yet another area of great weakness. In other words, knowledge should equal competence coupled with the ability to change the mindset, which of cause yet another area that needs a paradigm shift.

Well, enough said all is not lost, Kenya is indeed scaling and we need to forge forward with confidence and ability to cease the moment as Kenyans, otherwise others will come to benefit. They are already working in your back yards etc…

Greetings Ms. Rionge:

I was in the process of purchasing a Domain name for my new business. But before beginning, I began an inquisitive search to see which agency manage and/or house all domain names. My search resulted in learning of ICANN and your Bio. It pays to challenge the mind and think outside of the box, because I may have never learned of your awesomeness and good work!

In the US, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, I work for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the US 4th largest public school district. I serve as a Procurement Management Administrator. Your message board promotes teaching others to work with a sense of urgency and to think outside of the box. You have stated everything I instill into my wonderful staff. This let's me know I'm on target with my management style. You obviously have a passion for education, so if accepted, I would like to send you an autographed copy of the book written recently by my Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Rudolph F. Crew, Ed., with Thomas DYJA, titled: "Only Connect, The Way To Save Our Schools". Dr. Crew asks and motions: "Can our kids compete globally? Yes-If WE get smart. www.rudycrewconnect.com or www.dadeschools.net

Lastly. I am familiar with OWIT, but have lost contact with the founder of this organization over the years. When they visited Miami, I had the pleasure of meeting members at my church.

God bless you in all your endeavors and Happy New Year!

Reeltystar@yahoo.com (Film & Entertainment Location Shoots Management Firm)

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