Modern Leadership Practices

Leaders are not born, they are made. There are many types of leadership styles. The best leadership style I prefer is the transformational leadership style. Transformational leaders are significantly more innovative than transactional leaders. Transactional leaders are those leaders who clarify tasks while at the same guiding and motivating those under their authority. Most politicians play this kind of leadership style. In contrast, Contingency leadership is not efficient in atmospheres of accelerated change because leaders place themselves into positions matching their leadership style.

Furthermore, leaders need to recognize how knowledge is valued so they will be acquainted with how the learners will react to a variety of learning opportunities. Being intentional and goal-oriented leads to planned change and this is what many organizations perceive as an accidental occurrence. Given the right tools and techniques, anyone with the right intentions can be a change agent. A change agent can be a manager or non-manager. On the contrary, an organization may be resistant to change due to chaotic randomness.

By building support and commitment, fear and anxiety will diminish. It will be a solid requirement to initiate emotional commitment to change so that inconsistencies may pave way for positive efforts. One thing that is of paramount importance is to undertake full-scale negotiation to lessen the level of resistance by addressing core individual and collective needs.

To avoid potentially high costs, negotiating with all concerned parties could herald an ever-lasting negotiated settlement. Another easy method of overcoming resistance will be the use of cooptation which usually leads to endorsement from those resisting change. Giving key roles to those resisting changes may be defined as a ‘buy off”. Unfortunately, coercion may be on the last of the list of overcoming resistance to change.

To better understand the true meaning of motivation, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs best hypothesizes its definition when he categorized the well-known theory of motivation into five components:
1. Psychological: It includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs.
2. Safety: Includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
3. Social: Includes affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.
4. Esteem: Includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.
5. Self-actualization: The drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfillment.

Experts in the field of Organizational Behavior often use different power tactics to achieve their objectives. The use of upward influence, downward influence, and lateral influence is used in different parts of the world depending on the culture of the organization. The collection of power tactics that work best for many include rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation as they tend to be more effective to influence people in the top management level and their subordinates. However, if the use of “softer” tactics fails, one will have no other option but to apply the “harder” stand which involves the use of formal power regardless of the costs and risks incurred. The use of ingratiation helps to better define a problem. We can draw from these statements and conditions, some drawbacks of the rational decision-making model:
1. It entails a great deal of time.
2. It requires a great deal of information.
3. It presupposes that considerable conditions exist to be agreed upon.
4. It assumes precise, unwavering, and absolute knowledge of alternatives, preferences, objectives, and outcomes.
5. It assumes a rational, reasonable, non-political world.

The Cure for Racism and Discrimination is Education

Race and race relations have been debated in the west for a long time. In the United States, Hispanics and Blacks have higher crime rates than whites; Hispanics and Blacks have higher high school and college dropouts than Whites and Asians; Hispanics and Blacks bear the most illegitimate children than Asians and Whites. Research has shown that good education and nutrition tend to raise the level of human productivity. In countries where food is scarce, the level of malnutrition and death among children is greater than in countries that have strong economies. Also, research has found good nutrition increases human height and growth while at the same nourishing the human faculty of thinking. Asian-Americans have the highest level of professionals despite their smaller population. Asian-Americans tend to stay in school longer than any other race in America.

When a nation’s human capital is strong, there will be increased productivity. Western nations tower above other nations in aging because they have the technological expertise to fight diseases of all kinds. Through medical and scientific research, western countries tend to come up with new remedies for newly-discovered diseases like the deadly HIV/AIDS and the killer malaria that is wrecking havoc in Africa. The discovery of retro-viral medications has enabled to boost the immune systems of AIDS sufferers in the west. These medications, even if available in Africa, tend to be out of reach of the AIDS sufferer or are too costly for the under-served.

Nutrition, hygiene, and good education fulfill human desire for a better life. A nation that has no tangible educated workforce will lag behind other nations in all aspects. Maladministration, autocracy, and lack of respect for human rights have retarded Latin American, African, and a handful of Asian countries.

Failures to solidify the agricultural and educational sectors of these nations have been cause for their people’s plunge in their level education, health, and hygiene. Massive brain-drain has been another factor that has tremendously altered these nations capacity to maintain a strong workforce. Doctors, engineers, and professionals, lured by the lucrative wages offered by western countries, have opened vacuums in these nations’ healthy work sectors. These massive brain-drains increase the level of political instability.

Often, migrant parents come to the west with little or no education. The children of these migrant parents find themselves without role models. Instead, they resort to violence and other unholy activities. Exposure to violent media, pornography, drug peddling, and gangs eventually open the doors for convictions. The rate of school drops-outs skyrocket; drug addiction proliferates; and in the end crime rates catapult.

Wherefore, as discovered by researchers and as recorded by the media, racism can only be overcome when those who are discriminated against find solace in education. Hispanics and Blacks have no other alternative but to seek better educational opportunities in order to get out of the current social quagmire.

Somalia: No Man's Land

“In a learning organization, leaders are designers, stewards, and teachers. They are responsible for building organizations where people continually expand their capabilities to understand complexity, clarify vision, and improve shared mental models-that is, they are responsible for learning”-Peter Senge, Fifth Discipline, 340.

Basic economics teaches us that when people associate no cost to something, they will abuse it. Whereas, rational people think at the margin, irrational people tend to think otherwise. Somalia has been a stable nation since 1960 until it descended into chaos when the military junta that came to power in 1969 was toppled in 1991 by a ragtag militia headed by General Aidid. Somalia lacks effective leaders who would put national interests above anything else. A leader is the one who understands all the underlying forces at play; he or she has the courage to initiate action to make things better; a leader sees what needs to be done; leaders have strategic thinking and have a sense of belonging.

Effective leaders resort to reconciliations and negotiations when there is a conflict in their midst. Leaders have the power to get others to do what they want them to do. In formulaic fashion, leadership entails planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling (POMC). Leadership is about influencing people through legitimate authority, coercion, reward, expertise, and personal reference. Naturally, in effective leadership, leader-follower relationships are reciprocal and voluntary. All humans have a set of values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABEs) about the way the world is or should be. These VABEs are either semiconscious or partially conscious collections of what we have come to think of as the way the world is or ought to be.

Now, let’s turn back to the issue of Somalia being no man’s land. After the fall of the military government in 1991, the men who engineered the coup d’état resorted to the elimination of some select tribes and their sympathizers. Perhaps, they intended to weaken their enemies or totally erase their footprints from Somalia. This did not materialize. Because what goes around comes around, the hunter became the hunted. The humanitarian disaster that afflicted the entire nation forced the United Nations and western powers to act with speed. The best the coup plotters would have done was to pacify the country and convene an all-inclusive reconciliation conference that would save the nation from further destruction. Because Aidid led an undisciplined militia that killed by impulse anyone perceived to be an enemy, trust and confidentiality got out of hand. Somali in-fighting opened a can of worms by allowing wild and undocumented fanatics pour into Somali borders like hungry vultures fighting over carrion. This led to the creation of factions driven by greed, theocratic ideals, and vengeance.

When the entire structures of a nation collapses, when the hale and healthy leave the country creating massive brain-drain, when the civilian population vacates residential buildings for fear of reprisals, there ought to be a psychological warfare in the making. Men who were wanted in the west found the chance to manipulate and make drastic gains from Somalia’s civil disorder. In order to expand their militaristic activities, foreign fanatics established bases in Somalia with help from local lunatics who were devoid of any form of leadership traits except war.

Stabilizing Somalia requires international involvement to root out those who are behind the chaos. In leadership theories, “buy-off” can be used as a deterrent to antagonism. Buying off all tribal leaders and creating a tough spy force from all Somali tribes and clans that will serve as the “eyes and ears” of the newly-created government could be used as detriment to overcome dissent until such a time when the nation can stand on its feet unaided. The use of spies who serve as “eyes and ears” of a nation’s sovereignty has been in existence since classical times.

Anyone who is found guilty of violating the constitution will have to be dealt with severely. All those scalawags who wrecked havoc, those who took part in any form of genocide or human rights abuses will have to be dealt with severely without remorse. The most important job of any president is the security of the state. Somalia will need to establish a strong and well-equipped force that will serve as deterrence to any form of opposition. "The proper use of the imagination is to give beauty to the world…to cast over the commonplace workaday world a veil of beauty and make it throb with our aesthetic enjoyment”.-Lin Yutang

Yaa, salaad badanaa, ma dad bey soo dishay!

Duq Barreey yaraanteedii waxay soo martay qiso aan weligeed maskaxdeeda katirtirmeyn. Ayadoo shan iyo toban jir ah ayaa aabbaheed kudaray nin ka da’weynaa. Habeenkii ugu horeysay ee ay aqal galeen ayaa waxaa lasoo darsay arrin kayaabshey: ninkii qabay ee ka da’weynaa ayaa bikrajebin waayey. Wuxuu ahaa habeen ay lakulantay xanuun badan. Waxaa dhibkaasi oo dhan ukeenay gudniinkii fircooniga ahaa ee ay ayeydeeda kusameysay mar da’deedu ahaa toban sano. Hase yeeshee, ninkeedii ayaa wuxuu kuyidhi, “waxaa iga ballan ah in habeen dambe dhawaaqaaga laga maqlo xaafadaha oo dhami”. Barreey oo ogeyd xanuunkii iyo dhiigii kabaxay habeenkii hore, ayaa isu diyaarisay sidii ay uga samatabixi lahayd habeenka kusoo aaddan ee ninkeeda uu uqabtay inuu kalatuuri doono.

Gabadhani da’da yar ee daafaha Soomaaliya oo dhan looga yeedhi doono ‘duq Barreey’ waxay dhaafi doontaa wacdaro aan hore loo arag. Maalintii oo dhan ayay murug iyo maaweelo kujoogtey. Mar ay qorraxdu hoobatay oo habeen lagalay ayaa waxaa soo hoyday duqeedii oo aan lahayn dheg laqabto. Sideedaba Soomaalidu ‘nin baa naagtiisa bikra jebin waayey’ waxay ahayd arrin aan sideedaba laqaadin karin oo waxaaba loo arki jidhay ninka noocaasi oo kale mid dhintay ama halaagmay.

Mar allaale markey casheeyeen oo ay isku xaabiyeen wixii cunto ee guriga yiil, ayaa la abbaaray sariirta. Qaddar yar waxay sariirta kujidhaanba, Barreey waxay barkinta hoosteeda kala soo baxday middi afeysan. Odeygeedii bey caloosha dhoowr jeer kaladhacday middidii. Halkii ayuuna ku nafwaayay. Mar uu waaga baryay ayaa deriskoodii soo booqday. Mase, Barreey wey maqantahay odeygeedii oo meyd ahna wuxuu yaallaa sariirta asagoo si xun udhiigbaxay.

Halkii ayaa lagu soo baraarugay loona diyaargaroobay sidii loo aasi lahaa meydka. Muddo yar kadibna meydkii ayaa lagu hubsaday qabdriga. Cidina ma baadigoobin Barreey; sidii ayaana lagu iloobay.

Isla habeenkiiba Barreey waxay ufakay hawdka. Habeenkii ayay dhexseexatay god waraabe. Saqdadhexe ayaa libaax jiidanaya wax uu soo dilay dibdib usoo galay godkii ay Barrey kujidhay. Barreey waxay dareentay cabbur iyo argagax. Inyar bey yara gamacday. Goor dambe mar ay soo baraarugtay, ayay iska soo gooysay tooreey ay sidatay. Ayadoo gacanteeda gariireysa umbay hal mar libaaxii futada kagelisay tooreeydii. Libaaxi intuu argagaxay ayuu intuu kor ubooday ayuu kusoo dul dhacay geed kurtun ah oo meesha kuyiil. Kurtunkii baa libaaxa dilay oo dillaacshay caloosha. Barreey halkii bey kasii wadday safarkeedi ilaa ay kagaadhay tuulo aad uga fog meeshii ay ninkeedii kudishay. Dhowr maalmood kadibna waxay aadday magaalo kale oo ay kutaqiin dad kale oo eheladeeda ah.

Dhowr bilood kadib, Barreey waxaa guursaday nin ay halkaasi isku shukaansadeen. Ninku wuxuu ahaa ragga naagaha aan u ogoleen debedwareeg ama waxa loo yaqaan ‘wareeg iyo waab tiris’. Barreey waxay ninkii udhashay toban carruur ah oo ubadan wiilal. Barreey waxaa ugu horreyay gurigeeda oo ay kasoo baxdo markii dawladdii meleteri la afgembiyay. Waxaa lakulmay jabkii Soomaali oo dhammi aafeeyay. Waxay gashay xero qaxooti oo kuyaal waddan Soomaaliya laderis ah. Caruurteedii oo idil waxay usoo baxeen debedaha ayadiina wey diiday in ay debeda aaddo.

Maadaama Barreey ay xilligani cimri tahay, waxay goosatay in ay iska toobadkeento oo nolosheeda cibaado kudhameysato. Aay Barreey waxay guri ladegtay dhowr gabdhood oo aan laqabin. Habeen walba Duq Barreey waxay soo kici jidhay saqda dhexe sifa ay utukato salaatul leyl. Hablihii ayaa karaahiyeystay qubqacdeeda iyo feynuuska ay kor udheereyneyso. Habeen habeenada kamid ah, mar ay Duq Barreey aadday musqusha ayaa labo sheekeystay. Mid baa midda kale weydiisay, “dee, ina adeer, habartani maxaa haaysta. Ma dhiig Muslim bey soo gashay. Waa maxay habartu, kaseexan waaynaye”? Inantii kale ayaa ugu jawaabtay, “naa sooma ogid nin hore uqabay ayay madaxa masaar kaladhacday oy dishay.”

Ayadoo hablihii wadahaasawaya ayey Duq Barreey dalaq gurigii soo tiri. Markaasey kutidhi gabdhihii, “naa maxaad kuqosleysaan.” Mid baa gabadh kale oo jiifta intay farta kufiiqday ugu jawaabtay Duq Bareey, “taasi jiifta ayaa nagu dhuustay” markaasey Duq Bareeyna intey qosol jabsatay tidhi, “walee maantaan ogaa sidey digir isugu daldaleysay”.

Gebogebo iyo gunaanadkii, Aay Barreey iyo kuwa kale ee gacmaha dhiiga kuleh xalaaeystayna dhiiga aadanaha ha ogaadaan inay jidho maalin loo yaqaan “Yowmul xisaab”.

Somalia's Mass Murderers Must be Stopped

The recent suicide bombing of Mogadishu's Shamo Hotel (picture inset) where hundred's had gathered to celebrate the graduation of students from Banadir University has left multiple scars in the hearts of millions. This despicable act perpetrated by men who have no iota of mercy in their hearts must be stopped at all cost. In the aftermath of this suicide bombing, almost over twenty innocent souls perished including government ministers, doctors, university students, and friends and relatives. Up to sixty peaceful residents of Mogadishu have been reported to have been injured in the melee. A dozen injured have been flown to Kenya for treatment because local hospitals lack the facilities to carry out major operations. To date no one has claimed responsibility. Amazingly, a Danish newspaper has claimed that the suicide bomber was raised in Denmark and that his parents are Dutch citizens. The bomber is said to have moved to Somalia about eighteen months ago accompanied by wife and children. If this claim is to be verified, then there is cause to be cautious and suspicious of homegrown extremists.

Somalia's terrorist group, Al-shabab has refuted allegations that it was behind the deadly attack on Shamo Hotel on the fateful day of Tuesday, the 3rd day of December, 2009. However, sources report that Ayman Al-zawahri, the second-in-command of Al-qaida has been reported to have claimed that his partners who waging proxy war in Somalia were behind the bombing and that it is part of the Jihadi struggle being waged all over the world. Al-shabab has flexed its muscle in the south of the country meaning it has no other entity to challenge it.

Somalia remains ungovernable because those vested with authority have not understood or lack a grasp of the true meaning of responsibility, leadership, and nationalism. The fragile government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has been overwhelmed by the enormity of problems in the country. Piracy, insecurity, suicide bombings, political murders, assassinations, drought, disease, and other natural calamities have combined to make the nation beyond anyone's capability.

Somalia has become a safe haven for foreign fighters drawn from all parts of the world. They include men who have been described as international criminals who will do everything possible to evade arrest by internationally-sanctioned manhunts. The number of religious criminal gangs or factions operating in the country give these criminals complete protection from prosecution.

There are many illegal lucrative businesses operating in the country. These businesses are the fibers that feed the gangs and their foreign guests. Arms smuggling, drug dealing, money laundering, piracy, and other hideous or underground activities are the factors behind the survival of Somalia's international criminals. Religious extremism is growing roots everywhere. It's time the world join hands to eliminate this menace from Somalia before it spills over and engulfs the entire region and beyond.

Africa is Penniless and Broke

The same old guards of the sixties continue to rule Africa unabated. The modes of leadership they impose on their people are multi-faceted. Some practice kleptocracy. These group devour their nation's resources without measure while millions of their loyal citizens perish for lack of food and water. Some are dictators who either kill, maim, or jail the opposition without legal justifications. Others have enthroned themselves kings. These bunch have created gloomy pictures of destitution which are visible in the eyes of their subjects while they live lavish lives in palaces surrounded by loyal, well-fed mistresses and bodyguards.

Africa has every kind of natural resource enough for the entire continental population. Africa prides to have great rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, minerals, culture of tolerance, and a wonderful sunny tropical weather all-year-round. Yet, Africa is poor and penniless because her leaders have decided to keep to themselves every shining dime and nickel. African leaders wear the best woolen, cotton, and silken three-piece-suits bought in Paris, London, Rome, and New York. These leaders drive the most expensive imported cars in the world. They cherish custom-made Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volvo, and Audi limousines that are bullet-proof and well-furnished. They ride the most expensive rodeos, barbecue in expansive ranches surrounded by vineyards, exotic plants and wildlife. They swim in crystal clear waters surrounded by mademoiselles clad in bikinis. Yet, a few miles from their palaces their subjects remain destitute, naked, and sickly.

The children of African leaders abhor local education systems. Instead they prefer to enroll in the best educational institutions located overseas. Upon graduation, they return to their countries of origin where they are ushered in to a world of splendor and merrymaking. Millions of dollars, gold and jewelery looted by their parents-in-power await them upon their return. Had African leaders embarked on philanthropic purposes by dispersing the monies they spend on expensive regalia and lavish lifestyles, millions of their countrymen could be saved from abject poverty.

Africa is penniless and broke as depicted in the world Economic Freedom Index (EFI). The continent lags behind in labor freedom, freedom from corruption, investment freedom, financial freedom, monetary freedom, government size, fiscal freedom, trade freedom, business freedom, and property rights. Africa is being devastated by HIV/AIDS, malaria, sexually transmitted diseases or STD, diabetes, hypertension, and hazardous wastes that contribute to the spread of deadly diseases.

The continent suffers from poor infrastructure; vital medical and educational facilities are scarce if not nonexistent in many rural and remote areas; many regions remain impassable due to lack of reliable roads and bridges; scarcity of food and water shortages afflict millions in the countrysides and even in many major cities; insecurity and corruption remain the biggest obstacle to good governance. Africa has no one else to blame. It is the leaders' old habits that is dragging the continent to unpredictable disaster.

Meles Ought to Resign with Dignity

Since coming to power in Ethiopia in the early nineties, Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, has done more harm than good to the people of the Horn of Africa. Meles Zenawi went to war with Eritrea over Badme and Zalambesa-two dusty towns located between the two nation's borders. Hundreds of thousands died on both sides by the time the war ended. Under Meles Zenawi political parties remain suppressed and supporters either exiled, killed, or given long-term torturous sentences in dirty dungeons manned by Tigreyans-his clansmen.

Meles Zenawi had armed conflict with the nation of Sudan during his tenure of power. Under Meles Zenawi Ethiopian army invaded neighboring Somalia with the pretext of fighting Islamists who took over power. After a humiliating defeat by the Islamists who fought guerilla-style street fights, the Ethiopian army suddenly left Somali soil altogether. Thousands of Ethiopian Army soldiers remain unaccounted for in Somalia's conflict as the dead remain concealed from the public for political reasons.

There are a score of liberation movements fighting for separation from Ethiopia. The Ogaden and the Oromo Liberation fronts are fighting devastating wars to overcome Ethiopian government's colonialist designs. In the altercation between the guerrilla armies and the Ethiopian armed force, innocent civilians are caught in the quagmires. The scarcity of food, medicine, shelter, and water adds to the miseries of the poor of Oromia and Ogadenia.

Grinding poverty coupled with a devastating drought that is sweeping all corners of Ethiopia is taking a heavy toll. There is much suffering in the entire country and the much-awaited election in 2010 will not alleviate the problems the country now faces. There is a feeling in the public the coming election will be rigged giving the ruling party the upper hand. Just as in the rest of Africa, Ethiopia's case is no exception. The best Meles Zenawi can do for his people is to resign with dignity to save his people and his country from further disintegration,

Kenya Must Eradicate Corruption to Flourish

The major factor hindering development in Kenya is the widespread corruption visible in every sector of the economy. Corruption is so prevalent in this East African nation such that it has become an eyesore that refuses to heal because government officials remain behind its proliferation. Transparency International regards Kenya to be in the top list of the most corrupt countries in the world. Kenya's Economic Freedom Index (EFI) is also at its lowest ebb. The Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Anti-Corruption arm have voiced concern at how corruption is eating away the vital fibers of the economy. Kenya's poorly paid police are at the forefront of spreading corruption.

The most eye-catching incident involved the arrest of traffic police officers caught in the act of receiving bribes from motorists. The men and women who took the oath of allegiance to the constitution to maintain law and order fell to the dragnet after being caught red handed soliciting bribes on major highways. Some of these officers were caught on tape and are now awaiting sentencing before a court of law.

Al-shabaab Bans Wearing of Bra

Recent developments in Somalia have been part amusing and part dehumanizing. Al-shabaab, Somalia's extremist group that evolved after the departure of the Ethiopian army has come up with a decree that is causing much harm to the women of Mogadishu. Any woman found to show a bust of flesh on her chest risks harassment, humiliation, and even whipping in public. While women accused of witchcraft in India risk being forcefully fed with human excrement or animal culae, those of Somalia suffer novel fatwas issued by zealots whose agendas remain a mystery.

The fatwas of Al-shabaab have become so agonizing that it is the residents of Mogadishu who mostly bear the brunt of every new decree. Recently, the extremist group ordered all women to wear a specially designed hijab available from select stores or else suffer the consequences. The stores where these types of veils are available are owned by Al-shabaab businessmen and obviously there is a brisk hijab business.

Often women find themselves stopped along alleyways, in the markets, in public transportation, even within the vicinity of their own premises by masked men serving as Al-shabaab's law enforcers. They find themselves humiliated in front of their brothers, children, fathers, and even husbands without just cause. The crimes Somali women commit today has nothing to do with felony or misdemeanor. It always has to do with mode of dress and nothing else.

Kenya: Time is Ripe to Bring Election Culprits to Book

The election fiasco that brought President Mwai Kibaki to power in 2007 remains one of the worst unsolved political injustices in Kenya's recent history. Despite the intervention of the international community, the final judgment is yet to come. The disgraceful election fraud that brought Mwai Kibaki to power saw the slaughter of 1000 innocent civilians-a vicious war instigated by big fishes currently in the Kenya cabinet. Surprisingly, these killers are unknowingly awaiting indictment by the International Court of Justice.

Revealing the names of those involved in the massacre of innocent civilians is like opening a can of worms. The man who will preside over the indictment of these criminals is Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Court of Justice. He is a man who played a great role in putting behind bars the generals who wrecked havoc in his native country of Argentina when that nation was held hostage by a pathetic military regime.

Obviously, it will be great news for Kenya and the rest of the world when the names of Kenya's killers are revealed and a sigh of relief for the relatives of those who suffered the unjustified and unsolved brutality and massacre. Just as the Killers of Sarajevo and Kigali have been apprehended with some behind bars and others awaiting trial, it is time the Kenya government brought to book the much anticipated killers on the loose. Since Luis Moreno-Ocampo is expected to be in Kenya next week, all eyes and ears will turn to how events unfold thereafter.

Criticism Advances a Nations Interests

Criticism is a healthy way of correcting things. In healthy democracies, there are people called critics. These people keep an eye on every single negative action of the government and its sectors. There are government critics, book critics, movie critics, corporate critics and so on. The reason these people are there is to put a cap on the wrongs being committed. Wrongs can mean election irregularities, embezzlement or emptying of state coffers, corruption of all kinds, bribery and other unethical and immoral acts that are a handicap to a nation's interests. The work of a critic is to uncover a wrong so it may be corrected before things get out of hand. But please remember, men like ex-president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, General Mohamed Farah Aideed, and Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess were rebels instead.

One of Somalia's most critical opponent of the regime headed by Siyad Barre was the novelist Nurudin Farah who is regarded as one of the best novelist of our time. The junta gave him a hard time because of the wrongs he wanted corrected. The end result was his voluntary exile. Besides Nurudin many other critics of Somali origin became victims of the ruling junta. Some ended up getting extended jail terms. Somali academics who left three decades and over ago still remain in exile. It is nonsensical that someones life is put in danger because of having different views? Thus, it is important for our readers to differentiate who is a rebel and who is a critic.

The irony is that many African governments don't entertain criticisms and healthy debates. Adopting a watch and see policy while inhuman acts like massacres or genocide, corruption and theft, arbitrary arrests without valid reasons are committed in front of your eyes without saying a word is against human conscience. If you see a woman being raped without commenting then wait until your sister, your mother, your aunt or a female relative of yours becomes the next victim. Those who stand by the sidelines without raising a word while having a clear picture of the ills and gravity of crimes committed against innocent civilians has no iota of mercy and thus belongs to the dogs.

Managing Effectively while Inculcating Equality

All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness-Tennessee Williams
We now learn from the scientific and biological fraternity that all humans are a product of X and Y chromosomes. Geneticists can now reveal to us that there are 35,000 genes in the human DNA and 3 billion chemical base pairs in the human DNA. This is a testament to human equality. Overemphasizing differences hides prejudices that are disgracefully inappropriate in context. Overemphasizing similarities is the best tool to attaining accomplishments in the workplace. The belief that “all men are created equal” should be the best applicable emphasis.

The first thing to have in a modern workplace is a balanced culture, if not code of regulations to be equally observed by all regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, political affiliation or sex. Rules that call for tolerance and harmony in the workplace must be applied to ensure tranquility and serendipity. A good leader is the one who discourages negative behaviors like incivility and other detrimental actions that are appalling in perspective.

Self-reliance Criterion
Having close affinity to employees of like racial group sets a bad precedent as it is a harbinger for discrimination and favoritisms. Here is a parable of two managers: One would always speak in his native tongue to some select employees he/she shared cultural background with while the other discouraged speaking in his native mother tongue. The later is the kind of leader ripe for multicultural leadership. Organizations can discourage leaders not to rely solely on self-reliance criterion when making strategic decisions by acknowledging the cultural backgrounds of individuals and groups by first using the golden rule that states: “do unto others as they would have them do unto them.” It is equally important to empower the leader to learn contrasting cultures even though the implied cultures may disagree with one’s values. Leaders must instill social justice, harmony, and moral development and also have contact with different cultural groups so as to create a healthy atmosphere through a succession of cultural exchanges.

The Monitor Role
The monitor role has long appeared less interesting to many people because of their futile beliefs that it entailed keeping a watchful over other people’s daily activities or mode of operations. But to a leader or manager with modern thoughts and processes, it carries much weight in “maintaining high performance in both individuals and groups (Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, and McGrath, and St. Clair, 2006, p.113).”

The Mentor Role
The mentor and facilitator roles are the two most important key managerial leadership roles as they are tasked with establishing effective relationships. The mentor role, also called the concerned human role, is reflected in the science of caring and empathy where the manager is supposed to be thoughtful, selfless, and responsive and open to discussions and not shunning ideas, be friendly, openhearted, and reasonable. A mentor is a good listener who attracts new ideas, is appreciative, rewarding, and influences employee actions by motivating. Failure to observe the mentoring role leads to derailment, pseudo-transformational leadership, dictatorship, arrogance, and intolerance. Understanding self-worth opens the door for understanding others. Delegating effectively and developing employees is part of mentoring. In the real sense of the word, the remark “mentor” has its meaning rooted in Greek, which may mean trusted counselor, coach or guide and therefore derives its true meaning from The Odyssey, a poem written by Homer and addressed to Odysseus asking him to tutor his son Telemachus. Understanding the keys to effective delegation involves conscientiousness, influence, and answerability. Thus, the mentor role is about understanding self and others, communicating effectively, and developing employees.

The Facilitator Role
The Facilitator role rests on three important pillars namely: building teams, using participative decision making, and managing conflict-all part of the organizational improvement process. Furthermore, group work means having a commitment to a common goal or purpose, having a concrete sense of mutual responsibility, sharing information and having common communication structure, and setting clear roles and responsibilities that are equally interdependent in outlook. Roles are sets of expectations relevant to the individual and others in a given situation. With role clarity implying the absence of two demanding conditions notably role ambiguity and role conflict-role ambiguity entails interacting with others while role clarity leads to inconsistency or contradiction of information. Sending conflicting information is cause for role conflict. The facilitator role requires knowledge of the levels, sources, and stages of conflict. Differences in values, attitudes, beliefs, needs, or perceptions have been shown to cause conflicts.

Handling Communication Overloads
Ironically, the flow of information has transformed tremendously over the years and taken major leaps and bounds since the discovery of microchips and other technological advancements such as nanotechnology. Our capability to store and retrieve information through optical scanning and “data compression” and our ability to do research without resorting to the olden ways of searching through library shelves, is a clear testimony of how we have advanced “two steps forward” and “one step back” though we have heavy responsibilities of “taming the electronic tiger” as we advance towards new innovations and immeasurable outputs. Thus, it is imperative for today’s managers to grasp the importance of modern office keeping by observing the TRAF system-which connotes to mean Toss, Refer, Act, and File-a novel way of overseeing the predicted modern paperless office.

On the other hand, recurrent work interruptions and overloads caused by excessive messages such as telephone calls, voice mails, cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs, faxes, the intranet and internet, and e-mails should not instill fear or cause alarm but rather create challenges and enhanced momentum if effective management is to be observed in the workplace. Today’s managers are emboldened by their fervent desire to exploit the universally accepted sets of procedures known by the acronym OABC which stands for Opening, Agenda, Body, and Closing-four valuable tools for deciphering written messages regardless of whether they are in the form of a memo, circular or other regular correspondences. Likewise, face-to-face meetings are as essential as other forms of communication and should not be taken off the table. Teleconferencing, a contemporary hi-tech inclusion invented as result of human necessity, has been found to be in conformity with the international superhighway. Monitoring demands analyzing core processes, monitoring the value chain and output like judgments and opinions given, resources allocated, decisions made, mistakes detected, products planned, commitments negotiated, and courses taught.

The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory
The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory which is based on Carl Jung’s works highlights the five-factor model or basic tendencies with each factor named for one of two ends of a continuum namely neuroticism, extraversion, open to new experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Agreeableness and extraversion are interrelated in that with no explicit leadership, the one who emerges with extraversion, agreeableness, and emotionality emerges the informal leader.

Johari Window
Named after Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, the Johari window is another exemplary framework that helps increase one’s self-awareness. The Johari window is divided into four compartments namely: open, blind, hidden, and unknown. Hidden inconsistencies and hypocrisies including hiding, rebuffing, and evading learning about themselves, has been found to be a common attribute of many people. Sadly though, popular television shows, movies, and books are acted in such a way that the end results, because of concealment of true feelings or lack of self-awareness, characters may end up skeptical or tolerant.


Effective Interpersonal Communication
With acute logjam to effective interpersonal communication evolving as a result of inarticulateness, hidden agendas, status meant to impress and not offend, hostility due to lack of trust, and differences in communication styles, Chris Argyris of the Harvard Business School implemented what became known as “the left-hand column issues” which implies “what is thought” and “the right-hand column” in reference to “what is said” so that “discussables” can be differentiated from “undiscussables”.
The golden saying, “nature has given men one tongue but two ears that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak”, as noted by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, is a superior contemplation in the real sense which requires that we understand what is being said by others. The use of reflective listening helps us understand what others are saying and instills empathy in our inner souls.

Understanding Conflict Resolution
Understanding conflict resolution in the intrapersonal and interorganizational levels could be an added advantage. Avoiding approaches, accommodating approaches, competing approaches, compromising approaches, and collaborating approaches are some of the dimensions used in conflict management strategies. However, there are advantages and disadvantages of conflict management approaches. Also, as research has shown, allowing some degree of conflict could propel new ideas, innovation, and change. Conflicts can be stimulated and agreements managed by introducing guidelines for advocacy groups.

Team Building Strategies
There are informal approaches to team building and barriers to team building. Team building is an ongoing process and not an event. One approach to team building is for the team members to understand each other and have the willingness to observe each other consistently so as to generate substantial results. Social interaction among members like sharing a meal after work, holding annual holiday celebrations, and other important events opens a plethora of opportunities and other out of the ordinary accomplishments. Ironically, barriers to team building resurface due to not having the knowledge or experience of team building. One major factor that hinders team building is the lack of planning and coordination. Creating incentives to reward employees with exceptional performance emboldens employee resolve and attitude, increases social and economic standings, and lowers tardiness and the impervious “free will” attitude. Autocratic, consultative, and group decision making are some of the strategies used to define who should participate and when.

Effective Meeting Management
Meetings may be horrifying and end in disasters because of poor facilitation or they may be well managed, heartening, and all-inclusive. Understanding the rules of effective meeting management, coming up with the required tools, and setting the stage with certain objectives in mind is a prerequisite for modern management. Understanding the meeting objective, creating appropriate participation, selecting the time and place of the session, and preparing and distributing the agenda in advance is a requirement if pitfalls are to be avoided. However, running the meeting with sets of priorities in mind is a good way of giving the attendants a new lease of life. For a meeting to be professional it is essential to have someone take the minutes; the leader should review the agenda; make certain participants know each other; do not diverge from the agenda; ease interruptions; promote overall membership; and bring to a close the meeting by reviewing decisions reached.

Understanding Four Dimensions of Leadership
Influencing others depends on having a concrete understanding of the values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABEs) of the people involved. Having the feeling that it is a God-given responsibility to change how others feel and believe leads to underestimation of those under your command. Those endowed with authority should grasp the benefits of morality, ethics, legality, and cultural context. Individually determining what’s right and wrong is known as morality; ethics is a body of knowledge and established and conventional guiding principles of conduct created for groups of people or organizations; legality implies acting upon the established laws of humanity; while cultural context refers to observing the cultural values of others in the workplace. In public and professional conduct it is best to apply ethics and in private and for personal values wrap yourself around the garb of morality. When dealing with those under your authority, always keep in mind that what goes around comes around. It was Charles Grodin who once said, “It always surprises me that otherwise intelligent people don’t realize that if you treat people badly, it will eventually come back to you”. To give you an example of what goes around comes around, it is worth looking back what history has to tell us. “In the year 260 C.E., the Roman Emperor Valerian fell captive to Sasanid forces. He spent his last years at the Sassanid court in Ctesiphon, where his captors forced him to stoop and serve as a mounting stool when the Sasanid king wanted to ride his horse. (After his death, the Sasanids preserved Valerian’s skin as a memento of their victory over the Romans), (Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler ). One’s leadership qualities should not be repugnant to justice and to the subjects providing essential services or else there could be serious ramifications resulting in the dissolution of the entire enterprise. For example, a medial law stated that “if two persons fell under suspicion of crime, the uglier or more deformed was to be regarded as more probably guilty” (Wilson and Hernstein, 1985).

Fifty-two Years Later

After bitter struggles with the manipulative and intoxicating political, social, and economic concoctions spread and sprinkled over Africa by the callous forces of imperialism and colonialism, Ghana and Libya proclaimed independence in 1957 from Britain and Italy respectively. Thereafter, a succession of African colonies felt a sigh of relief after being released from the shackles of bondage and indignity. The major European powers responsible for Africa's demise included Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal who collectively depopulated Africa's human population and also emptied its natural resources. Upon vacating the disastrously misused continent, the European powers embarked on a new form of mental subjugation that continue to bite the poor continent to the core to this very day. The harrowing legacies of imperialism and colonialism and the misguided principles espoused by Africa's apprentice leaders culminated in the creation of utterly misguided leadership qualities that ultimately displaced the authority and institutions known inherent in Africa since time immemorial. The aftermath saw the mighty continent plunge into protracted corruption spearheaded by kleptomaniacs, dictators, and outrageous kings.

Historically, emerging empires or classical societies copied nations that preceded them in mode of governance, in specialization of labor, in agriculture, and in techniques related to better trade and commerce. They did so so they could apply and inculcate new governing styles that would be acceptable to those under their domains. "The greatest asset of any nation is the spirit of its people, and the greatest danger that can menace any nation is the breakdown of that spirit" (George B. Courtelyou). Alas, not a single African leader went a step ahead of his comrades to try to emulate European governing styles. On the contrary, the continent underwent drastic changes with the creation of 'presidents-for-life' who ruled until the pangs of death caught up with them as was the case of Omar Bongo of Gabon, Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire to mention but a few. The absence of constitutional compromises, the denial of the minority to have a voice in the government, unbalanced land distribution, and failure to create political and economic development impede Africa's solidarity with the rest of the international community.

While African leaders fight each other to death over flimsy election irregularities in this 21st century, in 509 B.C.E., the Roman Republic witnessed similar political altercations between the ruling Patricians and the common people who were known as Plebeians. Amazingly, the Patricians granted Plebeians the right to elect officials who were known as tribunes. Why can't African leaders learn to compromise by borrowing a leaf from history? The principle that defendants remain innocent until proven guilty has been copied from the Twelve Tables promulgated by the Romans in the era known as Pax Romana ("Roman peace") corresponding to the time of Augustus.

Africa is lacking philosophers to guide it to its right course. What's good for Africa is good for its people, and what's good for the people is good for Africa. "It may be argued that peoples for whom philosophers legislate are always prosperous"-Aristotle. Perhaps, the greatest danger to Africa today is the combination of poor leadership and massive brain drain.

Somalia: Nothing to Celebrate on the 21st of October

Somalia gained independence in 1960 after the former colonies known respectively as British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland united on the 1st of July of that same year to form a single homogeneous nation. The northern part of Somalia was formerly known as British Somaliland and the southern part of the country was referred to as Italian Somaliland. But please remember, no borders existed in the African continent before the European powers divided Africa among themselves.

After the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke at Las Anod airstrip, Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre engineered a coup that brought him to power on the 21st of October, 1969 until the breakout of hostilities in 1991 when he was deposed by the United Somali Congress (USC) headed by General Mohamed Farah Aideed. Under Siyad Barre Somalia progressed militarily and many sectors of the economy saw tremendous growth despite bad politics tarnishing the regime's image.

Thus, the 21st of October was a major holiday during the tenure of Siyad as president of the Somali republic. Besides the two Islamic festivities of Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-adha, Somalis have forgotten national celebrations altogether.

Somali Government: Don't Give Asyllum to Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys

Somalia's mass murderer, warlord, and extremist Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is almost to surrender to the Somali government after a contingent of his militia surrendered to officers stationed at Villa Somalia, Somalia's Presidential Palace.

It all started after the forces of the Sheikh exchanged bitter gunfire with the forces of Al-shabab in the port city of Kismayu located in southern Somalia. Reports from Mogadishu indicate that the Sheikh is in constant contact with some of his clan members currently in the Somali cabinet of ministers so as to be given asyllum.

It is my strongest desire to see the sheikh extradited to the Hague, in the Netherlands, in order to face charges of genocide, rape, and mass murder of innocent Somalis before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

MEASURING PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY

In the past two decades, little did institutions or organizations care about measuring performance and equality until the skyrocketing of technological innovations that saw human beings come up with diverse, state-of-the-art, and reliable measures to counter the threat of work related underperformances and general disproportions. Since every institution, corporation or organization was scrambling for a solution to overcoming huddles in the workplace, researchers in the fields of work management were busy devising plans to stabilize inconsistencies and other hard to crack issues that caused handicaps in the workplace. Looking at a patient’s visit to a medical institution, we find that doctors take some of the most essential measures to bring to light the patient’s overall medical condition like blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar levels, urinalysis, and gynecological procedures to assess pregnancy and also reveal other biological defects in the making before jumping on any sort of prognosis. Likewise, it is equally important for organizations to apply measures that will enforce a healthy environment and a productive workforce not only for the present but for posterity.

Dozens of books have been written on issues pertaining to measuring performance and quality. One such book is John Elkington’s Cannibal with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of the 21st Century (Norman and McDonald, 2004). Those who support triple bottom line would like financial performance, social/ethical performance, and environmental performance to be on the same road in order to achieve organizational success. Another important book that has captured the hearts and minds of business magnates is the bestseller In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman (1982). The authors base their research on top major U.S. corporations of the 1980s that outperformed other business corporations while ripping long-term profitability and continuing innovation. They found eight common themes that attributed to the growth and success of the chosen corporations as outlined below:
1. A bias for action, active decision making - 'getting on with it'.
2. Close to the customer - learning from the people served by the business.
3. Autonomy and entrepreneurship - fostering innovation and nurturing 'champions'.
4. Productivity through people- treating rank and file employees as a source of quality.
5. Hands-on, value-driven - management philosophy that guides everyday practice - management showing its commitment.
6. Stick to the knitting - stay with the business that you know.
7. Simple form, lean staff - some of the best companies have minimal HQ staff.
8. Simultaneous loose-tight properties - autonomy in shop-floor activities plus centralized values. [1]

“The last two decades have been marked by the rise of performance-related considerations and a focus on increased efficiency in western societies. Initially these changes seemed not to affect public sector employment. The traditional conception of public sector employment where organizational performance was equated with efficacy (organizational goals were achieved steadily) rather than efficiency (organizational goals were cost effective) theoretically enabled the application of democratic values of meritocracy and social equality.” [2]

The authors whose works I read discussed and devised several factors for measuring performance and quality by having a breakdown of the deciding factors that include:
1. What is right versus what is easy; this pertains to measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is important to measure.
2. Developing a hierarchy of measures; here the authors take a leaf from Walsh’s (2005) comprehensive set indicators that measure progress and achievement by outlining a measurement hierarchy.
3. Tailoring measures to the organization and its mission; they use the balanced scoreboard approach (Kaplan and Norton, 1992) to base their arguments.
“The Balanced Scorecard provides a framework for developing a strategy map for an organization. First, the strategic objectives are organized into four categories:
1. Financial – strategy for growth, profitability, and risk from the shareholder’s point of view.
2. Customer – strategy for creating value and differentiation from the customer’s point of view.
3. Internal business process - strategic priorities for various business processes that create customer and shareholder satisfaction.
4. Learning and growth - priorities that create a climate that supports organizational change, innovation, and growth. The foundation for the strategy.”

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Excellence

[2] Journal article by Rita Mano-Negrin; International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 26, 2003

[3] Kaplan, R. S. and D. P. Norton. 2001. Transforming the balanced scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management: Part I. Accounting Horizons (March): 87-104.

The Homeless Warlord Sheikh

Somalia's once powerful warlord, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is now a bitter man and a homeless vagabond. Evey night, in the midst of dark ramshackle Mogadishu,the sheikh begs for shelter from various international organizations including television news outlets. Having fallen off with Al-Shabab, southern Somalia's most powerful extremist organization, the sheikh hardly sleeps every night because he fears Al-Shabab may catch him unawares. For now the sheikh has nothing else to fear but fear itself. And going by the old adage, "a coward dies many times before his real death", those pursuing the sheikh should not give much thought because his conscience tells him he is already a dead man.

I don't understand why every communist-trained religious zealot aspires to lead so as to mislead through the use of infected mental faculties. It is idiotic and out of context for someone to support the likes of Al-Shabab and Xizbul Islam who, even when given the reigns of power will ultimately end up stealing state coffers, annihilate multitudes of innocent civilians, and finally leave everything overturned and irremediably beyond repair.

Somalia: Killings that never end

Even after almost twenty years searching for peace for volatile Somalia, extremists continue to amputate limbs in the absence of a unified central government. Shockingly, in southern Somalia, Al-Shabab and Xizbul-Islam are out to finish each other. Hardly a day passes by without gruesome incidents and deadly altercations. Moreover, the men who are holding the banner of war regard themselves as pious Muslims fighting for a just cause yet those caught in the quagmire are unarmed women, children, and the elderly who, besides the bloodshed, suffer the pangs of hunger. Peace, in the real sense, has dissipated from entire southern Somalia.

The government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has its hands tied because it is not getting the necessary attention and assistance from the international community. On the other hand, foreign fighters continue to wreck havoc on peace loving innocent Somali civilians. Because these foreign fighters or jihadists are in Somalia at the invitation of Somali extremists, they have no other option but to defend their very existence as they have no homes to return.

I think the bloodshed in Somalia can only be stopped by Somalis themselves with the assistance of the international community. Since all reconciliation efforts have been exhausted, the world must fully arm a reliable party in order to rout the rest who refuse to tow the line.

Sorry for the inconveniences

The author of this blog wishes to apologize to his esteemed readers for the duration the blog remained inactive. However, all is well and rest assured we'll swing into action with more stuff coming soon by the grace of God. Once again, sorry for the inactivity.

Al-Shabab: Somalia’s New Kharijites and Masters of Death and Destruction

Ever since Al-Shabab rose to power in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia, the rate of human decimation has been skyrocketing enormously such that no human being is immune from death, terrorism, chaos, violence, and insecurity. Al-Shabab is brandishing a perilous novel religious ideology that will engulf many places in the African continent and even beyond if not restrained in time. To countless fundamentalist-minded people and their sympathizers, the leaders of Al-Shabab are “saviors of Islamic spirit”. To those opposed to Al-Shabab’s religious extremities, the group is nothing more than a replica of Al-Qaida and the Taliban of Afghanistan struggling to overcome the threats of democracy and human freedom. The main reason Al-Shabab is waging a bitter war in Somalia is to ensure Western influence does not get a foothold in the Horn of Africa. It has indoctrinated thousands of Somali youth and attracted Islamic fighters from almost everywhere in the world. These "foreign guests" provide training to the forces of Al-Shabab in arms handling, mine laying, suicide bombing, and enemy surveillance. Western intelligence sources believe there is credible evidence to suggest the presence of 300 foreign Jihadi fighters in Somalia. Now we hear of an ex-Pakistani general leading the onslaught against Somalia's lame duck government. If such information is to be believed to the fullest, then, Somalia has obviously become a safe haven for terrorists from all walks of like. Unashamedly, the leaders of Al-Shabab have in the past mentioned the presence of these "guest fighters" in their domains.

Hiding under the banner of bringing pure Islam to the entire globe, a distance spanning from Alaska to Cape Town, the group whose name means “youth” in Arabic, invented innovations alien to the Muslim Somali: Khariji thoughts that deserve absolute rejection. Al-Shahrastani defines a Khariji as: “Anyone who walks out against (seeking to overthrow) the true appointed Imam (leader) upon whose leadership the Jamaa'ah is in agreement is called a Khariji. This is the case, despite whether the walking out (against the Imam) occurred in the days of the Rightly-Guided caliphs or other than them from the Tabi'een.” [1] (Wikipedia)

"According to Kharijite doctrine, not only descendants of the Prophet Muhammad and members of the Muslim aristocracy but anyone—even a slave—could become a caliph if morally and religiously pure. A caliph, to be legitimate (in accord with God’s will), had to be elected as the free choice of the entire Muslim community. An unsatisfactory caliph could be deposed or put to death. The Kharijites, both extremely pious and puritanical in religious practice and theory, also accepted only a literal interpretation of the sacred Qur'an (Koran). They developed their own laws and collections of Hadith—the Traditions, or Muhammad’s actions and utterances witnessed by his companions and transmitted by reliable authorities. Today a few hundred thousand Kharijites, usually referred to as Ibadites, dwell in North and East Africa, Oman, and Tanzania. Their puritanism and idealism have greatly influenced the present-day Wahhabi movement, which includes the majority of Saudi Arabians."[2]

Since rising to stardom in 2008 when Ethiopian occupation forces departed Somalia after being bogged down in the capital city of Mogadishu, Al-Shabab has carried out on a wider scale assassinations of senior Somali government figures, tribal heads, and journalists it perceives as a threat to its existence. Just recently, a reputed government minister, Colonel Omar Hashi and Abdikarim Laqanyo, an astute 39-years old rising diplomat who was Somali ambassador to South Africa and former Somali ambassador to Ethiopia in Colonel Yusuf’s government, met their untimely deaths in the city of Beletweyne when a vehicle loaded with explosives and commandeered by a suicide bomber destroyed the hotel they were residing in. The explosion, as claimed by Al-Shabab, killed several dozen government soldiers and unsuspecting civilians that were caught in the predicament. A spokesman who spoke for Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. Al-Shabab claimed to have carried out the suicide bombing after obtaining credible evidence from its intelligence sources that the current government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was hosting Ethiopian military officers planning strategic military operations against its areas of influence.

This gruesome and wanton incident that cut short the lives of many Somalis, surprisingly, utterly left Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys devastated, a man wanted in the West for crimes related to terrorism. A former colonel in the defunct Somali army, Sheikh Hassan Dahir was the former head of the rebel group al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, an Islamic militant group linked to terrorism in the 1990s. The former colonel is currently the head of Hizbul Islam that is opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Somali soil. Narrated Aisha: Allah's Apostle said, "If somebody innovates something which is not in harmony with the principles of our religion, that thing is rejected." Volume 3, Book 49, Number 861 of Al-Bukhari. “Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "There is a Sadaqa to be given for every joint of the human body; and for every day on which the sun rises there is a reward of a Sadaqa (i.e. charitable gift) for the one who establishes justice among people." Volume 3, Book 49, Number 870 of Al-Bukhari.

The Somali Government of National Unity decried the collective atrocities being committed by Al-Shabab such that the Speaker of Somalia’s Parliament appealed to neighboring countries that include Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen and the member states of IGAD to send in military reinforcements within 24 hours to deter Al-Shabab aggression. Local media houses in Somalia reported seeing Ethiopian forces pouring in to Somalia upon receiving Somali parliamentary speaker’s pleas for immediate help. On the contrary, the Ethiopian has reiterated its stand in Somalia: that it can only intervene in Somalia with international mandate. On the other hand, the Kenya government is said to be amassing heavily-armed troops alongside its border with Somalia. Both Kenya and Ethiopia are host to thousands of Somali refugees displaced by Somalia's internal strife and both have territorial disputes with Somalia over the former Northern Frontier District in Kenya and the Ogaden region in Ethiopia claimed by Somalia.

Currently, the Kenya government feels the brunt of Al-Shabab aggression. The jihadi group made several incursions in to Kenya in the past. The downing of a military helicopter belonging to the Kenya military in the not so distant past has angered a section of Kenyan's and parliamentarians with many calling for Kenya's direct involvement in Somalia. While the intention of Kenya's military buildup along the long porous border it shares with Somalia may not be speculated, there is a great possibility Kenya may this time land troops inside Somalia. Both Kenya and Ethiopia have sizable military personnel of Somali decent in their military ranks. Supposedly, by borrowing a leaf from the saying, "send a thief to catch a thief" both nations could tactically utilize the strengths of their Somali citizens to overcome the fundamentalist aggression perpetuated by Al-Shabab.

The refusal by Al-Shabab to negotiate with any entity has further diminished the prospect for peace in Somalia. Despite the Somali government calling for moderation and reconciliation, Al-Shabab continues to kill, maim, and mutilate in the absence of a sovereign authority. Despite modern leadership qualities entailing communication, delegation, selection, and training, Al-Shabab’s mode of leadership rests on perpetrating pseudo-anarchism and territorial expansionism and unwarranted psycho-politico-socio-economic annihilation of human population and properties.

Consequently, the otiose Somali government lacks influence tactics and impression management techniques. Perhaps, the newly inaugurated moderate Sheikh Sharif is too inexperienced to win the hearts and minds of the opposition. Lack of horizontal thinking; the absence of theories and practice; the President’s inability to macro and micro manage the volatile Somali environment has left him in the lurch. Conceivably, majority of the men and women holding ministerial positions in the current government hold foreign citizenship which makes them unfit to govern a nation in a chaotic and frustrated atmosphere. One may may ask: do these leaders have mission and value statements and do they espouse concrete statements of intentions?

Undoubtedly, a nation is a massive organization that demands concrete planning and conceptualized responsibility. Failing to realize the motivational components of human behavior is cause for disaster. Factors that apply to leadership include communication, delegation, selection, and training. All attempts to have a fully-trained armed force have been shattered either because the government was unwilling to pull resources together or because the financial resources to deliver the projected figures were hard to secure. Why is it that every created government collapses before completing term of office? Those of you who follow Somali politics will recall how the previous governments headed by Ali Mahdi, Abdiqasim Salat, and Abdullahi Yusuf collapsed due to imprudent tribal politics and gerrymandering. All these political fiascos happened due to lack of religious and ethical considerations and the absence of organizational structure and culture.

In the Somali vernacular language, the word "Khariji" denotes to mean "to exterminate, to kill, to silence". Perhaps, it could be a good description that fits the callous actions of Al-Shabab because of the way they kill with impunity. For the two years Ethiopian troops were in Somalia beginning in 2006 until last January, majority of Somalis who were opposed to the dreaded Ethiopian presence, gave Al-Shabab a standing ovation because they brutally defeated them in street battles.

Ironically, the international community is not doing enough to overcome the growing threats of anarchy in Somalia. Instead of training a strong and reliable defense force that would secure Somali borders, all it has done is sending naval warships that protect Somalia’s coastline from the threats of piracy that cripple international maritime shipping. What they don’t realize is that piracy can only be overcome when Somalia gets a strong civil and national defense. As long as the international community is not fully committing itself to the problems inland and inside of Somalia, piracy and terrorism will continue to flourish unabated.


http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558674/kharijites.html

Termination: Know Your Rights

The legal definition of termination “…is the discharge of an employee by an employer with or without cause.” [1] There are several factors that could lead to termination of employment: employment at will, agreement, and fulfillment of purpose. Employment at will refers to the ending of employment by either the employee or the employer upon giving proper notice. In legal terms, proper notice refers to the duration of the pay period, i.e., 1 week, 2 weeks, or one month. Hence, the phrase “two-week notice” is derived from this policy. To avoid legal ramifications, an employer should give the reason that led to the termination. That is, the reason for the discharge should be related to the job. The reason for the termination should pertain to job performance, attendance, theft, drug use, harassment, negligence and things of like nature. “Additionally, it might be wrongful termination if an employer discharged an employee in retaliation for:
• Reasonably exercising employee rights under relevant employment and labor laws
• Reasonably exercising union rights
• Legitimately taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Serving in the military
• Wage garnishment
• Whistleblowing”. [2]

Besides acts of God, strikes, and layoffs, employers that have 100 or more employees, who intend to lay-off or close a plant or office, are required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) of 1988, to give their employees 60 days notice so that the affected employees can have the opportunity to retrain or seek other work. In order to deter confusions and ignorance at the work, employers should create an employment handbook that outlines company procedures and policies. The language outlined in the handbook should be to the point and understandable to all employees. Policies in the handbook should include general rules of conduct; it should plainly delineate anti-harassment policies, describe factors that can lead to at-will termination, and policies regarding computer usage among other things. Breach of contract occurs when an employee fails to fulfill the reasonable expectations as stipulated in the initial contract of employment. Often, breach of contract arises in the following circumstances: (1) an employer will be liable for the duration of contract if the employee is terminated without a just cause before the expiration of the definite period of contract. (2) If an employee performs contrary to the policies contained in the employment handbook, the employer will be bound to what the handbook has stipulated. (3) If in an interview, employer specifies reason for employee’s termination, then discharge will be limited to those reasons. A claimant is ineligible for unemployment benefits if the claimant was discharged for “just cause”. Culpability, knowledge, and control are the three factors that must be present to establish a just cause. In Autilov Asp, Inc. v. Department of Workforce Services 29 P. 3d (UT 2001), Judge Billings representing the Utah Supreme Court ruled in favor of the employer by categorically refusing to the drawing of unemployment benefits by Christopher Guzman and Thomas King because the two complainants flagrantly violated universal standard of behavior by transmitting sexually explicit and offensive materials such as jokes, pictures, and videos which were in contravention of employer policy against sexual harassment contained in its employment handbook. An employee who successfully wins a wrongful termination battle in a legal court, upon justifying beyond reasonable doubt how his/her employer breached existing contractual underpinnings, and after establishing breach of contract theory that include (1) the existence of a contract; (2) its performance of the contract; (3) breach by the other party; and (4) damages, may be entitled to packages that could include severance pay, court fees, and attorney’ fees as damages for the untold suffering inflicted in the cause of the termination and the duration of the court proceedings.

Often, severance pay may be given upon an employee’s promise to forgo a proceeding under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are limits for filing a charge of discrimination. The duration for filing a complaint with the EEOC-the agency charged with overseeing employment rights-is 180 days from the day of the alleged violation. “This 180-day filing deadline is extended to 300 days if the charge also is covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law. For ADEA charges, only state laws extend the filing limit to 300 days. The federal EEO laws enforced by the EEOC are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Equal Pay Act (EPA). These laws prohibit covered employers from discriminating on the bases of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, and disability. Examples of conduct prohibited include: Discriminatory employment decisions, discrimination in employment and benefits, harassment and retaliation.” [3] In many cases, employee and employer may opt to resolve a charge early in the process through mediation or settlement. According to the EEOC web site, mediation and settlement are voluntary resolutions.
Mediation, settlement, and conciliation are three factors to resolving charges of discrimination. Despite the proliferation of termination related litigations against employers by grieving employees, Daniel T. Berkley, Gordon & Rees, LLP, in a teleconference titled “Avoid Wrongful Termination Lawsuits: Strategies to Keep Your Managers Out of Legal Trouble” and designed for “human resource managers, personnel managers, employee relations managers, presidents, vice presidents, business owners and managers, supervisors, compliance officers and attorneys”, detail four appealing factors that could serve as a deterrence against unnecessary legal actions for those managing workplaces. In their sub-title “Training for Effective Workplace Policies and Practices”, the duo provide educational materials that come in the form of CD and manual together with a podcast containing 89-minute MP3 with 90-page electronic manual. Some of topics covered in their management lectures include:
I. Progressive Discipline
II. Investigations
III. Retaliation
IV. Termination”. [4]

In conclusion, since the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Labor courts in the United States continue to be inundated with civil law suits. Consequently, Congress has been rationally making amendments to the U.S. Constitution since the proclamation of Independence from England in 1776. Despite the hardships and arduous contests in the stipulation of U.S laws by the Judiciary, Legislature, and the Executive, profound promulgations have been made to pave way for the reclamation and restoration of human independence and dignity.

[1]John Jude Moran. Employment Law: New Challenges in the Business Environment. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 2008.
[2]http://employeeissues.com/wrongful_termination_2.htm
[3]http://www.eeoc.gov/charge/overview_charge_filing.html
[4]http://www.lorman.com/teleconference/384409?affiliate=WorkersCompensation&cd=16196:0:1:4:13&discount_code=

Leadership and Economics

Going by the expanding nature of global economics and varying national economies, today’s leaders should be compelled to understand that the best, much-applauded, and unanimously accepted form of fundamental economics is the capitalist market economy which contains many buyers and sellers of numerous goods and services where all of them are interested primarily in their own well-being. From the Greek word oikonomos, economy denotes to mean “one who manages a household.” However, according to the great 19th-century economist Alfred Marshall, “economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.” In essence, economics is the study of how society manages its scarce resources. [1]

Two prominent economists, Adam Smith and David Ricardo inspired the modern economics we cherish today. Adam Smith’s 1776 book titled An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, shed light on the subject of trade and economic interdependence. Likewise, inspired by Adam Smith’s writings, David Ricardo, millionaire broker turned economist, in his 1817 book Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, developed the principle of comparative advantage as we know it today. The principle of comparative advantage explains interdependence and the gains from trade. As a member of the British parliament of the day and in his defense of free trade and his opposition to the Corn Laws which restricted the import of grain, Ricardo put his economic beliefs to work by displaying total rejection and repugnance at the British government’s infringement on free trade. Undoubtedly, the legacies left behind by Smith and Ricardo continues to empower the values and ideals of today’s capitalist economies.

Based on decentralized control and delegation, a leader who has the will and commitment to steer a nation to its right course must understand that micromanaging economies, people’s lives or jobs is nothing but a futile enterprise. Likewise, a leader cannot save, motivate, and satisfy everyone. Leaders must understand that when people associate no risk or cost to something, they will abuse it. That is why all social programs like welfare, social security, and Medicare fail to have rigid foundations despite concerted government efforts at their resuscitation. With markets being a good way to organize economic activity, boosting trade makes everyone better-off. Though not always positive, governments can sometimes improve market outcomes. During the Cold War era, the former Soviet Union and her Communist allies in Eastern Europe experienced retarded economies because their economies were based on outdated centralization systems managed by irrational central planners which culminated in their collapse in the 1980s. Because of corruption, insecurity, coup d’états, political obscurantism, dictatorships, and a host of other natural and human calamities, Africa, a continent abundant in natural resources, remains entangled in a protracted economical mess that make it a laughing stork in every sector of the economic scale and a burden to international financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. Lack of human capital, grinding poverty and diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, and the collective theft of state coffers, has diminished the continent’s prospects for economical prosperity and political maturity. Despite minor modifications, the economic principles left behind by Adam Smith and David Ricardo continue to drive the nerves and fibers of many nations including the United States while resourceful African nations continue to suffer from self-inflicted economic woes without any prospect for recovery.
Some important aspects of managing a capitalist economy include:
(1) A strong national defense-if people do not feel safe, economic growth will be retarded and suffering and destitution will reign.
(2) Property rights-when people own something, they have the tendency to invest and protect it.
(3) Judicial system to handle disputes.
(4) Low taxes and low regulatory environment.
(5) Few entitlement programs like welfare, social security, and Medicare. These programs are inefficient and wasteful (transfer payments-taking money from one citizen and giving it to another is always counterproductive). A program like welfare falls under what economists refer to as “the Law of unintended consequences” which occurs when government actions or policies fail to produce the desired results. Initially, welfare was intended to help the poor but only created more poverty and an underclass that grew reliant on government. We have to be careful what behaviors we reward because if people associate no cost or risk to something they will abuse it.

Said another way, production possibilities curves can be expanded with the following in mind: (1) movement towards capitalism and free trade (India, China), (2) education, (3) technological advances, and (4) discovery of new natural resources. By raising taxes, consumer and producer surplus is destroyed beyond measure and automatically the standard of living of the ordinary citizen is lowered. Leaders need to understand that people get what they earn and that there are no other solutions except trade-offs. Thus, growing economies need energy to safeguard and maintain their demand and supply. A country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services.

Consequently, leaders and politicians have caused extensive miscalculations to numerous national economies by thinking that they know more about economics than economists. In broad terms, this is what is referred to as “fatal conceit” by economists. Both golden rule and fatal conceit, malevolent in context, are based on self-interest and are detrimental to the economic well-being of any nation and must be shunned at all cost.

One other form of unwarranted government exploitation or practice that places unnecessary hardships on businesses is price gouging. A firm’s costs are a key determinant of its production and pricing decisions. This practice is outlandish and absolutely authoritarian in nature. Leaders fail to grasp the theory that demand is based on ability and willingness to pay. On the ability notion, one may have the ability to pay but unwilling to pay for the product either because the product is inferior or exorbitant. Apparently, wary consumers understand the implications of buying cheap and inferior Chinese products that flood the markets. Everything, regardless of make or model, has a price attached to it. Unquestionably, above that price, no one is willing to pay. Supply and demand of goods and services determine price. As a result, when the price of a commodity goes up, demand goes down; when price goes up it provides an incentive for suppliers to supply more of the goods or services if they can. One other principle why prices rise is when government prints too much money. Nations experience inflation when there is an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy. An observable fact where prices in the economy rose by similar standards was experienced by Germany in January 1921 when the price of a daily newspaper that cost 0.30 marks rose to 70,000,000 marks in less than two years later. The best tool to defeat inflation is to limit the growth in the quantity of money. The U.S. experienced high inflation in the 1970s and high inflation in the 1980s because of high and slow growth in the quantity of money. Despite the U.S. experiencing “Every time we break down barriers to trade and investment, we open up new markets for American ranchers, farmers, workers, and entrepreneurs. ...” [2]

Economics and leadership are two inseparable and intertwined subjects with significant advantage and contributions to free market economies. To have an effective economy, it is of vital importance for a leader to come up with effective planning and implementation. Economists are of the view that planning is never perfect and that plans are absolutely nothing without action and that at all times the trickiest thing to do is executing a plan.

There is a popular consensus among economists which affirms that in economics demand is easy and there is no limit to the wants and needs of human beings. The most difficult thing is meeting the supply of goods and services. What a country can do to encourage its people and how corporations and businesses can supply the necessary products and services demanded by the people is a pressing issue and a daunting task in the science of economics. As mentioned earlier, the answer of course is capitalism as reflected in the decentralized economy. An important resolution could be the 70 % solution adopted by the US military and corporations which states that if you feel that you have 70% of a problem covered –take action!! Because of the law of diminishing returns, trying to make a plan perfect is futile. The art of economics consists not merely looking at the immediate but at the longer effects of an act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

Because people respond to incentives, leaders must remain rational by weighing or comparing benefits and costs just as those they govern perceive it to be so. A situation in which the market price has reached the level at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded, is called equilibrium. Also called market-clearing price, equilibrium is found where the supply and demand curves meet. At the equilibrium price, the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded. In free markets, a so pervasive phenomenon that brings into balance the quantity of goods supplied and the quantity of goods demanded is referred to as the law of supply and demand-meaning the price of any good adjusts to bring the quantity supplied and quantity demanded for that good into balance. In economics, deadweight loss is referred to as the fall in total surplus that results from a market distortion, such as a tax. Because taxes cause deadweight losses, they prevent buyers and sellers from realizing some of the gains from trade. What determine whether the deadweight loss from a tax is large or small are the price elasticities of supply and demand. Henry George, the 19th century American economist and philosopher, in his 1879 book, Progress and Poverty, argued that the government should raise all its revenue from tax on land. To him, this “single tax”, was both equitable and efficient. However, not many economists of our era and age support George’s proposal for a single tax on land. Because governments have no money, the only way they can obtain it is through taxation which carries with it a deadweight loss to society as a whole.

With rigorous debate mounting in the U.S. regarding immigration, opponents and proponents of this contentious issue base their arguments on the supply of labor. Some factors that would cause the labor supply curve to shift include changes in tastes, changes in alternative opportunities, and immigration. For instance, when immigrants come to the United States, the supply of labor in the United States increases and the supply of labor in the immigrants’ home countries contracts. The never-ending policy debate about immigration centers on the effects of immigration and its effect on labor supply-equilibrium in the labor market.

A new field of economics known as behavioral economics has made basic psychological insights into human behavior. Some exclusive studies on human decision-making have come up with the following findings:
 People are overconfident.
 People give too much weight to a small number of vivid observations.
 People are reluctant to change their minds.
Because economists have differing views regarding the imperfections of Homo sapiens, some economists have suggested that humans are “near rational” or that they exhibit “bounded rationality”. It was Herbert Simon, a social scientist who worked at the boundaries of psychology, who suggested that humans should best be viewed as satisficers and not rational maximizers. Thomas Sowell, an African American economist stated that the mark of a good economist is "thinking beyond stage one". In essence, this is part of leadership. Professor Richard Epstein University of Chicago Law School, commenting on Thomas Sowell’s book Applied economics: Thinking beyond Stage One, had this to say, “In Applied Economics, the companion volume to his earlier work, Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell uses rudimentary economic theory to unmask the cant that surrounds too many policy debates.” [3] To further add more weight to Sowell’s book, the Publishers Weekly had a commentary that read: “The great achievement of Sowell's book is its simplicity. His writing is easy and lucid, an admirable trait considering the topic at hand. . .His target audience is the average citizen who has little or no economics background, but would like the tools to think critically about economic issues.” [4]

In broader terms, economics is an appealing subject, informative, and educative to the core. It is part sociology, part philosophical, and undoubtedly a subject meant for every human being seeking to overcome barriers in daily financial and economical handicaps.

N. Gregory Mankiw: Principles of Microeconomics (2007). Thomas Higher Education, 5191 Natorp Boulevard, Mason, OH 45040.
http://www.ustreas.gov/
http://www.tsowell.com/Appliedecon.htm
www.publishersweekly.com