Hi Hi....

A friend sent this to me and I thought to share it with some of my "Crack Pot Friends". Enjoy it!!!

Thanks Hajara.

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream."I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.

"Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Strength and Honor.

Debo

Hello everyone
Today, a colleague and I visited the ongoing Card Expo at the Civic Centre. We went in looking for something new and excitment but....

As hard as we tried, we couldn’t find anything new and exciting!
However, I think I found out why the ‘Whites’ are ahead of ‘black’ people.
As hospitable as we claim to be, the whites are still ahead in customer service.

The ‘Whites’ sure know how to woo and retain their customers.
All we needed to do was get a little close to the Visa stand to draw the attention of the two white gentlemen. Both probably managers, were very warm and smiley while they answered our questions and didn’t have a problem explaining further when we pressed. I can imagine they were like that to all the visitors to their stand.

On the other hand, our Nigerian ‘sales reps’ and their supervisors weren’t like our white friends. Some of them looked unhappy and wondered why they were there. Some just looked at you and threw their faces away. This perhaps explains why many of the exhibition booths (many of them owned by banks), were not filled.

If it were a trade contest, one will surely see the white guys smiling to the bank and their Nigerian hosts frowning home.

Perhaps a dose of courteous and purposeful customer service will help improve the way we do business in Nigeria.

Strength and Honor

The Seed

Hi, a very special friend shared this with me. I'd like to share it with you.

Hope you like it!

A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, 'it is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.' The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. 'I am going to give each of one of you a SEED today--one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO'.

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now,others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.Six months went by--still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues. However, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going totake an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach...it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. 'My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,' said the CEO. 'Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO.'

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, 'the CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!' When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, 'behold your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim! 'Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said? Then the CEO said, 'one year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!'

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.

If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Touch Down!

Riches come in many forms...being able to recognize them, is a gift from God.

There is a reward for every act of faithfullness. Don't give up!

Don't we all?

A friend sent this to me and I thought I should share it with everyone.
I learnt from it and I am sure you will too.

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times." "I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't. He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said. He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard keep more than his face warm. I said, "Thanks," and continued wiping off my car.

He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, "ask him if he needs any help." I was sure that he would say "yes" but I held true to the inner voice. "Do you need any help?" I asked. He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and accomplishments.
I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me. "Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun. Don't we all? I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.

Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that. You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all. They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have - A different perspective on life a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily chaos that only you through a torn world can see.

Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe he was more than that.

Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.

Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, and then said, "Go…minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help." Don't we all?

My conclusion? Extend a helping hand to someone today.
There is nothing more to say on this issue.

Strength and Honor
Debo

One Year, One Mind!

It the beginning of a New Year and I’m glad I’m here. Something within me tells me that the year comes with a lot of goodies. It’s been called a year of great opportunities and great achievements by some wise people but I’d simply say it’s a year of undeniable Greatness. Greatness that comes with responsibility and that isn’t struggled for. I’m talking about Greatness that comes with grace and favor. Imagine this, you put in 10 measures and you get 1,000,000 measures. Strange? Not to some of us. That is what's happening this year.

So, what’s there to be done? I can’t say there is a lot to be done because some of us started a mind cleansing process last year and it has positioned us greatly for 2007. We sought knowledge and we got wisdom and understanding. We let go of unproductive processes and embraced THE WAY.
Key success factors? Well, it’s easy to come up with a long list of do’s and don’ts but sincerely, I don’t think people need that much. What I think is most necessary is to function with a singleness of mind and purpose. By this mean Focus! If you’ve been set on the right path, just stay focused.

I can hear the resounding voice of my childhood tennis coach saying “Eyes on the ball.” I’ll say the same thing to you too. “Eyes on the ball”.
Focus on your goal(s). Whatever it is you are occupied with just stay focused and be dedicated to it. If you are dedicated and committed to your dream, there’s nothing that can stand in you way successfully.

Don’t be fooled. There will be distractions of various shapes and ‘sizes’. Don’t be moved. It doesn’t matter what anyone is saying about you. If they aren’t adding to your life, they don’t deserve your attention.

Have a great year.

Strength and Honor
Debo

Got My Money Back

Hello People,
I am thinking…what do I say after staying away for quite a while? Well, I must say that it wasn't intended. I have had to retreat, do some thinking and then re-strategize. A lot has happened.
Anyways, I guess I will just pick up from where I stopped.

My last post talked about the ATM fraud I experienced. Well, I am glad to let you know that I have been paid back my money. Actually, the payment was made close to two weeks ago. It came with a lot of apologies from the banks too. I had both bank managers (First Bank and Intercontinental Bank) calling to apologize for the ATM error.

Good they apologized but really what would have happened if I had not pushed? Would I have lost my money? Is there a system that protects the consumer against such situations? What if the error affected one's cash flow? (Thank God it didn't. No error ever will), would I have been stranded?

Banks are out to make money but at the expense of true and realistic service. I was concerned about the whole issue as I was almost forced to lead a class action against defaulting banks. At some point I thought of contacting the EFCC and the Central Bank but then, I thought of the humble bank manager who may be affected, I thought of the implications it would have on the reputation of Nigerian banks; then I also thought about the opportunities that could emerge from the issue. All these are by the way.

The crux of my post today, which you mustn’t miss is that fact that consumers deserve more. Product manufacturers and service providers are not doing enough to ensure that their customers get maximum benefits of patronizing them. In fact the reverse is the case.

Consumers have rights and the earlier we attend to and apply those rights, the better for us all.

Government agencies can not monitor economic institutions alone. The private individual has a role to play.

Touch Down:
The consumer has a role to play - expect ’value for money' at all times. If you don't get it, DEMAND FOR IT. It’s your right!

ATM Fraud?

Hello People,
Happy Holidays to Muslims all over the world.
Ok… I guess I should continue my gist from my last post.


Fortunately, there were two people (a man and a woman) watching my transactions from behind me. Apparently, both of them are staff of the bank. The man works as an Engineer in charge of ATM Machines while the lady works within the branch.

Seeing what happened, the gentleman and lady both tried to assure me that the error would not affect my bank balance. Guess what it did. While they tried to convince me that everything was okay, the machine went off and when it came on, I checked to verify their sayings and just as I thought my account had been debited twenty thousand naira.

At this point, I was upset and requested to see that branch manager. The branch manager was quite decent in her handling of the matter. She initially promised to take it up personally and that the issue would be resolved in 24 hours. After two days of no progress, advised that I contact my bankers and inform and request that they contact her bank to formally lodge the complaint. I have since contacted by bankers and still awaiting their response.

The event happened on the 16th. It’s over a week and no positive response. I must admit that the thought of taking legal action against the owners of the ATM has flooded my mind more than any other thing. If I eventually do take legal actions, it will not be because of the money but because I am convinced that such errors should not be ignored; beyond the immediate, they have far reaching consequences for the owners of the ATM machine.

Touch Down:

The truth is, in the interim, what happened was nothing but a fraud. Period! It is fraudulent for a bank to place a machine that doesn’t work or that shortchanges customers up for use. All through the period I spent within the bank’s premises, there was no signage stating that the ATM machine was faulty and thus should not be used. In fact, I was encouraged to use it again. Therefore, what happened on the 16th of October, 2006 is nothing but a fraud.

Banks and bankers have decided to adopt the excuse that the use of the ATM machine use relatively new in Nigeria and that there are still imperfections. Well, to satisfy those who love to give excuses, I agree. But they also must know that a good thinking bank, customer friendly bank, value driven and responsible bank should have a system that corrects such errors within the shortest possible time and offer some form of compensation to the affected customer.

Our banks cannot continue to hide under the guise of the ATM being relatively new.

If the banking reforms are to be successful, then banks need to step up their game. Intercontinental bank might want to rethink their tag line. I am willing to offer them consultancy services in the areas of customer service and brand management.

I guess at this point, I’ll just wait for them to refund my money (in their own interest) within the shortest possible time.

Strength and Honor