OK, so you’ve served your two terms as a director, and now it’s time to give way to someone else. You’ve enjoyed being in all those board committee meetings with your fellow directors, and you have developed close relations with several of them. You also feel good about the value you have been adding to […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-09-17 10:32:172020-09-17 10:32:17How to make your board exit as smooth as possible
Just before all public events were cancelled earlier this year I was invited by the Women on Boards Network to run a session on building one’s brand as a board member. It was, as I expected it would be, a lively evening with over 50 bright, engaged women in the room. How fortunate we are […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-09-03 11:38:212020-09-03 14:29:04Building your brand for boardroom role
Ah yes, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) – they’re the hate speech guys aren’t they? The ones who hear our politicians stir up their supporters against those of their opponents, and then slap their wrists. Yes they are in business to hammer hate speech, and it’s definitely what the media love reporting on […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/mikeeldon02_280.jpg404280artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-08-20 09:15:472020-08-20 09:15:47NCIC deals with much more than hate speech
As the government continues to work out an adequate and fair response to the huge rise in virus infections and accelerating death rate, out of the box thinking is required. Complete area lockdowns hurt socio-economic development, while clearly helping to reduce Covid-19 infections. Yet reduced development devastates incomes, especially of the poor who even find […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-08-10 10:21:202020-08-10 10:21:20Basic income, free face masks needed in the slums urgently
Over 40 percent of Kenyans have a bank account, and when one includes the use of mobile money over 80 percent enjoy access to formal financial services. Yet the penetration of insurance in Kenya stands at under 3 percent – and it is not rising. Understandably, many commentators therefore see huge potential for developing this […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-08-06 09:33:372020-08-06 09:33:37Hurdles that hinder growth of insurance scene
In my last column I wrote about John Ngumi’s quest for a vision of Kenya, one that will help us emerge from our national malaise and offer a national goal and purpose that can excite and focus us. Mr Ngumi worried that we live in a time of great cynicism and scepticism, with disbelief in […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-07-24 14:16:352020-07-24 14:16:35Let’s return to quest for a new vision
From time to time I am fortunate to be exposed to the highly thoughtful, well-informed and articulate WhatsApps of John Ngumi, and his most recent was one of his best. In it he asked for “an idea, a vision of Kenya, that will help get us out of our national malaise, will give us a […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike.jpg400306artkenyahttps://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngartkenya2020-07-14 12:25:292020-07-14 12:25:29Why Kenya needs brand new vision
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
How to make your board exit as smooth as possible
/in My Articles /by artkenyaOK, so you’ve served your two terms as a director, and now it’s time to give way to someone else. You’ve enjoyed being in all those board committee meetings with your fellow directors, and you have developed close relations with several of them. You also feel good about the value you have been adding to […]
Building your brand for boardroom role
/in My Articles /by artkenyaJust before all public events were cancelled earlier this year I was invited by the Women on Boards Network to run a session on building one’s brand as a board member. It was, as I expected it would be, a lively evening with over 50 bright, engaged women in the room. How fortunate we are […]
NCIC deals with much more than hate speech
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAh yes, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) – they’re the hate speech guys aren’t they? The ones who hear our politicians stir up their supporters against those of their opponents, and then slap their wrists. Yes they are in business to hammer hate speech, and it’s definitely what the media love reporting on […]
Basic income, free face masks needed in the slums urgently
/in My Articles /by artkenyaAs the government continues to work out an adequate and fair response to the huge rise in virus infections and accelerating death rate, out of the box thinking is required. Complete area lockdowns hurt socio-economic development, while clearly helping to reduce Covid-19 infections. Yet reduced development devastates incomes, especially of the poor who even find […]
Hurdles that hinder growth of insurance scene
/in My Articles /by artkenyaOver 40 percent of Kenyans have a bank account, and when one includes the use of mobile money over 80 percent enjoy access to formal financial services. Yet the penetration of insurance in Kenya stands at under 3 percent – and it is not rising. Understandably, many commentators therefore see huge potential for developing this […]
Let’s return to quest for a new vision
/in My Articles /by artkenyaIn my last column I wrote about John Ngumi’s quest for a vision of Kenya, one that will help us emerge from our national malaise and offer a national goal and purpose that can excite and focus us. Mr Ngumi worried that we live in a time of great cynicism and scepticism, with disbelief in […]
Why Kenya needs brand new vision
/in My Articles, News /by artkenyaFrom time to time I am fortunate to be exposed to the highly thoughtful, well-informed and articulate WhatsApps of John Ngumi, and his most recent was one of his best. In it he asked for “an idea, a vision of Kenya, that will help get us out of our national malaise, will give us a […]
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 […]