Wishing our long serving Assistant Manager at Chanters Lodge a very happy birthday and many more to come! That’s her above canoeing the fabulous Zambezi just 10 kms or so from Chanters Lodge in Livingstone, Zambia.
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We’re always sorry to see long serving staff leave the lodge but happy when it is to improve their education and career prospects. So, we wish Ethel Mashawila (above left in the picture) the best of luck as she heads off to catering school for further education. Thanks to her for all her hard work in the kitchen over the years.
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Some quotes from Lee Colan
• Leadership is about others, not ourselves.
• Leaders who give the best of themselves get the best from others.
• If you do not take care of the little things over the long term, you won’t take care of the big things.
• Leaders who underestimate the intelligence of their employees generally overestimate their own.
• Great leaders appreciate their employees, not just their contributions.
* Don’t worry about leaving your leadership legacy. Just live it.
Some of my favourites:
* What gets rewarded is what gets done
* Fixing the blame does not fix the problem.
* People tend to do what you do not necessarily what you say.
* There are no problems only opportunities to learn
* Honest people do not lie, steal or cheat
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Here’s a nice one from Lee Colan (above) writing in Inc Magazine
“As an author, the question, “May I quote you?” is a humbling request and a great compliment. For anyone who is in search of leadership excellence a good quote is fuel for your team and your journey. It’s amazing how a short, simple quotation can quickly provide perspective, inspiration, comfort, motivation or insight. What a wonderful return for our invested time! Take 10 seconds each morning to read a new quote and our day, maybe even our world, is changed.
I wanted to share a few of my favorite leadership quotes:
• “To add value to others, one must first value others.” – John Maxwell
• “A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.” – Herb Kelleher
• “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.” – Yogi Berra
• “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
• “Those who let things happen usually lose to those who make things happen.” – Dave Weinbaum
• “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
• “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Lee added some of his own but I’ll save those for a future post and chuck in a few of my favourites as well!
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It was a pleasure to welcome back Chris Mweetwa (above), director of Chris Tours, as our Guest on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. The Experience is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a lively mixture of latest Zambian and international music as well as chat with our Guest of the week. If one of our listeners can quickly text us the name of the artist singing on our ‘oldie of the week’ there’s also the chance to win dinner for two with drinks at the lodge – and a swim if the weather’s up for it and the water’s warm!
Chris told listeners that when he’d last appeared on our show, some three years ago, he was a taxi driver on the verge of completing a contract with the vehicle’s owner which would then give him ownership of that car. He revealed that in the three intervening years he had completed that contract and had then successfully established a tours and taxi company, Chris Tours. He was now the proud owner of a fleet of six vehicles, three mini-buses and three taxis. He had managed to get a loan to start off the expansion and had progressed from there. As well as the regular taxi business, the company offers airport transfers, transfers to any point in Zambia and surrounding countries, as well as vehicle hire and safaris, especially to Chobe NP in Botswana. Chris gave listeners details of his website and Facebook page and mentioned that his company handles all Chanters Lodge Clients to Botswana, as well as staff transport for the lodge.
The music on the show was great. We opened with latest tracks from Avicii and Leona Lewis. George dropped Zambian tracks from Macky 2 and Tyce. Milli Jam chose numbers from Ellie Goulding and One Direction. The prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us telling us who’s the artist on our oldie of the week, mentioned above, was not won on this show – George chose The Specials with a topical ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ a rather obscure if trendy single.
Chris revealed to listeners that he is married with 5 children, his eldest daughter is 15 and the youngest child just one year and 5 months old. Originally from Kalomo, north of Livingstone though still in Southern Province, Chris said he had been in Livingstone since he was 10 years old and had completed his education at Linda Secondary school in the city. He claimed he supported Arsenal FC in England while others present suggested he might have been forced to say this! He told listeners that he had recently returned from his first visit to Johannesburg and had been impressed with the multi lane highways as well as the Gauteng train in that city.
Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Chris said that he wanted to be in Livingstone having grown and expanded his excellent tour company. We had no doubt at all that he would succeed.
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Thanks to Judy in Australia for this one:
A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’ She fooled them all ….
“How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile.
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.
She replied , “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”
“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Pick them up tomorrow.
1. Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue!
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4. Drive carefully – it’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker!
5. If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8. Never buy a car you can’t push.
9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
10. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
11. Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
13. When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
14. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
16. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17. We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
18. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
19. Have a lovely day and know that someone has thought about you today.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
Save the earth….. It’s the only planet with chocolate!
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Seth Godin’s advice is always good. Here’s a piece from Inc Magazine to make you stop and think!
Seth Godin on the subject of marketing inside small businesses.
What marketing mistake do most small businesses make?
They believe in the mass market instead of obsessing about a micro market. They seek the mass market because it feels harder to fail–there’s always one more stranger left to bother. It’s the small, the weird, and the eager that will make or break you.
What’s the right mix for social networking?
Comment less, contribute more, retweet none. We need you to be generous, not Dan Rather.
Why are most marketing messages so dreadful?
Because marketing is an artifact of the industrial age, and the industrial age is about mass and volume and average stuff for average people, produced in bulk. Of course, once you have an assembly line in the works, you’re going to play it safe…
How can marketing and sales work more effectively together?
The Gordian knot disappears the moment marketing commits to making remarkable products that sales finds easy to sell.
Why are your responses so brief?
If I had worked less diligently on them, they would have been longer.
Note: Seth’s final response actually contains (in a hidden form) some of the best business advice on the planet: that it takes time and effort to create a pithy message.
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Akafekwa (above) stepped in as our Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild – that’s our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The Guest whom we had booked was a ‘no show’ and we were very grateful to Akafekwa for filling the gap. He was a great Guest too!
Akafekwa told listeners that he is the sales manager of a newly established company selling porcelain tiles in Livingstone – ‘Tile Giant’ and that he enjoys the job. An accountant by profession he holds both a certificate in accounting as well as an accounts technicians diploma from NIPA in Lusaka. Before joining Tile Giant he had worked for Chrismar Hotels in Lusaka and here in Livingstone. Tile Giant is located in the same premises as The Hard Rock Cafe in Livingstone which provoked a few questions!
How come Akafekwa was on hand to Guest on our show? Well, he had come to the studio with George following a show that George – a rap musician – had been playing at Taonga Safaris who have a great location on the banks of the Zambezi. The place rocks on Sunday afternoons, just ask the elephants! “How long have you known George?” Milli Jam wanted to know and Mr Mututwa explained that they had been school mates together in Mongu, Western Province and had met up again when he, Akafekwa, arrived in Livingstone some 2 years ago. Akafekwa claimed to be George’s manager and Milli Jam immediately wanted to know ‘where’s the album?’ an FAQ in recent months. “It’s coming, it’s coming” we were told angrily!
The music on the show was good, we opened with our theme ‘Feel The Love’ by Rudimental featuring John Newman. The theme will change in the new year and we already have a few ideas for a new theme for next year. We dropped tracks from One Direction and Calvin Harris. George played Zonefam’s ‘Lobola’ noting that this fab Zambian band had picked up a Channel O Africa award just the previous night! He also played his own track featuring Maji – ‘Enter Enter’. Milli Jam gave us tracks from Alicia Keys and Avicii and our oldie of the week from Justin Bieber. The prize we give to the first person to text us telling us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week was quickly snapped up.
Akafekwa told listeners that his favourite type of music is R&B and that his favourite artist is R Kelly. He is, he explained, a big fan of Manchester United and was quite sanguine about the fact that they had only been able to draw with Spurs that afternoon. Milli Jam and I spent a few moments discussing Arsenal’s position at the top of the EPL while others listened! Akafekwa said he had done quite a lot of the tourist activities available in Livingstone but had never done the bungee jump nor swum in Devil’s Pool. He told listeners that he was married with two sons, the youngest of which was just over one month old. “Awwww” we said! His wife is a teacher at Faith Academy Trust School in Livingstone.
Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, our lively laughing Guest told us that he wanted to be a happily married family man with a very successful country wide tile company to his name – a real tile giant in fact! We wished him the best of luck.
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Another gem from Inc Magazine.
This is what this super magazine has to say about good leaders!
1. They Observe
Thoughtful leaders crave stimulus to get their mind working. That’s why their powers of observation are always hard at work. They are masters of watching and listening to everything happening. They observe the world moving around them and notice behavior, culture and patterns with great interest. When engaging with people they have heightened awareness of their tone, mood and feelings. You can see they are actively engaged. Try spending an hour in a busy environment just looking and listening. Take notes on what you see and hear, or better yet shut off your inner voice and just take it all in.
2. They Explore
Thoughtful leaders are naturally curious. Their insatiable need for knowledge drives them to open closed doors, dissect the mundane and analyze alternative concepts. They can spend hours surfing the web or weeks traveling abroad. Questions starting with who, what, where, why and how are second nature to them. In conversation they will probe and prod, looking for deeper answers and hoping to get to the core truth. No idea or suggestion is poor at the outset; rather all possibilities are worthy of open consideration. Expand your perspective beyond your normal sphere. Make an attempt to engage people and ponder ideas that are outside your usual, comfortable approach.
3. They Reflect
Thoughtful leaders understand the value of deep thinking. Although perfectly capable of making reflexive decisions when required, they prefer to ponder and live with big dilemmas and decisions. They think about the potential implications for themselves and the other people around them. They consider carefully the people they impact and use skilled communication to instill comfort and confidence in their teams. They know that a slow “yes” is better than a fast “no” and will apportion appropriate time and energy to each opportunity. Begin adding time to your decision process. Using a journal, create a 1–5 rating for the seriousness of your decisions and determine a set time to decide that allows you to consider all angles. Try this for a week and you’ll learn how to manage your thinking for both depth and efficiency.
4. They Learn
Thoughtful leaders love to get smart. Their insatiable need for knowledge drives them to read, discuss and absorb complex concepts and broad perspectives. No amount of information is enough for them to feel complete and accomplished. The joy of the learning journey thrills them more than any degree or accolade. Their deep interest in other people is genuinely derived from their desire to understand. Set out three new challenging skills to learn over the next year. You’ll not only gain the subject knowledge required, but you’ll stimulate your desire and aptitude to learn more.
5. They Consider Others
Thoughtful leaders are naturally empathetic. They have a love of humankind and are fascinated by offensive or bizarre behavior rather than affronted by it. At their core they understand the concept of cause and effect, thinking about how to get the most desired reaction for the effort extended. They make people around them feel important and worthy of time and energy. Examine your actions from the perspective of others. Think through your decisions from the perspective of your adversaries. You may find more win-win scenarios than you previously thought possible.
6. They Take Action
Thoughtful leaders are rarely stuck in analysis paralysis. They know how to turn careful thought into meaningful action. They understand that thought and exploration without physical implementation and impact is selfish and wasteful. They won’t make people wonder if any good comes of all this thinking. They know when to finish the thinking and make great things happen. Whatever great things you have been pondering, it’s time to put those thoughts into motion and achieve your preferred destiny.
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Here’s another piece of great advice for you managers and leaders from Inc Magazine.
(The picture is of our Chanters Lodge assistant manager Annastasia Katele receiving her certificate after attending a recent conference on social media in marketing.)
“I discovered my first lesson in how not to motivate people at the bottom of a kitchen sink. In 1986, when I was 16 years old, my friend and I worked as dishwashers at the local Friendly’s restaurant in the King of Prussia Mall. One day our manager told us that if we worked hard over the course of the next month, he would promote one of us from the steamy back room to the coveted mall window spot. The mall window spot was the dream job that turned a run-of-the-mill teenage boy into a blue-and-white-checked-polyester-shirt-wearing God of Ice Cream Charisma.
For the next few weeks I worked harder than I had ever before. At the end of the month, my manager pulled me into his office. “Chris,” he said, “you worked really hard and I appreciate that. ” I was sure I had the job locked up. Right before I was about to tell him that I had been practicing wrist rolling techniques for the perfect application of jimmies on a double scoop, he let the hammer down. “I can’t give you the job.”
I was stunned. “You’re the best little dishwasher we’ve ever had. I need you,” he said. I quit a few weeks later. I never forgot the lesson that hard work does not always earn the promotion.
I don’t ever want to be like that manager who squashed an enthusiastic employee’s morale because he couldn’t see past his own needs.
Here are five things I try not to do:
1. Create competitions in which one employee will be promoted and the other won’t.You may think it’s a great way to create internal competition but someone is going to lose and hold a grudge against you, the winner, and the company. Instead look for win-win ways to develop your whole team.
2. Be blind to your employees’ goals, dreams, and job satisfaction.The more you know about what motivates your employees and the more interest you have in their happiness and success, the more they will bring that enthusiasm to work. Even if you can’t provide a job for them that satisfies 100% of their hopes and desires there are always ways to incorporate what they love into what they do.
3. Hold someone back because he does his job well.
Have you ever said to yourself: “He is sooo good at what he does that I can’t afford to change his position”? Be honest. If so, start planning to help your employees grow and grooming others under them, or you will probably lose them.
4. Reward just the squeaky wheels.Squeaky wheels often get the grease, it’s true. But there are also folks who don’t self-promote but deserve development and congratulations nonetheless. Do you know who they are? What are you doing to recognize them.
5. Assume an employee doesn’t understand the bigger picture.
In my case, the manager chose not to help me understand how I fit into the overall success of the restaurant. He communicated that I was important only in so far as the work was concerned-;but he really could care less about me on a broader level. Most people want their work to make a vital contribution. It’s the leaders job to help them see how to get there and to show them a path that has potential successes along the way.
by Chris Mittelstaedt:
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