*--YouWin's 10Million naira's Grant, now out!--*

What Is YouWiN!? YouWiN! stands for Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria. It is an innovative business plan competition aimed at job creation by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurial youth in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas. The accomplishments of the 1,200 YouWiN! awardees were celebrated at the Presidential Villa on April 12, 2012. YouWiN! Women was the second edition of the entrepreneurial scheme, which was designed for only female entrepreneurs aged 45 years or less. 

Price to won: 10,000,000naira (ten millionnaira!)

First we wish you to understand that the aim of the scheme is entirely different in value and goal and aim than the nominal business growth and ROI growth plan. So therefore while a nominal business is entirely considering how it can increase sales and income and bring it's break even analysis more closer, the YouWin is considering the following:
1. How does your business affect the community it is in. 2. How many of the local youths can it emply. 3. What's the new innovation your business has got to bring in the sphere, different from the regular businesses in the sector? 4. Okay the break even point of the business may not be as rapid as a nominal business, but how early would the business that point? And many more questions...

Who Can Apply:

1. Nigerians of not less than 18years old.
2. With a post secondary school education. 
3. Have a proposed business idea and a well written business plan that will operate in Nigeria and employ Nigerians 
4. Apply for your funds now.

What is a Business Plan: 

 A Business plan is a written document of the system and profile 

of a given business, showing a projection or

estimate of how much success the business will 

make over a given period of time. 

     This includes research in marketing, the

product dynamics and then most importantly is

the financial projections of the business. It has

to be organized and follow an ordered 

sequence.

Writing Your Business Plan:

Let us do that for you! 
We are a team experts in business development and past winners of the YouWIn 2011 which was the first of it's kind. Also last year, we mentored over 7ladies who 5 of them won the grant.
Most  of us, with over 3years in the world of business development, with our lead consultant as an American Competitive Intelligence Professional, a British Council Business Language expert, a Lead Consultant for 8RG Consulting in Nigeria an International Consulting firm, APTECH Business Ambassador in India, CETPA Business Ambassador, India, we believe we got what it takes to you give the right head for your proposed business plan to win the grant. For the following reasons:
1. We have in store the questionnaires already, so that you get them far before other competitors get it. 2. We have in our team two past winners. See pictures above. Check out: http://www.beeenterprises.com.ng/. 3. We are experts in the field of business development and consulting. ALso, we have experriences from several multinational and local firms, including: a. LoveWorld Sat, Johannesburg, South Africa. b. CETPA Infotech, NOIDA, India c. APTECH, Mumbai, India d. Erdge tricycles, Warri e. 8RG Consulting, Lagos etc. We know all it takes to put a never-ignore business plan. Do you know your business plan must contain key elements like:
- Executive Summary - Objective - Mission - Keys to success - Company Summary - Products and Services - Market analysis summary - Strategy and implementation summary - Web plan summary - Management Summary - Financial Plan
To make the best impression for this year's YouWin or even on banks and investors, your business plan should be presented in the standard business plan format. Your business plan should be what the panelists or a banker or venture capitalist expects to see, presented in the order they expect to see it in. Following a standard business plan outline will keep you on track, and save you from botching your best chance at getting your business funded.

Registering Your Business:

You would need to register your business, although it is not compulsory at the beginning and not having your proposed business idea registered doesn't dis-qualify you, but puts you in a sure pedestal though. Want to register your business in just 7days? Then get in touch just in time.

How Much:

You don't have to be scared! Why should you? The scheme of 10,000,000naira is entirely free, so why should we charge you too high? But for #7,500naira we don't think that would be too much. Now it's more or less a peasant, but considering the fact that you wouldn't be buoyant enough in the first place to run your business on your own, or raise a capital for yourself, that is why we have made it this cheap! All you have to do is write me us the business idea, which I we promise never to steal and then I shall do the rest in 7days! For entire mentorship for the duration of the scheme including access to the questions long before they come to the others: #12,500, a business name registration in 7days: #25,000 and for a LTD company: #120,000.
Pay into: 8RG Business Solutions: GTBank(0128573418)                                                First Bank(2023038989)
                                       
         And call us on: +2348136332835
         BBPin: 327956C8
Send your business idea story to: 8rg.biz@gmail.com

Dead Line:

August 31st, 2013. Please note that if you wish a rapid development of your business plan then you have to start processing far before this date to ensure your application is completed and submitted in time. All other dates shall be announced hereafter.

Submission and Selection:

After I shall have completed the business plan just in time, then I shall go on to guide you in the submission process, by opening an account via: www.youwin,org.ng and submitting your application right on. Selection is based on the geo-political zone of your business and over 1,000 applicants are usually selected. It also takes here, understanding the dynamics of the selection and avoiding the most populated and competitive zones to get selected, all that I know very well and would put in place for you to be selected. Just get in touch with me and let's do it together. 

The President's Support:

President Jonathan Goodluck is a long-time supporter of YouWiN!. In his budget speech in 2011, President Jonathan Goodluck said:

“Unemployment among our youth is one of our biggest challenges. The time has come to create jobs (and) lay a new foundation for Nigeria’s economic growth” 

2012 Awardees Thank Government:

A group of YouWiN! 1 Awardees decided to share their success stories through a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Finance on the 1^st of July 2013. This event was graced by the Honorable Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy ,Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who received the awardees warmly with words of encouragement and admiration for the various success stories and products offered for exhibition.

The event afforded awardees the opportunity to show appreciation to the Federal Government for the impact the programme has made on their businesses, personal life and the small/medium scale industry in general.

Official website: https://www.youwin.org.ng/

*---How to Build Character Through Integrity--*

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

The wonderful thing about character and integrity, which are intimately related, is that they're one of the few things in life that no one will ever be able to forcefully take away from you. Your choices are your own. Even if someone can take your life, they can't force you to make a choice that you believe is wrong
The actions below cannot be done at once, nor should they be. Each of them takes time to fully understand and apply towards your life. Learn about your own virtues and values, and how they correspond to your life and the world around you. Follow the steps below to improve yourself by building your character.

1. Understand what character and Integrity are. The definitions of these words are often stretched or misrepresented. Learn what they truly mean:

In this use, Character is the sum of qualities shown up in a person or group, moral or ethical strength, and the description of a person's attributes, traits and abilities. Character is who you are. It defines you and guides your actions, hopefully in a positive way.
Integrity is steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code, being unimpaired, sound, whole and undivided; completeness.
Integrity can be summed up simply as doing the right thing for the right reason even when no one is watching.

2. Choose a set of rules, morals, or principles that you believe will lead to a happy, satisfying, and righteous life, as well as a better world. You can subscribe to the ethics of a particular religion, or you can develop your own, based on your experiences.

3.Look at the choices you've made in your past, and observe how much you have or haven't lived by those principles. Don't waste time feeling regretful or guilty. Remember that "...until a person can say deeply and honestly, I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday, that person cannot say, I choose otherwise." -Stephen R. Covey.

4.Decide what you must change in your behavior to align your life more closely to what you believe.

5.Be conscious every day of the decisions you make, however big or small, and how close they bring you to being the person you really want to become.

Useful Tips:
It's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it.

Consult the life and work of Victor Frankl, best summarized by this quotation:

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances - to choose one's own way."
You'll probably feel your self-confidence and personal strength growing as you face and overcome challenges in sticking to your values, whatever they may be.
Keep a journal, and record your progress every day.
Know that what you do reflects on you and the people around you. Be responsible for your own actions, own up to your mistakes and learn from them to be a better person.

Warnings:

Beware of people who'll try to convince you to give up on your character or integrity, saying that nobody's perfect, and taunting you for being such an idealist. The fact that nobody's perfect doesn't mean violating what you believe is right. It's good to learn from our mistakes, but we don't always need to make mistakes in order to learn. Remember that striving to be perfect and being perfect are two different ideas; the former is integrity, the latter is futility.
Your character is unique. It may not match with anybody else. So do not try for it. Build it on the basis of your own aptitude and inner light within you. Self assessment, self evaluation, introspection etc work well, but never get disheartened by petty failures and criticism revolving around failures. Stand firm on your convictions. You are bound to succeed.

*----How Ugly Are You?----*

I have seen just too much blemish in personalities in the society that it gives me so much concern that I shall be sharing with you today.

Just so much stench behind very tough degrees of scent.
I remember a very ugly experience I had some day while in a cab where there was a woman in the front seat, already in the car as I entered. I recalled vividly that as I entered and caught a cursory look at her, I immediately drew conclusions that she must be a very fervent Christian. I mean I would have given her an immediate pass into the kingdom of heaven, till it struck me right in the face.

It happened that there had been a mis-understanding between her and the driver and ohhhh, hell was let looseeeeeeeeeee! I was.... gushhh! Flabbergasted! Utterly dismayed and expectations shattered utterly. She was howling at the top of her voice, hitting the front dash boards, for just a mis-placed thirty naira change, calling names and cursing and calling down the powers of hell to an extent that even the young cabbie behind the wheels was for sure threatened and intimidated. I am very sure he too would have wondered just like myself.

I have seen lot  and lots of sure stories even in Christendom- so pathetic. People just parading themselves as sheeps when there very selves are lions. Just another funny incident that occurred, where there was a mis-representation and a so-called brother had swore to kill me, all because he was from a so-called dangerous part of the Western Part of Nigeria. And yet this is same person when you see him, ohhhh, an angel just arrived.

The religious morale value systems have failed by placing dogmas and church rules and regulations over basic transformational necessities that would have been of more help to the society than more indoctrinations, the hence the societal collapse of unique character systems.

People no longer have characters again, but are moved by sheep clothing of religious leaders and their wave of doctrines which usually hold substances perhaps only during the proximity of the leaders or sphere of the institution. But when confronted in situations and places where any breach wouldn't have been questions, then their real selves, come exploding out.

Like I always say, the reason for exhibiting any instantaneous flaw is never as a result of the momentary piss-off, but a reflex of the very nature of who that person is. It'd only been concealed those while.

Well, here we have put up six step processes to overcoming character flaws to help each citizen understand and incorporate good character into their lives. If you want to help others in your family, your organization and your community become more conscious of the traits and characteristics of good character, the steps below will help you get the message across.

Before you start, It's important to understand:

A character quality is a habit that you can develop through repeated practice
Good character contributes to success.
With this understanding in mind, you can help by employing the following six steps:

Understand the Quality

First, gain a clear understanding of the character quality. If you're talking about the positive character quality of "enthusiasm," for instance, you might define it as "Expressing joy in each task as one gives it his or her best effort." Give illustrations from history, contemporary lives, nature, etc. From history, for example, you might point out the enthusiasm with which John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence. He ignored the peril he was putting himself in by signing the document with a signature so large that the King of England wouldn't need "to put his spectacles on to read it."
Top

Grasp Its Actions

Describe the character quality in terms of thoughts, words and/or behavior that are representative of those that result when a person possesses this quality. This not only provides further understanding of the quality, but very importantly provides thoughts, words and behaviors that people can practice to help build the patterns of habit into their own lives. Give an action-oriented definition (the final goal of teaching character is behavior implementation—not just knowledge). For "enthusiasm," you might describe the following actions:

Smile

Be an energy giver to others
Treat every job as important
Put my whole heart into what I do
Do not be discouraged by failure.
Notice the circular nature of character qualities and actions—thoughts, words, behavior. Possessing the quality gives rise to actions patterned after that character quality. But it is in practicing actions according to that pattern that the individual builds the character quality.

Realize Its Benefits

Expected benefits motivate a person to develop character. Benefits fall into two categories.

1. Significant benefits deriving from good character in general:

Helps individuals reach their full potential—in knowledge, skills and accomplishments (Consider, for examples, diligence, dependability, benevolence.)
Enhances self-acceptance, self-confidence and self-satisfaction
Increases productivity and accomplishments
Improves relationships
Benefits and encourages others
Contributes to success.
2. Benefits deriving from the particular character quality. "Enthusiasm," for instance:

Provides a renewed excitement to life—to both the giver and those impacted by the energy given.

Practice Its Actions

Begin today to regularly practice the actions that will develop the habit pattern of the character quality, and to experience the benefits that result. Tackle enthusiastically, for instance, a task that you typically dislike doing. On occasion, implementation of the desired end action may be too demanding to accomplish in a single step, and may have to be approached in a sequence of smaller steps.

Encourage It in Others

Encouraging the quality in others is beneficial not only to the others but is especially beneficial to the person doing the encouraging. Encouraging others will keep sharp your awareness of the character quality itself, keeps you actively communicating about it and possibly gaining a new understanding of the quality, and encourages you to keep actively developing the quality in your own life. In the case of enthusiasm, remember how infectious it can be!

Encouragement may be focused on a single individual, on a group of individuals (a family, for example), on an organization of individuals (a business, school, religious assembly, etc.).

Four common facets of encouragement include:

Model. Demonstrate the character quality or an intermediate stage in a sequence of steps that will result in a desired habit.
Remind/Emphasize. Bring to mind the importance of developing the character quality—by personal communication or attitude, etc.
Expect/Require. By attitudes, words and/or actions make clear the expectations/requirements and, if required by policy or requested voluntarily, hold other(s) accountable for developing the quality.
Recognize. Affirm and bring attention to the display by an individual of a good character quality, thereby encouraging both the individual and others. Similarly, affirm the achievement of steps in a sequence which will, when complete, result in the development of an intended good character quality.

Be Encouraged

Explicitly invite one or more persons to encourage you in developing character qualities, lovingly holding them accountable to practice options. When a colleague hears you grumbling about deadlines, for instance, ask her to remind you that renewed enthusiasm will help you get back on course.

*---Holes in The Church: Giving and Extortion!---*

I was motivated by an article yesterday about a church event, but although the write may not have scripted from a deep spiritual sphere, yet did he convey the truth... the sincere truth. It was talking on an issue that erupted from a well known church, which I shall be dealing with today.

Extortion and Mammon in the Church!

Now leme give this straight away: I personally hate it when people out of some cowardish fear use the word:

"Let's not judge!"

Who is judging who?
Pity, principles which should have been the building block of Christendom today have far away dilapidated. It is now all a quest for money and wealth and survival afterall, yet He shall destroy them both! First we must understand some basic definitions of the church, which if not put in place, shall go a long way to temper some essential elements that built it in the foundation stages.

1. The church, though a spiritual institution, yet falls in the category of the earthly house and was why Jesus proved that by paying his own tax. Hence the church forms an integral part of the local community and must be in isolation in developing the local community. I would want to buttress on this point, sighting examples on the missionaries who first visited Nigeria, they brought along education at almost free costs, brought health care and a fight against dangerous ethnic beliefs. Do still remember Mary Slessor and the stopping of the killing of twins in  Calabar?

Hence today's church must speak in the politics of the day and help in some intervention. The church must encourage the basic necessity of the local community, providing housing, food and education etc at very affordable rate, am sure they do not want their members to go stealing and coming back to drop the monies in the church bags. Money should never be the ultimatum of the church's language. We must bring back the days where the Catholic and Anglican mission owned the schools and offered free educations and community services.

2. The Church is the Spiritual / Heaven Communique to Earth and the reformer's refinery. In this vein the church must point its followers to heaven and mainly that be.

But what we have today in the church, especially here in Nigeria, is total a reverse. The love for money and fame and recognition and mammon has taken over the church and yet the very Mormon faith the dares to straight head stand for that is being criticized. What a shame?

I would like to give my own personal principles on acquisitions and wealth:

1. May I not have too much enough to acquire two private jets when the community I live in has a lot of developmental lacks. For Christ sake, Warren Buffet, one of the world's richest men on planet earth whose company builds the Bombardia Private Jets for Rich folks don't have a single jet and when he was interviewed he said strictly that most people who buy those mainly pursued by greed and fame, as he asn't been so busy enough as to own a private jet! What a motivation?

2. May I not as wealthy as owning private houses and not living in them.

3. May I not have so much as yet to own it all.
For Christ sake, we shall all die and leave behind everything we have acquired here on earth, so why scramble around and try to won it all and paste our labels on every property, yet believing the truth that this earth shall be burnt with fire some day?

If I shall not live for the local or global community I yet belong, then I have not done right.
And yes the Nigeria church is failing woefully, worldliness and dirtiness have crept into the church. How rich was Jesus Christ when He was here on earth? If He interacted with a class of the wealthy then sure He also knew how wealthy a man could be, which He wasn't, not because He didn't want to but because He saw that place the Christian faith should play in the community.

Peaneal said: "How do we begin to justify asking members of a congregation to donate such a huge amount of money when poverty is smiling at most of the country’s citizens? The last time they were told to donate generously for the Lord towards a University project, as ordained by God, they all gladly did. The sad thing is atN510,000 per session for College of Humanities (100L & 200L), N520 for Management Science students and N550 for Natural Sciences students; Redeemer’s University is not for a Redeemer whose minimum wage is around N18,000. So they have contributed to a project, believing they are sowing for God, yet cannot send their wards/kids to such schools. Interestingly, many of the Pastors (and church leaders) running private Universities today, all enjoyed free education (absolutely free, including free lunch of Rice and Chicken – every Sunday) under Awolowo’s magnanimity. Education is now for rich members only but poor members are not exempt from donations. Hmmmm!

If the project was for research on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, I would not bat an eyelid. If it was for national fight against Polio eradication in Nigeria like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in Africa, we would see the immediate benefits. If it was some sort of entrepreneurial aid to jobless youths, we would feel the impact as a nation. In spite of Bill and Melinda Gates contributions to Polio eradication, Nigeria remains the only African country (not Rwanda, not Mali, not Somalia or Sudan) where Polio is endemic and she shares this feat with Pakistan  and Afghanistan. Interestingly, Pakistan reduced the number of polio cases from 198 in 2011 to 56 in 2012; Afghanistan saw a decrease from 80 to 35 during the same period, however, Nigeria increased from 62 in 2011 to 119 in 2012.

In 2013, The Gates foundation committed a fresh $1.8 Billion to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) out of the $5.5 Billion required. Britain contributed $457 million, Canada donated $250 million while $240 million came from Norway. Even the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan donated $120 million. Remarkably, these donations from foreign countries are geared towards solving the Polio scourge in 3 countries, Nigeria included. Foreigners help us to fight major health challenges while our idea of development is in gigantic buildings to be used once or twice a month for religious purposes. Our own priority in Nigeria isowning jets, breaking heads with mace, fighting for 2015 elections and building bigger auditoriums. Is it not clear why we are not developing as a country?

The message I got from the pulpit was clear, concise and profound. It does not matter where the N1 Billion comes from, provided it is donated for God’s work. Ever wonder why it is difficult for Pastors and General Overseers to condemn those who have looted our treasury? Recall when Cecelia Ibru and Erastus Akingbola had front row seats at major religious conventions in Nigeria? Did any Pastor speak against their deeds, like Nathan confronted and condemned King David in 2 Samuel 12? The subtle message is clear: “we need your money for the work of God and it does not matter how you get it”. Those who have sincerely worked hard for their wealth will only donate to worthy causes such as Aliko Dangote did when he announced a relief fund contribution of N2.5 Billion to the relief effort of flood victims in 2012.

So many churches in Nigeria have big auditoriums, yet the level of violence, ethnic hatred, treasury looting and corruption alarmingly increases in a directly proportionate way to the number of churches/mosques available. As a country, we do not need larger auditoriums but men with larger hearts (including me) with genuine love for his/her neighbour. I have been taught to obey and respect authority, more so clergy (that’s why Pastors are ‘gods’ here). I will never say Pastor Adeboye is wrong but in my honest opinion, he chose a wrong approach."    

Many so-called 'pastors' in 'churches' have exposed their covetous hearts and have become masters of this evil art.......one has merely to turn up to a Sunday service when money is being preached about or at almost any collection to experience the practice.



The string of lies and subtle mis-representations include but are not limited to the following :-

If you are saved then you have to make God the Lord of your finances

If you are saved then you have to realise that it is not your money....it is God's

If you are saved you should also give 'first fruits' and 'offerings' to the church

If you belong to a church the way to give to God is to give it to the church organization/leadership

If you do not give you will be cursed...or excluded from enjoying God's blessings

If you are saved you must realise that Jesus is watching how much you give

if you are poor it is because you are not faithful in giving to them from what little you have


By giving them your money (it is claimed) you prove :-

that you are saved

that you have put God first in your life

that you will be in heaven

that you love God

that you love and are committed to the local church

that you have submitted to the leadership

that you are good stewards of what God has given you

that you believe that the more money you give the church, the more money God owes you blessings

that your 'church' deserves the money because it is doing God's work on earth



By being conned however, you actually show that you believe :-



that God is a cosmic slot machine that you can play games on ... contrary to Mat 6:1-4, Rom 11:35

that the more money you have the better life will be ... contrary to Luke 12:15

that God blesses you because of your giving/works of the flesh rather than your faith ...contrary to Gal 3:2-5 Rom 8:32

that God wants everyone to be rich in worldly things in the New Covenant like Deut 8:18 promised to the Jews ... contrary to Luke 14:26, 33

that God gives and blesses you with ulterior motives ...and not just out of love ...contrary to Mat 6:48

that God curses his children if they don't obey their 'pastors' ... contrary to Gal 3:13-14

that God will only keep you healthy if you tithe...and not because Jesus bore your sickness on the cross 1 Pet 2:24

that money belongs to God.....and not Caesar ... contrary to Mark 12:17

that churches should train us in how to manage money.....rather than the scriptures and the Holy Spirit ... contrary to Heb 8:11

that whatever your 'pastor' says is true....rather than what the bible teaches John 17:17

ALA ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY ESSAY COMPETITION

African Leadership Academy is very delighted to join the United Nations in recognizing the immense potential and celebrating the extraordinary achievements of young people around the world on International Youth Day, August 12, 2013.

International Youth Day (IYD), celebrated yearly on August 12, is a United Nations-designated day of observance established in 2000 to raise awareness of issues affecting young people around the world. It is also a day to recognize the efforts of the world’s youth in creating a global society, and aims to promote ways to engage them in being more actively involved in making positive contributions to their communities. The theme for International Youth Day 2013 is “Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward”

African Leadership Academy (ALA) is a leading pan-African institution that seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing and connecting a powerful network of leaders who will work together to achieve extraordinary social impact on the continent. ALA believes that Africa will be developed by Africans, and in line with the theme for IYD 2013, promotes the retention of African talent in Africa, as well as the return of African talent to the continent from the diaspora.

In celebrating International Youth Day 2013, ALA focuses on the need to maximize the potential of African youth at home and abroad to contribute optimally to the development of the continent. Demographic studies show that Africa has the largest youth population in the world of over 200 million people, a figure which is expected to double by 2045. The UN Economic Commission for Africa estimates that by 2015, over one-fourth of the world’s workforce will be African; conversely the huge vacuum of opportunities for the African youth makes the gainful employment of this young workforce extremely doubtful. In spite of the fact that six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa, unemployment rates across the continent hover around 70%, and the World Bank estimates that about 60% of all unemployed Africans are between the ages of 15 and 24. It is clearly evident therefore, that Africa’s great challenge is how to effectively utilize its youth bulge to drive the continent’s development.

Over time, the allure of securing quality education and improved economic opportunities has led to a prolonged exodus of many young Africans from the continent, resulting in an erroneous belief that the best opportunities in life are outside Africa. However, the vast majority of the African youth reside in the continent, and engage in endless pursuits of economic opportunities. There is an urgent need for concerted efforts by governments, businesses, non-profits and all Africans to create an enabling environment for the African youth to gain access to the resources, skills and networks that will enable them to contribute effectively to African development.

Essay Competition

ALA is calling on all young Africans between the ages of 15-19 to participate in a month-long essay writing competition on the topic: “How can governments, businesses, non-profits, individuals and the youth collaborate to maximize Africa’s youth potential for the continent’s development and prosperity?”

Eligibility: young Africans aged 15 – 19 residing within and outside Africa

Duration: August 12, 2013 – September 12, 2013

Guidelines:

· Essays should focus on SPECIFIC practicable, implementable, measurable and scalable ideas that can be implemented effectively across the continent

· Essays must be written in English, French or Portuguese languages

· Essays must not exceed 1000 words, and should contain no more than five concrete ideas fitting the above criteria

· Essays must be the original work of the writer, and should not have been published on any media prior to submission

· Essays will be judged not only for the quality of ideas, but also for the quality of writing

· Essays should be submitted through this link

· Essays should be submitted on or before September 12, 2013

Prizes:

· Grand prize: Full scholarship worth US$4200 to attend the Global Scholars Program (GSP) - a unique international three-week entrepreneurial leadership summer camp) in July 2014 at the ALA campus in Johannesburg, South Africa. Also included will be an air ticket to South Africa and a winner’s plaque.

· Ist Runner-Up: Full scholarship worth US$4200 to attend the 2014 Global Scholars Program (a unique international three-week entrepreneurial leadership summer camp­) at ALA, and a plaque.

· 2nd Runner-up: 50% scholarship worth US$2100 to attend the 2014 Global Scholars Program (a unique three-week entrepreneurial leadership summer camp­) at ALA, and a plaque.

· Top ten essays: all top ten essays will be published on the website of African Leadership Academy, and the writers will receive certificates of commendation.

· Additional prizes to be announced in due course.

Winners will be announced at African Leadership Academy on African Youth Day, 1st November 2013.

Contact:

Phone: +27 11 699 3000 (ext 3087)

Email: iyd@africanleadershipacaemy.org

Website: www.africanleadershipacademy.org ; www.alasummer.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/africanleadershipacademy ; www.facebook.com/ALAGSP

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ALAcademy

*-----The Power of Leverage--------*

Today I’m switching gears to talk about something we all do but don’t often consider, LEVERAGE. This post explores ways in which we can leverage the world around us to to maximize our strengths. The areas we can leverage include our job (delegation), out career (social networks), our business (cost centers to revenue centers), and many more. Many of these are examples of chaordic frameworks, but let’s expand on a few of these to better understand them.

"Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the Earth."
– Archimedes

To lift a heavy object, you have a choice: use leverage or not. You can try to lift the object directly – risking injury – or you can use a lever, such as a jack or a long plank of wood, to transfer some of the weight, and then lift the object that way.

Which approach is wiser? Will you succeed without using leverage? Maybe. But you can lift so much more with leverage, and do it so much more easily!

So what has this got to do with your life and career?

The answer is "a lot". By applying the concept of leverage to business and career success, you can, with a little thought, accomplish very much more than you can without it. Without leverage, you may work very hard, but your rewards are limited by the hours you put in. With leverage, you can break this connection and, in time, achieve very much more.

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Chardoic once said: "Martin Fisher kindly invited me as a guest on his Southern Fried Security podcast. He stipulated that we talk about something other than PCI, which made me very happy since I’ve been looking for a venue to discuss some of my ideas for leveraging the world around you.

You’ve seen it done in the movie The Matrix where Neo bends the world around him to dodge and eventually stop bullets. Let’s see how you can warp and leverage the world around you to maximize your ability to succeed in several areas of your life you."

Goal

Martin stipulated that we should focus on how “information security professionals (especially leaders) need to position themselves (e.g. subjects to learn/become more familiar with, conferences to attend, ideas/concepts to embrace) better for 2011.” Just like a life or career coach, let’s break this down into three categories we want to apply leverage:

Job – by leveraging delegation either assigning tasks to others or taking on tasks of others
Career – maintaining networks (social, physical, electronic) to help make you better (smarter, more employable, etc.)
Business – turning cost centers into revenue centers
LEVERAGE your JOB

Long ago I had a manager who believed you could delegate anything. I thought this strange because to me there are some things you can easily get done yourself but assigning to others will take much longer. The problem with my old mindset is that you end up thinking you are the best person to perform 80% of tasks thus taking up all your time and preventing you from leveraging the skills of others. Remember, delegating is not just about getting other people to do work it’s about assigning tasks based on area of expertise or helping someone improve and expand their skill set.

Task #1 is to delegate to others tasks that can help them grow or maximize their skills to complete a project. Sometimes you won’t even know how a task will help someone grow until they complete it.

Task #2 is to time-share between those individuals who have taken on tasks and help them complete the task in a successful manner. Assigning and walking away is often worse than never assigning at all. For delegation to work you need to foster growth in those who are taking on the task and provide them the resources necessary to be a success. Sometimes these tools are connections, access to resources, providing experience, or building confidence in their own abilities. Sometimes these tools are timelines, deadlines, project management skills – whatever it is the individual needs to get things done.

LEVERAGE your CAREER

I landed my first job out of college via a job fair at the University. I landed my second job via Lee Kushner, a professional recruiter. Every job after that has been something I created myself or offered to me via my network of connections. Beyond the simple job search, leveraging your network of connections can be critical to almost every success you see in your personal career. When people talk about networks they may be discussing a wide range of topics including: social networks (twitter, facebook, linkedin); physical networks (co-workers, neighborhood friends, hackerspaces, meetups); or electronic networks (irc, email, phone calls). Everyone has a different way of leveraging these networks but we all do it – either to keep in touch with friends or build communities.

Task #1 to grow and farm your network is to make smart connections. You need to keep in touch. You need to help other build connections. Growing and farming a successful network is not about helping you get something out of it but helping your network get something out of being connected to you. It’s a strange thing in that regard that the most connected of us are not always the smartest individually but they are able to connect you to a smart or capable person in the area of your interest.

One of my end-goals is to “connect smart people” and so every time I meet someone I think of someone else I can connect them to. Working on a Bay Area art project? Reach out to Chris Rusak. Interested in lock picking? Reach out to Deviant Ollam. Want to know about creative data exfiltration techniques? Reach out to Iftach Ian Amit. Social Engineering? Mike Murray and Jayson Street. Need a job and are a skilled professional? Lee Kushner. The list goes on and on. Photography, life coach, physics, startup company … you name it and I’ve got a person for you to connect with.

Task #2 (and here is the tricky one) is to leverage your network to create a bigger/better network. But why you ask? Isn’t it time to “harvest” the network? No, never, nada. The hard thing for people to wrap their heads around with networking is that the benefits to you are natural side effects not pre-planned end-goals.

Community growth is organic and as such so should be the way you leverage them. For example, after starting Security B-Sides I though we could leverage the 10-15 events to help solve the “big problems” facing the information security community. Although not a bad goal, the idea that I could direct the solving of these “big problems” was an incorrect assumption. Instead, I encourage companies to get involved in the community and organically solicit interested participants in helping them solve specific problems they are facing. This type of involvement helps complete the organic virtuous circle of helping the community help itself.

I said it best via twitter:

Every time I think tools are for making products someone reminds me that tools are made to build more tools.

LEVERAGE your BUSINESS

Few people other than the CEO and CFO within a company think about things such as “cost centers” vs “revenue centers.” For example, the sales and delivery departments may be revenue centers while the marketing and IT department may be cost centers. Companies need to stop accepting these as a way of life and begin to think of ways to turn cost centers into revenue centers.

Case Studies:

IBM realized long ago that their internal IT department was really good at providing one great company with IT services. If the IT department could do good things for one company why not let it do good things for many companies? IBM stopped thinking of IT as a cost center and turned it into IBM Professional Services and expanded the services offered to create an amazing organization.

Kaspersky Labs realized early on that marketing can be a cost center, but only if you let it. They created a separately branded news company, ThreatPost, that grew into an organization until itself. Instead of hiring staffers to write all the articles they turned their marketing people until content farmers, connection people who wanted to write about smart things with an audience of readers who wanted to learn. In doing so they maximized their staff abilities to create more than any one individual could. ThreatPost has since expanded from the US into Latin America with locally written articles in Spanish and Portuguese.

Goldcorp had a problem in that it didn’t know where next to mine for gold. Instead of keeping it geological data secret it opened it up to the community and offered a prize for who could come up with the best place to mine for gold. This was a big risk as no other companies were offering up their valuable geological data online for anyone, including their competitors, to access. The payoff was huge and direct in their monetary return.

Task #1 is to re-examine the parts of your company from marketing and HR to IT and supply-chain-management. Every part of your company that is a cost center may have the potential to be a revenue center. Start questioning why you do things the way you do? Why do we write our own marketing materials? Amazon has users write book reviews for them. Why do we pay people to solve problems? Many companies have developed APIs and allow others to write plug-ins to their software. Find ways of letting other people solve your problems for you.

Task #2 is to pick one thing you want to convert from a cost center to a revenue center and focus on it alone. Like a scientist trying to determine the key factor in an experiment, do not get over zealous and try to convert everything at once. Remember that you are learning and want to take it one step at a time. Find one thing to revolutionize and become very good at. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Sylvester Stallone: "Life is About Following Christ, Not Battling it Out Alone"

He is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his macho and Hollywood action roles. The most notable characters he has portrayed are boxer Rocky Balboa and soldier John Rambo. The franchises that stemmed from these characters solidified him as a mainstay in Hollywood. His film "Rocky" was inducted into the National Film Registry and its film props were placed in the Smithsonian Museum. He was voted into boxing's Hall of Fame on December 7, 2010. 

As a child, he used to attend church regularly, but as he got older and his acting career progressed, he stopped going to church. After several years of Hollywood fame and fortune, he says "I got back to my Christian roots. After my daughter was born ill in 1996, I turned myself over to the process of believing in Jesus. That conversion experience released me from the pressures of the world." 

He went on to say, "In the past, my ego and worldly temptations took over in my life and I went spiraling out of control. Rather than living like Rocky with some sense of ideal, I didn't. I thought I was entitled to things but you're not entitled to anything. You are what you leave behind. The more I go to church and the more I turn myself over to the process of believing in Jesus and listening to His Word and having Him guide my hand, I feel as though the pressure is off me now." He said that the latest and final chapter in the 'Rocky' series, "reflects my conviction that life is about following Christ, not battling it out alone...You need to have the expertise and the guidance of someone else. You cannot train yourself. I feel the same way about Christianity and about what the church is: The church is the gym of the soul." His name is Sylvester Stallone.

This is the "Chief of Sinners," Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International, and just as Sylvester Stallone gave his life to Christ, may I encourage you to do the same. Here is how:  

First, please understand that you are a sinner and that you have broken God's laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Please understand that because of your sins, you deserve punishment in hell. Romans 6:23 says "the wages of sin is death..." This is both physical death and spiritual death in hell.

But here is the good news. John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

The phrase "For God so loved the world" means that if you are in this world, God loves you no matter what you have done.

The next phrase, "that He gave His only begotten Son" refers to Jesus Christ. He is God's son who suffered, bled, and died on the cross for your sins and for mine, and He was buried and rose again.

Our next phrase is "that whosoever believeth in Him". The word "whosoever" means anybody at anytime. The phrase "believeth in Him" means to trust in Him, to depend upon Him, to rely on Him, or to have faith in Him for your salvation.

Our next phrase, "should not perish", refers to eternal punishment in a place called hell.

And, lastly, the phrase "but have everlasting life" means to live eternally in Heaven with God. 

The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.... For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen. 

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour!

Remember, friend, Believe by faith. Share the faith. and Keep the faith!