Sunday, February 16, 2014

Seven Simple Entrepreneurship Lessons from Martin Luther King

By Clive Siachiyako  
FIFTY years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s death, the world is still honouring the visionary leader who is inspiring many lives forever. The larger-than-life leadership lessons that Dr. King gave the world are as important for entrepreneurs today as they were during his life.

Dr. King was a visionary. He was a man who had a dream bigger than the times in which he lived. That is, after all, what real visionary leaders are all about. His "I have a Dream" speech brought awareness and humanity to the national consciousness about civil rights. He led a social movement of equality during a time when he was not supported by many. In fact, he was threatened and despised by many. But he stayed committed to the vision he held.

Are you bringing that kind of total commitment to your cause? Not to say get arrested, but are you bringing that level of intensity and dedication to your work? Dr. King’s actions were backed his vision and he shook up the popular culture of the time.

Sometimes doing things completely different is what is necessary for evolution and innovation. These paradigm shifts are crucial in every aspect of social, cultural and technological change. The same way of thinking always wields the same results. Dr. King never accepted that just because things were a certain way, it made them the right way.

How can you shake up the status quo in your industry? How about in your corporate culture or business values? Be a leader and set the new standard by changing an outdated status quo in your life. How can Dr. King help you become a better entrepreneur? Here are seven simple entrepreneurship lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King:

1. Dream big.
Dr. King is best known for his "I have a dream" at the March on Washington in 1963. A great entrepreneur always dreams big, and shares their vision with employees, investors, customers, prospects and the world. You have to have a dream- and a big one which takes the huge entrepreneurial chance. 

Make your dream reality. Of course, many people have dreams. Some even have great dreams. But most them do not work to make their dreams a reality as did Dr. King. Great ideas for new products, businesses, and works of science and art die every day with their inventors. To be an entrepreneur is to dream – but it is more in making the dream reality.

2. Persuade without power.

Using non-violent civil disobedience, Dr. King was able to persuade millions of Americans to join the civil rights movement and support his dream.

As an entrepreneur, you have to get a lot of people on your side: investors, customers, and most of all, employees. You can try to be powerful and aggressive; to be the "boss" in the traditional sense of the world. But this is increasingly ineffective. The best way to persuade people to get what you want is to be kind, passionate, supportive and grateful.

3. Give people something to believe in.

Dr. King was one of the best leaders in modern history in getting people to believe in his dream…to get people to embrace his vision and mission and support him unconditionally.

As an entrepreneur, you too can and must give people something to believe in. Make your core values, mission, strategy and strategic plan be known by everyone in the company. You can hang them up on the walls for all to see and embrace.

4. Embrace fear and be courageous anyway.
Dr. King was never shy about admitting his fears. He was afraid that his points wouldn't be well received. Moreover, he was worried about violence breaking out.

Many people, especially men, are taught from a young age, "Don’t be afraid." But the truth is, we all have fear, and that is alright. As Dr. King taught us, it is better to admit you have fear, and find a way to be courageous in spite of that fear.

As an entrepreneur, there are so many things to be afraid of e.g. running out of money, your product not working, a key employee leaving, bankruptcy, low clientele, etc. But if you embrace those fears, you will be better off. How can you embrace your fears?

You embrace your fear by recognising that it exists. After recognising it, confront your fears with courage and commitment. To assist with this endeavor, you must realise that the fear is derived from your minds. Before your body experiences the fear, your brain tells you what to fear and the possible reasons why you should fear it. Once you understand this, then you could use courage and commitment to counteract the fear so that you could get things done.

5. Get everyone involved.
Dr. King was able to build a real movement because he was able to get so many people involved…to truly “rally the troops,” because everyone felt like they were part of something bigger than them.

As an entrepreneur, you can involve everyone, and learn from everyone as well. Every employee, customer and prospect has something valuable to teach you, if you will only let them. Involve all of your employees in goal setting and strategy setting…you will never know where the next great idea will come from. How can you better get more people involved?

6. Create a sense of urgency.
Dr. King said in his "I have a dream" speech: “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”

Now is the time, for you as well. Now is the time for you to lead your team, and now is the time for you to build something of meaning, and now is the time for you to instill a sense of urgency in each and every person you speak with. Have passion for what you do and believe in, and you can create that sense of urgency.

7. Inspire people.
Dr. King was so inspiring to so many people, and we can only dream of being half as inspiring as he was. But as an entrepreneur, as a leader, your job is to inspire. Your job is to inspire your staff, your investors, and the world, about your mission and your products and services.

The world you dream of can inspire others to aim higher in life. It can give them the zeal to think big and have the resilience to rise again after a temporal defeat. Communicate your dream to others. Talk about it! Let others know what you dream about entrepreneurial self.

How effective could be your dream if you are not communicating it? Do you have a vision for your enterprise? Is it prominently displayed where your staff can easily see? And do you talk about how your actions, services, campaigns and products back up that vision?

REMEMBER, dreaming without doing is for childhood. Real leaders have big dreams, take big steps to communicate them, and then they go take big actions! Dr. King's actions made him one of the great leaders of the 20th century, Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1963 and a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1964. How do you plan to turn your dreaming into doing? Courtesy of INC.COM

TVET and entrepreneurship education (EPE)

By Clive Siachiyako
We are currently living in the ‘knowledge era’ of human history. Knowledge societies and knowledge economies are the main characteristics of the knowledge era, but more important is the ‘knowledge mindset’ of individuals. The knowledge mindset helps individuals to navigate today’s uncertainties and tomorrow’s unknown developments, not only in labour markets but in all aspects of life. Twenty-first-century citizens, regardless of their occupation, must be well equipped to navigate oceans of fast changes and developments. It is the responsibility of TVET to equip individuals to meet current and future challenges and expectations. This is a huge responsibility, but one that must be fulfilled. Education is the main vehicle used by societies to develop their new generations, and education reforms should be oriented to providing students with a knowledge mindset. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and entrepreneurship education (EPE) have a particular role to play in this context.

Time is ripe for integrating education aimed at helping individuals acquire occupation-related technical skills through TVET with those for instilling transferable skills through EPE. The growing trends towards many career changes in the course of people’s lives add to the importance of them acquiring good generic transferable skills. Because of this growing awareness of the role of entrepreneurship in growth and employment, issues of redefining entrepreneurship, and consequently entrepreneurship education and training, have become prominent in the 21st century.

Entrepreneurship education (EPE)
Initiatives to use the power of education to enhance individuals’ entrepreneurial mindsets, and raise awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to paid employment, gave rise to educational programmes that can be grouped together under the heading of entrepreneurship education and training. EPE has existed for decades and a wide variety of courses have been introduced in many systems of education around the globe.

Special EPE programmes are tailored to job seekers, to unemployed people, and to scientists, engineers and researchers to encourage them to commercialize their intellectual property. EPE is often a link in a chain of support offered to those who decide to explore self-employment and establish a small enterprise. Other links of the chain include technical, legal and administrative support, as well as incubation, franchise and networking support services.

The first decade of the new millennium witnessed the birth of a broader concept of entrepreneurship as a generic skill for everyone, and not just for exceptional entrepreneurs. In that vein EPE was adopted in many regions, but the new concept is still in its infancy. The new concept of EPE is closely linked to innovation and knowledge-based action, thus it stimulates the ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ of learners. In this new sense, it is advisable that EPE start early in the lives of learners.  It is envisaged that introducing entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurship education early at all levels could go very far in nurturing a culture that rewarded prudent risk-taking.

TVET and EPE: where we stand today?
There are new trends and developments in the concept, coverage, policies and modalities of both TVET and EPE. To meet the growing demand for skills, many education systems are adopting policies that clearly focus on skill development and TVET as means to ensure that people were more employable and more productive once they were employed or employed themselves.

TVET strives to prepare tomorrow’s workforce for competitive labour markets, most of which are dominated by small and micro enterprises (SMEs). In many countries SMEs amount to more than 90 per cent of the total number of enterprises, and employ more than two-thirds of the labour force.

Innovation in SMEs is crucial to their success and sustainability. Enterprises characterised by innovation are more likely to survive in the market than enterprises that do not innovate. Innovation should be the responsibility not only of entrepreneurs but of all employees, particularly in high-tech enterprises where many are typically TVET graduates.

EPE for SMEs to complement TVET

One of the challenges for educators and policy-makers working in TVET is to assess the extent to which their programmes are preparing students for the whole spectrum of working life, including paid employment, work in cooperatives, self-employment, setting up businesses, family work, social work and voluntary work. Currently, most TVET programmes are basically designed to prepare people for paid employment and many focus on employment in large enterprises.

Public Private Partnerships could help TVET planners and providers to improve the relevance of offerings, by ensuring that the private sector viewpoint is heard and considered in skills training. EPE was also needed to ensure that students learn entrepreneurship. A combination of entrepreneurship skills and occupation-specific skills should act as a major tool in mitigating unemployment and opening opportunities for self-employment and SME development. Therefore, EPE is needed alongside TVET to address the challenge.

TVET and EPE have traits of real-life experience which help expose learners to the reality of entrepreneurship, and to see self-employment or starting up a business as a viable employment alternative. Secondly, some of the occupations for which TVET programmes provide training lend themselves particularly to self-employment and the establishment of SMEs. Thirdly, many TVET programmes and activities already include some of the main EPE skills, such as working in teams, problem-solving and thinking innovatively.

TVET students with practical work experience are already familiar with the rules of preserving the work environment (that is, with occupational health and safety) and the wider environment (being aware of issues such as pollution and the degradation of natural resources), as well as having some awareness of the sustainability of work opportunities and the economy in general. For these reasons (and many others) EPE is crucial to TVET students, trainees, and equally important to their teachers and other educational personnel.

EPE and TVET are two types of education that aim directly at increasing the employability of students and trainees in two major types of employment: self-employment (which includes establishing and developing SMEs) and paid employment. Both types of education directly link the educational programmes to the labour market, widen the scope of choices for students and graduates, optimise the utilisation of individuals’ potential, and contribute to the comprehensive development of society, both economically and socially. 

 EPE is a major cornerstone in promoting the establishment and development of SMEs. It can usefully be provided at secondary and tertiary education levels, and to graduates, the unemployed (including both the never-employed and those who have been laid off as a result of economic difficulties) and many other groups.

The current emphasis on Entrepreneurship Education reflects the fact that entrepreneurship has never been as important as it is today when the world is confronted with big challenges that extend well beyond the global economy. Entrepreneurship is a tremendous force that can have a big impact in growth, recovery, and societal progress by fuelling innovation, employment generation and social empowerment.

EPE as generic skills for all is best started early in schools
If generic Entrepreneurship Education was offered to students as part of the basic education cycle, entrants to TVET would normally enroll in the programmes on a sound basis of appropriate labour market information and an accurate analysis of their own abilities and interests. Their education choice of TVET would ensure their motivation lead to better achievement of the required skills, both personal and technical, and increase their opportunities to enjoy satisfaction in their jobs and life.

With such a background, during their programme of study, learners would continue to use their acquired entrepreneurship skills in mastering skills and acquiring knowledge that would enable them to become self-employed, establish their own business, or become more productive in paid employment. EPE would help them become more mature employees and possible entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, EPE is not part of the education system in most education systems in the world.

EPE should be an integral part of life-long learning
Life-long Entrepreneurship Education would mean that students and trainees enrolled in TVET, at any level and age, would continue to receive relevant support to master entrepreneurship skills. Addressing TVET and EPE in an integrated way, for example using a multidisciplinary team teaching approach, would allow students and trainees to organize what they learn, in terms of skills, knowledge or attitudes, in a way that facilitates recalling and using it, as appropriate, in different types of employment. It would also help them to think about using these competencies in an innovative way in their work and in their life more generally. Source: UNESCO 2012 TVET Review and Trends.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Zambia's emerald conundrum......Small-scale miners see potential in emeralds, but complain that government policies are far from cutting-edge

By Clive Siachiyako
Zambia is one of the biggest emerald producers in the world, behind only Colombia and Brazil. One out of every five of the green gems are produced in this southern African country, bringing in about $200m a year.

But a closer look shows that the country's emerald sector faces a number of challenges. Although the government has issued more than 400 mining licences to small-scale miners, only three emerald mines in Zambia are in full production.

The industry has major potential, but lack of capital has slowed its emergence. Makali Mine is a case in point. The road to the mine is bumpy and muddy; the area is covered with thick trees that someone might mistake for a forest instead of a mine.

"This is my mine," Makali Mine operations director Mayank Patel told Al Jazeera. "We have done the explorations on this area, worth more than $165,000, and the geologists have confirmed that it contains all the ingredients needed to find emerald deposits. The problem is that we do not have the equipment like core drilling machines for us to ascertain the exact location, or where to hit the veins that contain emeralds. This equipment is quite expensive, and we don't even have the money to buy one in the first place... That is why we have resorted to finding a partner to start production."

Patel's situation mirrors those faced by many small-scale miners in Zambia - causing widespread frustration within the industry at the lack of government support.

Success stories

On the other hand, the mines that are actively producing emeralds are highly successful. Mining companies such as Kagem Mine have become so productive that UK-based mining company Gemfields bought shares in 2008. Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle has since expressed delight at the revenue generated.

"The combination of our investments in the mine, our auction, practices, proprietary emerald grading system and global marketing campaigns have delivered dramatic results not only for Kagem, but for the wider Zambian gemstone sector," he noted.

Industry commentators who declined to be named, told Al Jazeera that Kagem Mine's example should be used as a model for other small-scale miners in Zambia.

"It is not right that the government should just focus on supporting the three active emerald mines while neglecting the small players. The country can earn from the sale of emeralds if the government decided to support even 10 small-scale mines from the 400 mines that are dormant. As for now, the situation is that of the government milking a dying cow," said one mine manager who wished to remain anonymous to avoid retribution.

Victor Kalesha, the general secretary of the Emerald and Semi Precious Stones Mining Association of Zambia, is unhappy with the government's management of the emerald sector. Kalesha told Al Jazeera that the failure to develop the sector is due to lack of equipment and funding, as well as the lack of proper geological data.

"You know, some people have spent their pensions while others have sold houses in the hope of recouping something from the emerald mines. But they have ended up losing their life savings. Unfortunately, the greatest challenge is lack of geological information. For instance, Grizzly [emerald mine] started with trial and error, but when they got the right equipment they have started production. Other members started with core drilling but when they exhausted their income, they got stuck with the pits they have dug."

Small-scale emerald miners were offered 30m euros ($40.6m) in financing from the European Union, but Kalesha explained that the programme failed because the conditions were too stringent for struggling miners to meet. He said Chinese investors are now expressing interest in partnering with Zambian mine owners, though their terms of investment tend to be unfavourable for the Zambian companies.

"The Chinese are coming to do joint ventures, although they are claiming a lot. Some are coming demanding, for instance, 80 percent shareholding in a company of somebody that has sacrificed so much. But you cannot hold on to a licence that you can't use. You are better off giving it to somebody who can help you get to production."

Government aid?

For its part, the Zambian government said it is implementing policies to grow the industry, announcing that it has released a grant of 50m kwacha ($10m) towards the development of 400 small-scale emerald miners whose mineral exploration licenses are dormant.

Mines Minister Christopher Yaluma said these funds are intended to address the challenges that limit small-scale emerald miners from undertaking full-time production. The government, he claimed, has been losing revenue to the black-market emerald business, and introducing this programme is one way to curb the trend.

But illegal emerald dealers such as Christopher Mwansa have vowed to resist any government intervention. Mwansa, 25, told Al Jazeera he makes an average of 5,000 kwacha ($1,000) per month to support his young family and his ageing mother.

"In a week, I sell about 10 emerald stones and I am able to find enough money to buy the home requirements... I have already bought a plot in town and I am raising money to start building my own house. I use part of the money I make here to support my mother in town as well," said Mwansa.
Source: Al Jazeera