I’m fed up. Fed up with the inability of so many Kenyans to even acknowledge, never mind celebrate, their achievements and the strengths that explain them. I’ve been unhappy about this debilitating national hang-up ever since I arrived here, back in 1977, and I referred to it in one of my very first articles in […]
By Mike Eldon I was asked recently to run a two-day workshop on innovation, within the Kenya Institute of Management’s Advanced Leadership Programme. So I had to ensure I was focusing my material appropriately – that is, to be relevant to directors and top management. As it happens, all but one of the participants were […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/mikeeldon02_280.jpg404280adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2016-03-03 08:43:212017-06-15 10:49:55Innovation and leadership
In the last few weeks I’ve been meeting with a bright, organised and not unambitious gentleman who for eighteen months has been working in Kisumu as CEO of a family-owned financial services company. He’s just handed in his resignation, fed up with being inhibited by the owners. They’d hired him to help them professionalize the […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-12-17 15:10:222017-06-15 10:50:06Professionalizing family businesses
I recently participated in the graduation ceremony of KCA University, where for the last few months I have been Chairman of its Council. As Council members and others gathered in the Vice Chancellor’s office before the event started, conversation turned to examining what makes an ideal graduate of this institution. One fellow Council member emphasised […]
Amid the normal noise of our zero-sum politics, KEPSA recently launched the fourth phase of its Mkenya Daima project, which is all about building a more peaceful and cohesive society. The new programme will work on our much-neglected national values, and on helping us to become more responsible citizens. The initial campaign resulted from the […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-11-19 14:59:092017-06-15 10:50:32The private sector gets back to building peace
Over twenty years ago, my friend Kay Shamte and I decided to put together an event on stress management. We were far from confident that Kenyans would feel comfortable talking about the subject, but to our great relief it turned out that the groups we assembled were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to discuss […]
A few weeks ago I was a panelist at an event on entrepreneurship organised by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. It took place soon after the much publicized Global Entrepreneurship Summit, so it was very timely in keeping the momentum from that energy-filled going. Indeed in this Kenya of ours that is so filled […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-10-22 14:50:472017-06-15 10:51:03What’s so special about entrepreneurs?
I recently returned to a subject that is very dear to me: conflict resolution and peace building, and it came through participating in a one-day event organised by the World Faiths Development Dialog (WFDD), a programme of the Berkeley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. The idea for WFDD was born […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-10-09 14:32:442017-06-15 10:51:14Peace and Stability in Kenya
Together with a trio of colleagues, I recently developed a two-day leadership workshop to be run for several groups of managers. It was an interesting challenge, as several of the prospective participants had already attended various leadership programmes, and so we had to find ways of defying their expectation that this would be “just another […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-10-08 14:48:212017-06-15 10:51:29Rehearsing pays – and it’s fun
Last week two colleagues and I were preparing material for a leadership event when one of them challenged us to comment on the relationship between motivation and empowerment. As we shuffled around these words I thought of placing them on the two axes of a grid, with motivation on the vertical one and empowerment on […]
https://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mike300.jpg300300adminhttp://mike-eldon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo.pngadmin2015-09-24 14:38:442017-06-15 10:51:42Motivation and empowerment
Martin Oduor, The Humanized LeaderDecember 23, 2025 - 5:49 pm
Not blowing my trumpet
I’m fed up. Fed up with the inability of so many Kenyans to even acknowledge, never mind celebrate, their achievements and the strengths that explain them. I’ve been unhappy about this debilitating national hang-up ever since I arrived here, back in 1977, and I referred to it in one of my very first articles in […]
Innovation and leadership
By Mike Eldon I was asked recently to run a two-day workshop on innovation, within the Kenya Institute of Management’s Advanced Leadership Programme. So I had to ensure I was focusing my material appropriately – that is, to be relevant to directors and top management. As it happens, all but one of the participants were […]
Professionalizing family businesses
In the last few weeks I’ve been meeting with a bright, organised and not unambitious gentleman who for eighteen months has been working in Kisumu as CEO of a family-owned financial services company. He’s just handed in his resignation, fed up with being inhibited by the owners. They’d hired him to help them professionalize the […]
The ideal graduate
I recently participated in the graduation ceremony of KCA University, where for the last few months I have been Chairman of its Council. As Council members and others gathered in the Vice Chancellor’s office before the event started, conversation turned to examining what makes an ideal graduate of this institution. One fellow Council member emphasised […]
The private sector gets back to building peace
Amid the normal noise of our zero-sum politics, KEPSA recently launched the fourth phase of its Mkenya Daima project, which is all about building a more peaceful and cohesive society. The new programme will work on our much-neglected national values, and on helping us to become more responsible citizens. The initial campaign resulted from the […]
Managing stress… with mindfulness
Over twenty years ago, my friend Kay Shamte and I decided to put together an event on stress management. We were far from confident that Kenyans would feel comfortable talking about the subject, but to our great relief it turned out that the groups we assembled were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to discuss […]
What’s so special about entrepreneurs?
A few weeks ago I was a panelist at an event on entrepreneurship organised by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. It took place soon after the much publicized Global Entrepreneurship Summit, so it was very timely in keeping the momentum from that energy-filled going. Indeed in this Kenya of ours that is so filled […]
Peace and Stability in Kenya
I recently returned to a subject that is very dear to me: conflict resolution and peace building, and it came through participating in a one-day event organised by the World Faiths Development Dialog (WFDD), a programme of the Berkeley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. The idea for WFDD was born […]
Rehearsing pays – and it’s fun
Together with a trio of colleagues, I recently developed a two-day leadership workshop to be run for several groups of managers. It was an interesting challenge, as several of the prospective participants had already attended various leadership programmes, and so we had to find ways of defying their expectation that this would be “just another […]
Motivation and empowerment
Last week two colleagues and I were preparing material for a leadership event when one of them challenged us to comment on the relationship between motivation and empowerment. As we shuffled around these words I thought of placing them on the two axes of a grid, with motivation on the vertical one and empowerment on […]