Last week I was invited by Prof Michael Hopkins to speak at one of his CSR Meetup events, these days inevitably online. Prof Hopkins has been running these for over ten years, and in different countries around the world. Now they are being co-hosted by Globethics, the Geneva-based global ethics network, and my topic was […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-06-11 09:02:502020-06-11 09:05:18Going about CSR in the tough time of Covid-19
Now that we all locked down at home, with much less to watch on television, many of us have been reading books that have for long been lying unopened on our shelves. I am certainly among them, and the first one that winked at me was The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. I […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-05-28 09:06:022020-05-28 09:06:02Comparing books by Obama and Trump
(this was a presentation I gave on May 21, 2020 at the joint meeting of the Rotary Club of Nairobi with the Rotary Club of Kampala): It was 1978, and I had been living in Kenya for a year when an IT customer of mine, Bob Chase, invited me to join his Rotary Club of […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-05-23 06:39:502020-05-23 06:53:03The heritage we have built
After months of trying, our group of four is delighted that the government has taken its first steps toward guaranteeing a basic income for the poor and vulnerable population. The government has announced to the Senate Ad-hoc committee on Covid-19 that it has identified 250,000 households which will be put on a weekly stipend in […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-05-18 16:43:552020-05-18 16:43:55Basic income for Kenya slums – government rises to the challenge
I’m glad I’m not President Uhuru Kenyatta, nor CSs Mutahi Kagwe and Fred Matiang’i, nor Governor Hassan Joho and others who have the awesome responsibility of communicating with the rest of us in ways that get us to behave responsibly during the Covid-19 crisis. Like leaders everywhere in the world they must act neither too […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-05-14 08:30:452020-05-14 08:30:45Social cohesion critical in these perilous times
Much is being written about how the world will look after it has recovered from the coronavirus crisis. We have no idea about so many aspects of our social, economic and political futures, but one thing’s for sure: We won’t simply be going back to the way things were before the virus hit. The sudden […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-04-30 13:22:522020-04-30 13:22:52New world and cultures beckon after pandemic
The government, the private sector and others have been working hard to help the poor through offering food, medical supplies, sanitisers and other essential products. But there is increasing acceptance of the need for a basic income, that is cash transfers, for the 10 million poor people in Kenya’s slums as being the best approach […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-04-23 11:51:222020-04-23 11:51:22Roll out basic income for the poor in slums
At this time of national crisis I’ve been thinking about our national values – that long list buried deep in our Constitution. For the small proportion of Kenyans who may have forgotten one or two of them (pardon my sarcasm) here they are: Patriotism, national unity, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-04-16 11:05:102020-04-16 11:06:43Let us focus on national values in Covid-19 times
I was recently involved in a discussion about an IT project that was facing challenges, where the IT expert from one of the Big Four consulting firms who was with us introduced me to a new term, “project governance.” I liked it, for it places emphasis on the leadership that guides the progress of the […]
Two days ago I reached the age of 75 — the age my father was when he passed away 35 years ago. So it provided an opportunity for me to reflect on our relationship and on how I was influenced by his example. Bruno Eldon enjoyed a 33-year career in Shell. He joined the company […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-03-19 11:29:172020-03-19 11:29:32Key leadership lessons I learnt from my father
In my last column I wrote about the first part of the rich and varied life of my dear friend Eric Krystall, from his birth in South Africa to his years in the UK and in America until his arrival in Kenya in 1971. Today I want to continue sharing his journey up to his […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-03-06 09:58:502020-03-06 09:58:50Krystall: Man who drove the social reforms agenda
Eric Krystall passed away last month, just a couple of weeks before his 92nd birthday. He had been living in Kenya since 1971, just a few years before I arrived, and I have known this wonderful man for nearly 40 years. He has been a dear friend, and I feel so badly that I will […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-02-20 08:55:422020-02-20 08:55:42Curtain falls on a man devoted to social equality
I have written before about the extremes of customer service, stimulated by either positive or negative experiences I have encountered. In Kenya, by and large we do better than many other countries on this front, accepting that as everywhere there’s a whole spectrum from the outstanding to the awful. (Let’s not even mention elements like […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-02-06 17:53:492020-02-06 17:53:49The great and the dreadful of customer engagement
In my last column I challenged readers with a series of questions on the meaning of responsible leadership in how leaders behave with their staff. I largely held back on answering those questions until today, and I hope that merely listing them was helpful. Here now are some responses from me. Being responsible to those […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-01-23 09:56:142020-01-23 09:56:14Being responsible leader in the era of tech advances
As we enter the new decade, more and more leaders of organisations are thinking about what it means to act responsibly. For it is an increasingly significant factor in ensuring sustainability, and this expectation of acting responsibly applies to how one treats all stakeholders. Today, in my first article of 2020, I focus on what […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-01-09 12:47:212020-01-09 12:47:21What it means to lead responsibly
Please do yourself a favour and read Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Talking to Strangers, whose subtitle is What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know. It is deeply thought-provoking on every single page, now making us imagine we judge strangers too kindly, now too harshly. Either way, so engagingly, Gladwell shows us how […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2019-12-19 14:11:332019-12-19 14:11:33How good are you in dealing with strangers?
The media are filled with coverage of matters BBI – for and against; Raila and Ruto; waste of money and money well-spent. We’ve all been advised to read the entire 156-page document, but given what has been highlighted I was far from tempted to do the responsible thing. Then a few days ago, one of […]
From time to time my colleague Frank Kretzschmar and I host what we call “Leaders Circles,” where our guests tell personal stories relating to the theme of the day. For our recent one we selected the topic “Holding on to optimism – we can set an example.” In Kenya as elsewhere these days it’s not […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2019-11-21 10:52:372019-11-21 10:52:37Let’s be optimistic despite the flood of negative news
Along with nearly 50 bright young local management consultants I recently spent an uplifting evening at the Pallet Café in Lavington (where all the very helpful waiters are deaf), to participate in the launch of the Management Consultants Association of Kenya, MCAK, reachable at info@mcak.or.ke. I wrote a column on the imminence of this launch […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2019-11-08 10:34:162019-11-08 10:34:16After MCAK launch, focus turns to building linkages
I’m recently back from London, where for a few days I witnessed up close the vacuum of responsible leadership in relation to the endless Brexit saga. Ironically, I was following the daily conflict and confusion while being there for an event to launch the Institute for Responsible Leadership, of which I am a founder. How […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2019-10-25 08:56:512019-10-25 08:56:51Leaders ought to be fair and avoid short-term wins
Going about CSR in the tough time of Covid-19
/in My Articles /by artkenyaLast week I was invited by Prof Michael Hopkins to speak at one of his CSR Meetup events, these days inevitably online. Prof Hopkins has been running these for over ten years, and in different countries around the world. Now they are being co-hosted by Globethics, the Geneva-based global ethics network, and my topic was […]
Comparing books by Obama and Trump
/in My Articles /by artkenyaNow that we all locked down at home, with much less to watch on television, many of us have been reading books that have for long been lying unopened on our shelves. I am certainly among them, and the first one that winked at me was The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. I […]
The heritage we have built
/in My Articles /by artkenya(this was a presentation I gave on May 21, 2020 at the joint meeting of the Rotary Club of Nairobi with the Rotary Club of Kampala): It was 1978, and I had been living in Kenya for a year when an IT customer of mine, Bob Chase, invited me to join his Rotary Club of […]
Basic income for Kenya slums – government rises to the challenge
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAfter months of trying, our group of four is delighted that the government has taken its first steps toward guaranteeing a basic income for the poor and vulnerable population. The government has announced to the Senate Ad-hoc committee on Covid-19 that it has identified 250,000 households which will be put on a weekly stipend in […]
Social cohesion critical in these perilous times
/in My Articles /by artkenyaI’m glad I’m not President Uhuru Kenyatta, nor CSs Mutahi Kagwe and Fred Matiang’i, nor Governor Hassan Joho and others who have the awesome responsibility of communicating with the rest of us in ways that get us to behave responsibly during the Covid-19 crisis. Like leaders everywhere in the world they must act neither too […]
New world and cultures beckon after pandemic
/in My Articles /by artkenyaMuch is being written about how the world will look after it has recovered from the coronavirus crisis. We have no idea about so many aspects of our social, economic and political futures, but one thing’s for sure: We won’t simply be going back to the way things were before the virus hit. The sudden […]
Roll out basic income for the poor in slums
/in My Articles /by artkenyaThe government, the private sector and others have been working hard to help the poor through offering food, medical supplies, sanitisers and other essential products. But there is increasing acceptance of the need for a basic income, that is cash transfers, for the 10 million poor people in Kenya’s slums as being the best approach […]
Let us focus on national values in Covid-19 times
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAt this time of national crisis I’ve been thinking about our national values – that long list buried deep in our Constitution. For the small proportion of Kenyans who may have forgotten one or two of them (pardon my sarcasm) here they are: Patriotism, national unity, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the […]
How poor governance causes projects to fail
/in My Articles /by artkenyaI was recently involved in a discussion about an IT project that was facing challenges, where the IT expert from one of the Big Four consulting firms who was with us introduced me to a new term, “project governance.” I liked it, for it places emphasis on the leadership that guides the progress of the […]
Key leadership lessons I learnt from my father
/in My Articles /by artkenyaTwo days ago I reached the age of 75 — the age my father was when he passed away 35 years ago. So it provided an opportunity for me to reflect on our relationship and on how I was influenced by his example. Bruno Eldon enjoyed a 33-year career in Shell. He joined the company […]
Krystall: Man who drove the social reforms agenda
/in My Articles /by artkenyaIn my last column I wrote about the first part of the rich and varied life of my dear friend Eric Krystall, from his birth in South Africa to his years in the UK and in America until his arrival in Kenya in 1971. Today I want to continue sharing his journey up to his […]
Curtain falls on a man devoted to social equality
/in My Articles /by artkenyaEric Krystall passed away last month, just a couple of weeks before his 92nd birthday. He had been living in Kenya since 1971, just a few years before I arrived, and I have known this wonderful man for nearly 40 years. He has been a dear friend, and I feel so badly that I will […]
The great and the dreadful of customer engagement
/in My Articles /by artkenyaI have written before about the extremes of customer service, stimulated by either positive or negative experiences I have encountered. In Kenya, by and large we do better than many other countries on this front, accepting that as everywhere there’s a whole spectrum from the outstanding to the awful. (Let’s not even mention elements like […]
Being responsible leader in the era of tech advances
/in My Articles /by artkenyaIn my last column I challenged readers with a series of questions on the meaning of responsible leadership in how leaders behave with their staff. I largely held back on answering those questions until today, and I hope that merely listing them was helpful. Here now are some responses from me. Being responsible to those […]
What it means to lead responsibly
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAs we enter the new decade, more and more leaders of organisations are thinking about what it means to act responsibly. For it is an increasingly significant factor in ensuring sustainability, and this expectation of acting responsibly applies to how one treats all stakeholders. Today, in my first article of 2020, I focus on what […]
How good are you in dealing with strangers?
/in My Articles /by artkenyaPlease do yourself a favour and read Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Talking to Strangers, whose subtitle is What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know. It is deeply thought-provoking on every single page, now making us imagine we judge strangers too kindly, now too harshly. Either way, so engagingly, Gladwell shows us how […]
BBI report goes beyond the usual divisive politics
/in My Articles /by artkenyaThe media are filled with coverage of matters BBI – for and against; Raila and Ruto; waste of money and money well-spent. We’ve all been advised to read the entire 156-page document, but given what has been highlighted I was far from tempted to do the responsible thing. Then a few days ago, one of […]
Let’s be optimistic despite the flood of negative news
/in My Articles /by artkenyaFrom time to time my colleague Frank Kretzschmar and I host what we call “Leaders Circles,” where our guests tell personal stories relating to the theme of the day. For our recent one we selected the topic “Holding on to optimism – we can set an example.” In Kenya as elsewhere these days it’s not […]
After MCAK launch, focus turns to building linkages
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAlong with nearly 50 bright young local management consultants I recently spent an uplifting evening at the Pallet Café in Lavington (where all the very helpful waiters are deaf), to participate in the launch of the Management Consultants Association of Kenya, MCAK, reachable at info@mcak.or.ke. I wrote a column on the imminence of this launch […]
Leaders ought to be fair and avoid short-term wins
/in My Articles /by artkenyaI’m recently back from London, where for a few days I witnessed up close the vacuum of responsible leadership in relation to the endless Brexit saga. Ironically, I was following the daily conflict and confusion while being there for an event to launch the Institute for Responsible Leadership, of which I am a founder. How […]