How Engaged Are You Today in Creating The Future?

There is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness in Kenya due to the myriad of challenges facing the country. It is a fact that majority of Kenyans are not getting what they want in life. Many more are not unleashing their full performance potential.

Organizations likewise, especially small and medium enterprises have also been hit hard. The situation is worse because the country depends on the success of the business sector, which remits taxes that support state-run activities. If the current challenges are not tackled as a matter of urgency, the future doesn’t look very bright.

Despite the gloominess, Kenyans remain optimistic. Rarely do I ever notice or remember the occurrence of valentine day in any year, except the recent one of February 14, 2016. Perhaps, I fail to notice the others because valentine was unheard of during my entire growth process. Today, it is hard not to notice the day due to heightened commercial activity. The floriculture industry is probably the greatest beneficiary of the valentine phenomenon. There is enormous focus towards supply of roses for the occasion.

In the last valentine day though, which happened on a Sunday, I got engaged in a process of re-creating the future today, through speaking at Alliance High School, where I had been invited as guest at their chapel. It was indeed a great honour mentoring almost 1500 students on the step by step process of not only unleashing their full performance potential, but also becoming formidable future leaders. In this institution that is a renowned epitome of academic excellence, it was indeed a great moment discussing talent alignment and leadership strategy in the 21st Century, an amazingly popular seminar in learning institutions and churches.

The circumstances of this particular invitation were nonetheless unusual. Incidentally, there are citizens who are still very passionate about this country. Most importantly, not everybody is living today like there will be no tomorrow, as can be said of those who are associated with the negativity that continually portrays our country in bad light.

In this regard, my immediate family had spent the whole day at Alliance High School witnessing a life changing event, on Thursday 11th February, 2016. Students of Alliance High, Alliance Girls, Kenya High, Lenana School, Limuru Girls, Starehe Boys and Precious Blood Girls, Riruta were all converged together competing for an unusual and recently introduced trophy. An innovation by one of our close family members has taken unusual knowledge right up-to the secondary school system. It is unique in that it encourages the formation of investment clubs in schools; the ones earlier mentioned being the pioneers.

The individual participants, largely form 3 students, are encouraged to join the investment clubs, under the guidance of their business teachers, who eventually become the club patrons. External club mentors, help the investment club members to understand how to save, spend and even invest money. The lessons are initially conducted through a virtual platform, which is complete with real-time access to the activities in the Nairobi Stocks and other financial instruments. This means that participating members must have access to computer labs, complete with internet connectivity. Perhaps, the long awaited laptop for schools project will become handy, towards contributing to this great development of empowering our future leaders.

In the meantime, the recent competition of the said schools was sponsored by Strathmore University, which not only produced the program inventor, but has also ensured to extend a four year full scholarship for the individual winner of the financial literacy competition. Conversely, UAP- Old Mutual Group graciously sponsored the other aspects of the competition.

Students walked away with a combined prize of KES 300,000, a move that demonstrates the seriousness of the competition. The winners were students who are able to manage the best virtual portfolios and do the best analysis on listed companies. Once winning students graduate, they are challenged to put their skills to test by investing an average of Sh. 5,000 in real life for a period of 1 year.

This challenge is dubbed The Mucheru Challenge, named after the ICT Cabinet Secretary, who is its initiator. The winner of the recent challenge, Faith Muthoni won KES 100,000 (one hundred thousand) as the overall prize. She also walked away with the 5% stake, earlier owned by Joe Mucheru in this Financial Literacy invention that could be a game changer in this country. Indeed, these must be great achievements for a university bound student through this game changing reality.

Imperatively, the fact that we are money driven country can’t be gainsaid even though, intensive lessons on money matters are as scarce as the money itself, especially for students. These Lessons are rarely taught in schools, particularly for those who drop out early, before pursuing university education. More still, only those students who pursue business related courses will be lucky enough to acquire adequate knowledge that would eventually guide them through real life investments and other detailed financial issues. The rest are likely to grapple in the dark as they pursue lives that have not been prepared adequately towards dealing with money matters.

Luckily, the students who will have participated in the investments clubs will be ahead of the pack. They will have been opened up adequately with respect to understanding complex issues as analysis of financial statements, organizational profitability, operating environment, investments decisions and many other interesting financial matters that form knowledge that is generally attributable to accountants and financial experts. The same must have been considered as theory, in the school system, whereas they are now a reality as well as practical to the club participating students.

Seemingly, the graduates from these interventions will be highly empowered citizens, who will not only fit in well as movers and shakers of the business sector, but also be capable of setting up their own entities, while endowed with requisite knowledge and attitudes. The only issue that may be of interest is to ensure that the graduates are properly aligned to their personalized orientations, such that they will be in positions of ably and consistently dealing with change, be they in self or formal employment.

Ostensibly, the innovators of the financial literacy invention as well as the sponsors of the respective competitions must surely be commended for showing the way forward, with regard to developing talent that will eventually benefit not only the business sector, but also the entire economy. Evidently, a better tomorrow will no doubt be assured, as long as we can all focus towards developing and harnessing talent during this highly competitive and dynamic 21st Century.

Meanwhile,

• At what stage of the performance cycle is your business organization operating?
• If you wanted to holistically and strategically transform the fortunes of your organization, where would you start?
• Did you ever know that we can help your organization to completely transform direction for the better in only 2 – 3 days?
• Did you also know that we extend PERSONALIZED and MONEY BACK GUARANTEES on the respective solutions?
• How about starting with a non committal, one on one discussion on how the transformation can be achieved?

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