Break that glass ceiling!

Globally, there is a new song on the lips of everyone. It is the voice of support, the voice that opines that men and women were created equal to achieve their dreams, beat all odds and succeed at all cost in a healthy manner with one objective; to drive change in the society, the corporate organization, the world and ensure that businesses and political organizations sustain the momentum for their continued existence. However, in recent times, there hasn’t been awareness as such as this.

Although the call for gender equality has been on the front burner, it is an obvious fact that a society that doesn’t advocate for the empowerment of her women folks cannot grow above the thin margins of societal deprivation, economic stagnation, and ceaseless poverty.

Charles Habib Malik, a Lebanese academic, diplomat, and philosopher explain that "The fastest way to change society is to mobilise the women of the world". This holds true especially in contemporary times when women’s voice needs to be heard at the highest decibel. However, there are some challenges that tend to scruple the grandiose initiatives of well-meaning corporate organizations trying to put forth their women folk in higher roles.

Using Nigeria as a case study, the time is right for fathers, brothers, sisters and mothers to start encouraging their daughters and wards to venture into opportunities, roles and careers that were once seen to be a "theatre" meant only for men. It is time to change the narrative and let these young women know that it is never a wrong ambition wanting to be a Structural Engineer, Automobile Technician, Motion Graphics Artist, Wood Work Specialist, Foreman etc, It is the time to engage our women in meaningful ventures and vocations that will see them go the extra mile, do the impossible, reinforce the positive notion and beliefs that have been ingrained in them that what a woman sets out to do, it becomes almost successful once you commit yourself to it. It is time to give our women the platform which will usher in a new era of economic possibilities for them. This is the time, not yesterday, not tomorrow.

According to a report by McKinsey and Company, titled “The business of empowering women”, the report indicated that growth in developing countries and emerging markets is important to their company’s success over the next ten years hence; investing in women supports such growth. The good news, however, is that for this change to happen, the first foundation – Education, has to be properly structured to give the ladies, the required technical, vocational and special education they might need.

Luckily, in Nigeria, there has been an increase in the use of web-based learning system which promotes learning at self-paced which means that anyone can achieve their dreams with proper focus. Skilled women with jobs enjoy meaningful status in their communities and countries. It is believed, that these group of literate and working class professionals are healthier and more productive.

Regardless of the strides being made about how women can move ahead in their career, a major question arises, What does women economic empowerment entail? Women’s economic development is concerned about helping women develop marketable skills, helping them have access to primary, secondary as well as technical education.

• In a nutshell, the following initiatives are part of what it takes to empower and develop the womenfolk to add more balance to our imbalanced society.
• Creating access and opportunities for women to acquire vocational, technical, and entrepreneurial skills.
• Opportunities to develop life, financial literacy, family, and household management skills.
• Helping women find, and retain employment
• Access to employment opportunities, free from discrimination, harassment and violence
• Access to capital, credit, loans, specialised training and other resources needed to start enterprises.
• Access to quality healthcare, career support and leadership development.

According to Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer and Author of “Lean in”, Sheryl Sandberg, "A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes.

This in her submission would make the world a better place. The laws of economics and studies of diversity reveal that if we tapped into the entire pool of human resources and talent, our collective performance globally would improve. She further says that conditions for all women will improve when there are more women in leadership roles giving strong and powerful voice to their needs and concerns; one of the ways to break the glass ceiling! Glass ceiling refers to an unacknowledged and ultimately illegal barrier to advancement, especially for women

The term glass ceiling dates back to the 1980’s.  In many professions, a woman cannot break through the glass ceiling to the upper level of management. One of the ways women can break the glass ceiling is by mentorship, proper specialized education and speaking up for each other, lending a supporting hand to another in need.

Dear woman, you are required in this time and in this century to stand up, be passionate about what you do and go the extra mile, the glass ceiling only exists when there are obstacles but also remember that these obstacles make you better, resilient and better.

Peter Sand, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank says that “Women who are economically empowered are an incredibly powerful source of development”.

This is your season woman. Achieve. Overcome. Beat the odds. Change the game. This is how to break the glass ceiling!

Cheers!

About the Author

Chukwuka Anslem Ozor is the Programme Manager at Apostles in The Marketplace. He is an Incubator Africa 2014 fellow and a mentor at Cheri Blair Foundation for Women & Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation. Chukwuka holds a Bachelors degree in Petroleum & Gas Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt and certificates in Stakeholder Engagement &Sustainability in Project Management from the Lagos Business School.

Productivity: The role of Emotional Intelligence

The things we do in life are geared towards productivity. Whether it is the need to get a promotion in our work place, improve our business sales, get married or get good grades. We all want to be successful in life and be productive in all of our endeavors. Life is only as we make it and that which we get out of life is simply the effort we put in it.

Many have associated excellence and productivity as an input of academic intelligence alone. They believe that to achieve the best in life, you need to excel academically. With this in mind, they neglect the place of emotional intelligence in their lives. Only a few are aware of emotional intelligence and amongst the few, just a few fraction take into cognizance the implication of emotional intelligence in leading a successful life.

Emotional intelligence is the ability for one to identify his own emotions as they happen, understand them and manage them as they happen. It involves being able to perceive not just your emotions but the emotions of people around you. Now, one may wonder how emotional intelligence enhances productivity; how our success in life is largely dependent on a factor as emotional intelligence rather than academic intelligence. This is so as we humans have emotions and function based on our feelings.

As social beings, we feel love, hurt, pain, joy, sorrow, the need to be loved and different other sensations. We have moods that sometimes are believed to determine how we function. But then, should our mood really determine how productive we should be? Should our mood define when we should work or how we work? This is the essence of emotional intelligence as it helps identify our emotions, understand them and manage them as they happen.

Susan got back from work late and angry on a Friday night. She and her roommate had plans to hit the club to celebrate the promotion they both got in their workplace that month. Susan narrated her ordeals on how work that day was terrible, longer hours in meeting she wasn’t used to, traffic and long drive she had to endure and how famished she was. Elizabeth, her roommate, in reply said, “oya oya just change your wears lets hit the club. You weren’t the only one that had a bad day at work”. Susan felt more depressed and eventually didn’t go clubbing that night. Amaka had a day same as Susan and narrated same story to her roommate. Her roommate already dressed immediately served her dinner and told her they could leave the clubbing for another night. Eventually, they both ended up at the club after a good meal and discussion.

From the story, not offering to help doesn’t make Elizabeth a bad roommate but her failed responsibility in identifying her roommates emotions and helping out makes her not so much of a friend in need. Amaka’s roommate was able to put her friend’s emotions before hers and was ready to sacrifice pleasure just for her friend to feel better. In life, we face such situations every day. How we manage our emotions determine how well we thrive in our activities.

There is need for one to be able to identify his emotions and be able to interpret them. Just as important as it is to identify one’s emotion, so also is it important to be able to identify the cause behind the emotion. One might fail to be effective at a day’s work for a particular reason. It might be either of two- whether he is hungry or angry over something he hasn’t resolved. In such instance, if the true cause for low productivity that day is hunger and he keeps working, he certainly will not yield much that day. On the other day, if it is because of anger of what someone did to him or anger for losing an auction, he still would be less productive after a great meal if he fails to take into cognizance the real reason for his low productivity.

To enjoy the best out of life, there is need for self-awareness; being able to tell who you are and identifying your emotions as they happen. Negative moods reduce your productivity and that can only be checked when you are able to understand and manage your emotions. To be effective in what one does, he must be able to cause himself to determine his productivity rather than his mood. If you do not understand your emotions, you cannot change it. To enjoy productivity in all one does in life, he must first be self-aware, exercise self-control over his emotions, be socially aware (understanding how others feel) and have the ability to build relationships.

About the Author 

Ettoh Oghenekefe is a freelance writer and strategic innovator who creates ideas and contents that help impact the lives of people. He is passionate about helping the young ones grow with the right frame of mind and believes there is no age too young for self-discovery. He also is a Risk Managing Specialist and Financial Planner and hopes that every individual can be as diligent in their spending and savings as they are to their jobs and businesses

 

Social Media as a profitable Business Tool

The world as we know it is run by economic activities and a large percentage of such activities revolves around trading. Trading simply means the exchange of goods and services. So someone can trade physical items like phones and cars and get financial gains from it. Another person can also trade his or her skills/talents and get financial gains from that.

This then means that a lot of business interactions took place with the trader dealing directly with the consumer most of the time from the onset. Meaning that sales could only have occurred when prospective consumers visit their stores to check out the products or services they offer.

This however posed a challenge as businesses were limited to face-to-face interactions and a business was only visible to those who are able to visit it thereby limiting their reach and customer base to people around a particular area.

Interestingly, since the turn of the century and the discovery of the internet, the global business world has taken on a new dimension. The world is now being regarded as a global village as interactions between people from vastly different locations are now possible.

This brings us to one amazing product of the internet..."social media".

Social media is a web-based communication tool that enables people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information. It entails websites and applications that enable users create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Social media has introduced substantial and pervasive changes to communication between businesses, organizations, communities and individuals and has changed the way individuals and large organizations communicate. It means a business operating in Lagos can now be visible to prospective consumers from all over the world.

This has helped to solve the challenge of visibility and location limitations that businesses encountered in the past.

How does social media profit a business?

It is very important that businesses operating in this 21st century and information age realize that they need to be proactive to remain relevant and attract new customers.

Long gone are the days when your secretary was the first point of contact between the outside world and your company – that role is being replaced by websites and social media profiles.

According to data from Global Web Index:

37% of internet users follow their favorite brands on social media.

30% of internet users use social networks to research products.

With people turning to their mobile devices and social media in the buying journey there are many reasons why your business should be active on social media.

Here are 5 key benefits of social media for business:

1. Increased Exposure/Brand Awareness:

Social media will expose your company or service to new eyes. With one click your message is shown to multitude of people. A good example is the exposure and awareness a fashion designer-Ugo Monye received from the agbada that Ebuka wore to Banky W and Adesuwa's traditional wedding in Lagos,Nigeria.

2. Learn About Your Audience/Target Consumer:

Social media gives you insights into what your audience is into.

3. Customer Service:

Sometimes a customer won’t reach out to you if they have a problem, but will go ahead and post a complaint online. Many consumers now using social media as a point of contact with a brand, and expect a response The Social Habit reports that 42% customers who reach out to brands online expect a response within the hour.

4. New Opportunities:

Social media can offer opportunities you may miss out on by not having a social presence. Negative comments and experiences can be addressed and adjusted – keeping customers happy and showing potential customers that you care (giving you a little more to love over the competition)

5. Sales:

If your social media campaign is done correctly it could help you increase sales.  Having a social media presence can also allow customers “get to know” your brand, giving you more chances to gain their business.

          

How then can a business use social media profitably?

Social media savvy entrepreneurs know that it’s all about engaging the right audiences with valuable content.

With this in mind, here are 4 ways a business can engage customers and benefit from the use of social media:

1. Follow the one-in-seven rule:

This rule is where only one of every seven posts overtly promotes your business. The remaining six should be focused on sharing valuable content, including posts from the community. This helps to build a more beneficial relationship with your audience.

2. Ask conversation-starter questions:

Most people enjoy sharing their opinions, so ask Facebook fans to weigh in on topics that are relevant to your business and interesting to them.

3. Share your expertise:

Post little-known, fun facts in the form of questions with a special offer presented to the first person to answer correctly.

4. Provide value:

While including fun posts that reflect your personality is a must, it’s important to create content that benefits your followers.

              

What social media platforms should a business operate on?      

A proactive business should operate on some of these key platforms to maximize profit from social media: Google+ (Gmail), Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and of course a website or a blog.

These social media platforms can be managed with Hootsuite, Buffer or Sensible platforms for easier scheduling.

In conclusion, it can be said that social media is the future of business as it plays a very major role in influencing and controlling economic activities all over the world.

Any business not utilizing social media right now might become irrelevant and/or lose business at the long run.

Therefore, a smart business should utilize social media for maximum sales, increase in customer base and global visibility.

About the Author 

Mary Ugonma Arhuere is a thought Leader, Natural Hair and Lifestyle Consultant, a Change Catalyst and a Youth & Women Development Influencer. She is also an HSE professional.