Running with the Belgian PM - quite a secure experience

Running with the Belgian PM - quite a secure experience

“This is the highest ranking European visitor since Kenyan elections 2013,” the organizer of the event, Ally Khan Sachu declared, as he welcomed Didier Reynders, the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, who also doubles as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.  To be politically correct, his other docket is ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs’.  Ally has a way to ensuring that a statement sinks.  I tend to think that he was so excited being next to such a dignitary that he even forgot to introduce the sessions with the usual, “Welcome to today’s session of Mindspeak”.  But who cares, we were holding our breath waiting for the main address.  I was looking forward to a presentation like none before.  I was already fixing my eyes on the big projector screens.

But strange things happen, and the first was this other guy standing with a Mac laptop on the aisle, just about 7 metres from the podium.  He was standing to the left of my sitting position, two rows from the podium, almost at the centre of the big room.  The guy with the Mac just stood there, laptop open, laptop screen facing the speaker and... just standing.  I could not make out what this was all about.  Could it be that this is one of those high level protocol things?  How can they just punish this poor guy by having him hold the 5kg of laptop in mid-air for that long?  A few faces in the room turned, followed by whispers.

Amid all the uncertainties, some answers started trickling in, when he finally, after about 10 minutes, moved with his laptop to the back of the room, whether the audio visual mixing table was located.  I glanced back, and could see a video display on the laptop screen.  He must have been capturing a video of the podium using the inbuilt laptop camera… but why would he do that?  Why would he have to hold the laptop?  Could he not get a laptop stand?  Could they not use better video capturing equipment or technology?  But there were already expensive looking camcorders, located at the front and back of the room - was this not enough, I have never been so confused.

Speech
A second oddity was the fact that the DPM did not have any presentation or notes.  He just stood up, walked to the podium and started talking.  I believe that being a diplomat must have enabled him to just have a speech within his system.  In fact, during Q&A, one member of the audience deliberately congratulated him on being “the only speaker without a speech”.  Lack of a written speech or presentation meant that he also could not speak for long, unless this was part of the script.  He was on the podium for a record 25 minutes.  All speakers during previous sessions ensured they utilized the one hour time slot allocated between 10.00am and 11.00am.  A Q&A session would ordinarily take the next hour.  Finishing early however gave the audience over one and a half hours of questions in this particular occasion.

And the audience did not disappoint, as they asked about anything they thought was worthy of a diplomatic redress.  The DPM did not disappoint either.  Most questions were on the role of Belgium in the DRC, one of the counties that they colonized in Africa, though an almost equal number was about the relationship between the EU and China.
“What is your view on China?”, someone asks bluntly.

University
The topic on the lack of skilled manpower generated some debate, with the CEO of Safaricom, Bob Collymore diving in and stating that, “Universities are getting out of date”.  While the audience was about to give a sigh of discontent, he added that, “Last year’s technology is not relevant this year”.  To ensure he remains the talk in town, he finalized, “… That is why not everybody should go to the university”

On democracy, the diplomat said that democracy should not only be stated, but must also be seen.  He drove this home by comparing the elections in the US where two candidates were vying for the top seat and those in China where there was one contestant.  However, by mentioning ‘China’ more than twenty times during his speech and answers, it was evident that this was a country worth paying close attention to.

Just around mid-day, the session came to an end and the podium once again was taken over by the men-in-black.  As we milled out of the five star hotel, we had a few moments to reflect on the events of the day, and how high level diplomats operate. 

Reflection… when I arrived, I noticed some smartly dressed gentlemen strategically positioned near each of the doors.  Of course, the promised breakfast was not available by 9.00am when I arrived.  Piled up cutlery alluded to a sumptuous breakfast earlier, but who could have benefited, if by nine there was nothing?  For a meeting whose reporting time was nine?  Could it be that our fellow stocks investors now come to these meetings at 8.00am?

Chicken
Reflections... In the meeting room, it was business unusual.  Ten minutes to ten, while the wiring of the audio-visual system was being finalized, three smartly dressed Kenyans moved to the podium and almost literally ripped the carpet apart, looking underneath for... for what?  As two of them crouched near the wires, to scrutinize them, a protrusion could clearly be seen forcing itself towards their backs from under their coats, just above the waist line.  That was the easiest “chicken leg” that one could ever notice.  It was that evident.  The observable trio also tested and looked through all doors and emergency exits.  With such a treat, it was apparent that this was high level function, even as the guests arrived about five minutes to ten.  The smartly dressed guys had surely every reason to be armed.

Back to the street, I mingled with the masses and soon was running into a matatu to carry me back to Central.  “Kwaheri, rudi tena,” the signboard read, as I lighted from the matatu and walked to my residence.  It was just another Saturday in mid-August and life was full of its usual Kenyan hustle.

WWB, Nairobi, Kenya, August 17, 2013

Running is not easy – Maggy’s experience

Running is not easy – Maggy’s experience

I have had runs before – short runs, medium runs, long runs, false starts, successful starts etc.  That makes me assume that I have seen it all.  But wait a minute – today I did a long run (15km) to Mindspeak seminar at Nairobi’s Intercontinental Hotel – actually, most of the run was being done by the matatu!.  Let me reflect on expectations… some months ago, the organizers used to offer breakfast.  It is now history (though ‘breakfast will be served from 9.00am’ is still a footnote on the invitations).  The crowd is however becoming bigger.  I arrived at about ten minutes past nine and hardly got a seat on the second row second seat left side of the auditorium.  The position was not very vantage as I had to struggle to angle almost 90 degrees to see the podium.  Additionally, the bright spot lights meant to illuminate the podium blinded me most of the two hours.

Potential

Mindspeak is a forum for potential (and kinetic) investors to learn from their and others experiences.  Today we were learning from the experience of Maggy Ireri, the Managing Director of Ipsos Synovate.  Her talk informed us that I-S has representation in 84 countries worldwide.  Her run was a bit different from my routine lunch hour run down Kapenguria road.  Her run was ordinary.  She kept out of trouble during her childhood and school going ages.  Later, while doing her BEd at KU, she also ran her family supermarket business, earning good money.  (This was meant to encourage students to take hustling seriously)

Diligence, Discipline, Determination

It is not news that Maggy mentioned the three Ds (3D).  That is what she learned while running the supermart.  That is what I have learnt while tackling the tough hill on Kapenguria road during the lunch hour run, when the sun is overhead.  When it is hot.  When your body aches.  When you feel like fainting.  When there is no water.  When no one is there to urge you on but yourself.

While awing with nostalgia, something happens on the screen.  “Pursue opportunity and Money will follow,” a bullet point on one of her slides screams in bold black text on a yellow background.  This would have been invisible from my sitting position had it not been for the large projector screen just in front my sitting section.  A replica screen shows the same on the other side of the podium.

Improve

“Look for opportunities to do more,” a subsequent highlight indicates.  She relates this to her long stay at the research firm, which has changed ownership from Steadman to Synovate to Ipsos.  I try to relate this to the running track and remember my own advice to team members – increase the distance over time.  I urge them to improve from their 45min runs towards the 1hr mark over a period.  I encourage them to keep diaries and deliberately work towards improvement.

School

My analogy is cut short, when a new emphasized text pops onto the screen – “Academic qualifications are foundations but experience gives the edge”.  That is just it – you can go to the school of running all your life but you must hit the road for the lessons to count.  “That was easy,” I say to myself.  I happen to have uttered that loudly.  My colleague to the left, who was busy on Twitter, doing an update by the minute, smiles at me and wonders at my response to the speaker.  She gets the point and probably tweets my statement to the rest of the world.  My right hand colleague happens to have been employed at my current place sometime ago.  Earlier on we had exchanged pleasantries but were cut short when the session began.

“Work hard as failure is not an option” – another bold text on yellow states.  Before I give it a marathon angle, the next one follows almost immediately – “Opportunities come once in a lifetime”.  While am conjuring up a run story for this, Maggy tells the audience how her opportunity to get the MD position was almost lost by her reluctance.  A two-week soul searching break enabled her take the opportunity that would otherwise have been lost forever.

Opinion

We learn that opinion polling is not the main business of Ipsos.  With only 3% share, it is like a drop in the ocean compared to their key revenue avenues being Market research (57%) and Media research (40%).  While I crunch the numbers to put a meaning to them, Maggy states that, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.  She believes her firm is there to lead the rest of the pack.  This reminds me of that very first 42k marathon, when after waiting for anyone to volunteer to hit the ‘big’ run without success, I had to declare that “I shall lead the quest for gold in this run – whether I get followers or not”.  Of course, I did not get follows, but that did not stop me from flying the team flag in the 2008 run conquered in 3.26.27.

We are given a ‘run’(down) of the science of opinion polling.  Her polls have predicted the correct presidential election results in USA, France and Nigeria all in 2012.  At this point, the audience seems quite skeptical by this proclamation, so she drives the point home by, “Believe me, we did it.  We predicted correctly… and you know how bad Nigeria is”.  That calls for laughter.  Someone shouts, “Oga”.  Another one shouts, “Igwe”.  These just prolong the laughter.

To answer the unasked question of sample size, she volunteers that the France sample was only 1,000 respondents.  She concludes by saying that sample size does not matter.  The selection and distribution of sample is what matters. 

No cheques

During Q&A, a member of the audience asks what the poll results for UG were, given that she worked there for over five years earlier in her career.  She amuses all with “Kampala is a small village”.  Amidst some giggles from the masses, she now answers, “In UG, we do not do opinion polls”.  There is applause in the hall as murmurs fill the auditorium.  In responding to who sponsors her opinion polls, she admits that the range is wide.  However, “for politicians, we do not accept cheques – just cash upfront”.  That goes well with the audience since they respond in kind with sustained claps.  As happens at every Mindspeak, someone popped the big question on whether Maggy was single and available… she keeps us all guessing before affirming – receiving quite some crowd after the session had come to an end.

From her run experience, I learn that “running is not easy” – but it must be done.

Wanjawa WB, Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, January 26, 2013

10 Laws of Diplomatic Running

10 Laws of Diplomatic Running

Today, I did my routine Monday run.  The course took me from the main gate towards the Uthiru roundabout, then Kabete Police to cross Waiyaki way on the Vet Lab road.  Thereafter, I ran towards Ndumboini down Kapenguria road to ‘tarmac’ and back the same route.

This 10k route is quite a challenge, especially when racing against the mid-day sun that just grills your whole body.  The hills do not make the run any better.

This was my experience…

As I crossed Waiyaki way, about 4min 30sec after start of the run, I remembered the meeting that I attended on September 1, 2012.  The ‘local investors’ in us were being given some tips on surviving the mucky world of the stock market.  The meeting was organized by Mindspeak – a business club for upcoming (and seasoned) investors.  Having lost about 80% of my stock value in a five year investment cycle, I was squarely in the latter group.

On this particular Saturday, the guest of honour was the British High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr. Christian Turner.  He gave a very interesting talk, simply titled, “10 Laws of Diplomacy”.  Though he presented and explained the ten using diplomacy as the theme, I have found that the are very applicable to the world of running as well.

The first law that rolled out of the projected presentation at the Intercontinental Hostel was…
1. Don't mistake expertise for experience
Sure, I thought for a moment, these vehicles that are zooming so fast beyond the 50km city speed limit can learn something from this law.  They may be experienced but the former is quite a different skill.  I finally manage to cross the highway as a matatu blares and flashes at me.

Later on at Ndumbo, on time check 11.40, I see two matatus and their crew competing for passengers – literally shouting each other down.  Their boom speakers literally turn the small centre into a disco theatre.  One of the matatus is playing reggae.  Someone in the matatu learns out of the windo in my approaching direction and shouts, “Jah love!”.  At this point I recall the second law…
2. Don't mistake knowledge for understanding

I pass by the diversion, to my right, that heads to UON Upper Kabete campus.  I recall that two years ago, we would jog through the campus and make our way through their second gate and somehow maneuver back to Ndumbo through UON Lower Kabete campus.  However, in their own wisdom or lack of, the institution stopped our access by posting no-nonsense sentries on both gates and demanding university IDs for all those passing through.  This has not stopped our runs though.  The third law is quite relevant, so I look in the direction of the Uni and utter the following, “3. Don't mistake access for influence”

I run downhill on Kapenguria road.  The vast UON land is now on my right.  The road is dusty and in need of serious repairs.  In fact it is impassible, judging from the few, if any, vehicles that are passing by.  Driving a vehicle on this road is exposing it to untold mechanical torture.  Eventually, as I near the end of the downhill, a white saloon car races from behind and overtakes me.  I can feel the strain on the suspensions and it wobbles dangerously, forcing me to step out of the wide road.  I know the driver was not privy to the fourth law….
4. Don't mistake the urgent for the important

After the river, I face the uphill that shall take me past the Kenya Animal Genetic Resources Centre, on my left, to allow me reach the tarmac some two minutes run ahead.  There is little or no traffic on this stretch too.  Opposite the Centre, Kabete Childrens Home is also quiet.  There is virtually no activity, but the fifth law gives me a caution…
5. Don't mistake activity for action

I make a U-turn at the tarmac at about 25.00 split time.  I recall the forthcoming Kenyan national elections and how 50-days from today, many things would have changed.  A new person shall be in State House for sure.  But will the world surely be at a standstill just because of this event?  The media and cyberspace is so full of the elections that you would imagine it must be world new – but ...
6. Don't mistake the universal for the local

Am now on the circuit back to the starting point.  From tarmac is a downhill stretch to ‘the tank’ before taking the uphill back to Ndumbo.  This hill is tough.  This is one of the reasons why team members avoid this route.  It takes me about ten minutes of pure hill run (and good pain) to conquer this section.  Why is this hill so unforgiving?  The answer...
7. Don't mistake the answer for the question

I find myself at the top of the hill by some sheer willpower.  At a split of 38.20, am likely to finish the run in good time – but not break a record.  The fastest run recorded in the last 3-months was a 0.47.36 on January 2, 2013.  It takes that long to break one’s own record.  Nonetheless, it is not easy to predict if this record is breakable or not.  My destination is clear, but the direction is another matter.  As I leave Ndumbo stage towards Vet loop, I recall the diplomat’s eighth law…
8. Don't mistake setting direction for knowing the destination

Vet loop back to the Waiyaki way takes about 5 minutes.  At the highway, the traffic is so intense that I am forced to stop and wait for the flow to ease before crossing over.  A lorry bearing posters of political aspirants passes by – loud music, noisy occupants and all.  They drop some fliers by the roadside – oblivious of their contribution to keeping the city ‘unclean’.  I mutter the ninth law to them, “9. Don't mistake publicity for diplomacy”

I finish the run in 0.50.44.  Back to the workplace, I savor the implications of law no. 10. Don't mistake humility for indifference
While Dr. Turner gave us the diplomatic view of his ten laws, I found them quite applicable on the jogging route today.  I believe that these laws should serve me well as I tackle the 2013 season.

Wanjawa, W. B. – Nairobi, January 14, 2013