Coffee with Dr Wale: Connecting the dots for 2014

Last Thursday night I attended yet another empowering and motivational Coffee with Dr Wale session hosted by Dr Wale Akinyemi. More information on Dr Wale and the activities that his Powertalks Organization is doing to impact lives in Africa is found in his website. I’ve summarized some of the nuggets shared in the meeting I attended, including a checklist that you can use to evaluate how your year has been and “Connect the Dots” for a truly Happy New 2014.

7 Business Lessons From Military Special Operations Officers (Special Ops)

They are the best of the best. Every country deploys them to the hottest battle zones. While we know that these highly trained military units are prepared for battle, the same skills can also be applied in the modern day business and career field, which is a battle zone in itself. I’ll examine 7 aspects of their training and operations that can be used in the corporate world with positive results.

Book Review: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Hush puppies, a footwear brand that was on the brink of obscurity, suddenly started becoming trendy again in the streets of Manhattan. New York, a city known for criminal gangs roaming and causing havoc with impunity suddenly saw crime incidences plummet. Sesame Street, a show that pioneered the genre of children’s edutainment, spread like wildfire across the world. All the above incidences looked like epidemics, because they actually were.

7 Lessons from the Shark Tank

Those who accuse television of making the world’s population dumber clearly have never watched the Shark Tank. For those who don’t know it, Shark Tank is a Reality TV series produced by Mark Burnett that features a panel of potential investors, called “sharks”, who consider offers from entrepreneurs seeking investments for their business or product. When I first heard about it I was skeptical because I’ve realized that a lot of the “Reality Shows” contain more “show” than “reality” and have plot lines which are just as interesting as the weather forecast. However, when I finally sat down to watch my first episode of the program I was completely hooked. Despite all the drama that goes on in the “Tank” there are a lot of lessons to be learned by aspiring entrepreneurs. I‘ve listed 7 which made a mark: