Bullish Thoughts: Leadership and the conferring of awards

Bullish Thoughts was taken aback when he came across an article to the effect that Kalamazoo Business Machines was going into Judicial Management.

This is a company whose principals would travel to the United States of America to receive awards for excellence in running the Highfield Road based business. Bullish Thoughts will not comment on whether the awards were earned given that he neither came across products from the enterprise nor ever understood how the business was changing Zimbabwe in the positive way.

He was also taken back to the newspaper supplements hailing the exploits of Bakers Association Of Zimbabwe Chairman & long serving CEO of Lobels Bakery. Burombo Mudumo was fired from Lobels in 2010 alongside Nesbert Gufu (Financial Director) and Tonderai Chipere (Treasurer) on allegations of misappropriating more than US$10 million which brought the bakery to its knees.

These thoughts in Bullish Thoughts’ mere mortal grey matter were triggered by a wave of company “bosses” that have been getting so many accolades in recent days.

There was an award for Fidelity Chief Simon Chapereka, AfrAsia Kingdom Chief Lynn Mukonoweshuro (at least this was for customer service excellence) amongst many other bosses being congratulated for a host of things.

Bullish Thoughts just prays that these leaders are running their businesses in a sustainable manner for the market doesn’t wish to see celebrated leaders being fired or eventually presiding over failed corporates.

Bullish Thoughts will not talk about a host of other unreported corporate failures in town whose leaders are still clinging on despite the glaring failures of their businesses.

Just for clarification: It’s not always a bad thing to get an award. Sister G has received so many accolades and is still walking with her head held high in the Insurance sector.

It’s just that when these awards become too many in a short space and accompanied by a lot of congratulatory suppliemnts in newspapers…it’s more like kana kangoma koririsa kava kuda kuparuka!

Lastly on the leadership topic, Bullish Thoughts is hoping other leaders will take a leaf from the renewal that has happened at the helm of Delta Beverages, Starafrica, Standard Chartered and recently Old Mutual.

Cancer Awareness Month… Wear Pink this October

October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the whole world. With Zimbabwe recording more and more cases of cancer in its various forms but notably cervical & breast types for women and kapos sarcoma in men, it is necessary that we all fight this new killer disease. It is in the spirit of this fight that Bullish Thoughts is encouraging all men and women to fight this scourge.

How to examine your breasts...

Women should be aware of how their breasts normally look and feel and report any new breast changes to a health professional as soon as they are found. Finding a breast change does not necessarily mean there is a cancer.

A woman can notice changes by knowing how her breasts normally look and feel and feeling her breasts for changes (breast awareness), or by choosing to use a step-by-step approach and using a specific schedule to examine her breasts.

 Lie down on your back and place your right arm behind your head. The exam is done while lying down, not standing up. This is because when lying down the breast tissue spreads evenly over the chest wall and is as thin as possible, making it much easier to feel all the breast tissue.

Use the finger pads of the 3 middle fingers on your left hand to feel for lumps in the right breast. Use overlapping dime-sized circular motions of the finger pads to feel the breast tissue.

Use 3 different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue. Light pressure is needed to feel the tissue closest to the skin; medium pressure to feel a little deeper; and firm pressure to feel the tissue closest to the chest and ribs. It is normal to feel a firm ridge in the lower curve of each breast, but you should tell your doctor if you feel anything else out of the ordinary. If you're not sure how hard to press, talk with your doctor or nurse. Use each pressure level to feel the breast tissue before moving on to the next spot.

 

Move around the breast in an up and down pattern starting at an imaginary line drawn straight down your side from the underarm and moving across the breast to the middle of the chest bone (sternum or breastbone). Be sure to check the entire breast area going down until you feel only ribs and up to the neck or collar bone (clavicle).

There is some evidence to suggest that the up-and-down pattern (sometimes called the vertical pattern) is the most effective pattern for covering the entire breast without missing any breast tissue.

Repeat the exam on your left breast, putting your left arm behind your head and using the finger pads of your right hand to do the exam.

While standing in front of a mirror with your hands pressing firmly down on your hips, look at your breasts for any changes of size, shape, contour, or dimpling, or redness or scaliness of the nipple or breast skin. (The pressing down on the hips position contracts the chest wall muscles and enhances any breast changes.)

Examine each underarm while sitting up or standing and with your arm only slightly raised so you can easily feel in this area. Raising your arm straight up tightens the tissue in this area and makes it harder to examine.

This procedure for doing breast self-exam is different from previous recommendations. These changes represent an extensive review of the medical literature and input from an expert advisory group. There is evidence that this position (lying down), the area felt, pattern of coverage of the breast, and use of different amounts of pressure increase a woman's ability to find abnormal areas.

Ode to Bald

Dear breast cancer:

Once again it is October and your name is one everyone’s lips.  The world has turned to a sea of pink and large and small corporations and companies look to make money based on your infamy and the fear that lurks in the hearts and souls of women the world over.  So many women, who buy this, support that, donate to this fundraiser, walk for 2 days, run for 5 kilometres and all the while, hoping and praying that you and they never come face to face.   They can run from you but sadly too many cannot hide.

You are a sneaky, insidious devil aren’t you breast cancer.  You hide where you can and then when someone least expects you, out you come ready to wreak havoc on the life of the woman (or man) you have claimed as “your own”, their family and their friends.  You think you rule with the upper hand but remember this breast cancer...we know so much more about you now and we are prepared to do battle with you and show you that we are not to be trifled with.

It’s true that some of the people you visit are not aware of your presence and you manage to get a firm grip into their lives and for that I say shame on you.  But remember this...we are educated now about early detection and having yearly mammograms and doing breast self exams and we are well informed about how you operate.  Oh yes we are.

After seven years, I still refer to you as breast cancer in small letters because even though you claimed a large part of my time and my energy and my life, you are still just this small, insignificant, bothersome little runt.  You do not deserve to be spoken to with respect.  You need to remember that whatever else you have brought into my life and the lives of so many others, what you gave me was the biggest gift of all.

You made me remember how much life is to be savoured and appreciated.  You reminded me of all the small and large things to be grateful for in my life, every single day.  You gave me freedom and you taught me how to deal with fear.  You gave me the gift of every day – that this day; the one I am in is the one that matters.   Not yesterday, not tomorrow but simply today.

When my hair started to fall out, I had my hair dresser shave it off and I loved being bald.  True, I wore a wig when I went outdoors and I lived in bandanas the rest of the time, but the minute I hit the front door, you know that wig went flying onto the bench in the hall.  And how many times did I open the front door to guests bald as a billiard ball?  And how comfortable were people with me...with the real me, the open, honest, bare to the bones this is who I am me?  But most importantly breast cancer, you taught me to love myself and to see myself right down to my soul.

You arrived thinking you were going to be my final nemesis.  You left knowing that I had the gumption, the spirit, the courage and the strength to say “not just yet”.

With fists up,

 

Sincere Apologies…

Bullish Thoughts apologises unreservedly to various subscribers and others who found the article on the premier in bad taste.

Bullish Thoughts would thus like to reaffirm that it respects the subscribers views and feelings.

In as much as this is an opinion column, future articles will not require PGA.

Bullish Thoughts thanks all those subscribers who took time to give us feedback on the matter.

Invest Wisely!