Quit Exaggerating your Past

The past is what it is, let the past stay where it belongs. No amount of whining, moaning or pity parties can change the past from what it is. 

 

You know you are exaggerating your past when you find yourself reverting to the "past mode". The past mode features phrases such as "Had I known", Only if I had gotten there on time", "Maybe I was not careful enough", "I am not that smart anyway".

 

It becomes more serious if you throw momentary pity parties to justify these moments. The pity parties then become more frequent and the guest lists become longer.

 

If you find that you have - regrets, deep sorrow of the heart, emotional eating, lack of energy, negative perspectives toward the future... etc. on your guest list, then you are really exaggerating your past and welcoming more special guests in upcoming parties.

 

These special guests totally crowd your thoughts so much so that you weep spontaneously, lose touch with your sense of being and you are told to seek professional help.

 

You do not have influence over your past, but you sure have influence over your response to it. 

 

Quit exaggerating your past! 

 

 

 

Philanthropy Gone Wrong

Dear Philanthropist,

 

We were very excited when we heard you were initiating community development projects in our community. Though we heard the technology behind your initiatives was linked to an Advertising campaign, we were still hopeful for the promises you made during your first visit. It's been a year since you and your team initiated the projects, but you have left us more pain and anguish than joy... Thanks to you, our skeptic attitude towards philanthropy has deteriorated!

 

With regrets,

 

The Community Representative

 

---

#LessonsLearnt

 

• Proposed technology behind philanthropic initiatives should be investigated thoroughly
• Advertising campaigns should never be directly attached to philanthropic initiatives
• Let your reputation speak for itself!

 

How to optimise your "go getter" tendencies

“Procrastination is the thief of time: Year after year it steals, till all are fled, And to the mercies of a moment leaves The vast concerns of an eternal scene” - Edward Young

 

This is that time of the year when all hands are on deck to finalise those projects and tasks which have been accumulating dusts on the shelves and cabinets of the "mind".

 

Go getters need not wait for the end of the year to acquire momentum, momentum is their second nature. Neither are they driven by New Year's resolutions as everyday has its own resolutions, nor tormented by other people's achievements as communal accomplishments are included in their daily resolution.

 

To the "Go getter", tomorrow is now! Tomorrow passes as the clock ticks, tomorrow fades away as the minutes and seconds go by.

 

Journals of my doctoral journey.

 

 

Thanks for checking in

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

 

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

 

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

 

 

 

Life is what you choose to call it

By default, the society implicitly reduces you to an object of self-pity (the pity-inducement syndrome) when there is an aspect of your life that does not seem to measure up with "socially constructed standards".  Well, the intensity of what I call the pity-inducement syndrome depends on what part of the landscape you call homeland.

In all of these, you remain the major actor whom alone has the explicit authority to internalise the ills of this syndrome. You also have the implicit authority to allow this "syndrome" set the tone of your life, how you live and express it.

I challenge the Champion in you to rise above this syndrome.

Live, love, learn, laugh.

Life is what you choose to call it.

Journals of my doctoral journey.

Thanks for checking in

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
 

Launch Out

Is the ability to do something necessary to be willing to do it? The answer is NO. The age-long definition of demand comes to mind - "Demand is the willingness and ability to buy goods and services at a given time, during a specified period of time". Willingness and ability to pay make the demand for a good or service possible. Willingness alone is not sufficient.

The ability to do a task requires knowing the technicality involved in completing such task. Willingness is the readiness and preparedness to do the task. Willingness is a deep desire that makes the successful completion and the sustainability of a task possible. If you manage to complete a task with just the ability to do it, trust me, the sustainability of such task is not guaranteed. More so, passion precedes willingness. Therefore, launch out and be the very best you can be by surrendering your will to a worthy task which you are passionately and able to successfully complete.

Journals of my doctoral journey.

Thanks for checking in

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

How much sacrifice are you willing to make?

FACCCI: Flabes Awareness Campaign on Climate Change Impacts

"The Baby is Sick/The Baby is Well: A Test of Environmental Communication Appeals" is the title of an intriguing piece written by Carl Obermiller, two decades ago.

What are your thoughts on the following excerpt from the piece?

"We are being buried in our own garbage. On average, each American produces nearly a ton of trash every year, producing a growing mountain of garbage. But it's not a mountain that can't be climbed. We can solve this problem; you can take actions that will slow the growth to a manageable level. At the current pace, within five years over 90% of the current landfills will be filled and dosed. But, you can slow down the pace. Over half of household garbage is recyclable, and the material that can be recycled is valuable. So recycling makes sense on two counts: It saves valuable material that can be used again. And it saves landfill space for the real garbage. If you recycle you can save a thousand pounds of trash every year. (Recycling is easy; just take these three simple steps: First, sort and store your paper and newspaper, dear glass, and aluminium and "tin" cans to be delivered to collection sites or picked up at curbside. Second, collect lawn and yard trimmings in a compost pile. Third, if you change your own motor oil. return the used oil to a gas station or auto parts store.) Stop the garbage explosion; please do your part to recycle."

I look forward to reading your thoughts in the chatbox.

FACCCI is one of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Regenerate247 Research Solutions, a subsidiary of the 'Flabes Group'.

 

Watch out for more,
 

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi (PhD)

#FACCCI - Tip of the day

FACCCI stands for - Flabes Awareness Campaign on Climate Change Impacts. FACCCI is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of 'Flabes Group' and part of my doctoral research project.

 

Watch out for more,
 

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

#FACCCI - Tip of the day

FACCCI stands for - Flabes Awareness Campaign on Climate Change Impacts. FACCCI is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of 'Flabes Group' and part of my doctoral research project.

 

Watch out for more,

 

Abosede 

The Catch-22 of Reputation Management: The M-Net Case

South Africans welcomed 2016 with a sporadic social media frenzy, which was climaxed by the #GarethCliff  versus #M-Net debacle. The host of the South African version of 'Idols' (M-Net), claimed to have axed Gareth, one of four of the judges of the reality talent show in the name of protecting its 'brand'  from public boycott, due to Gareth's alleged 'racist' comment on Twitter.  M-Net, like many other companies was caught amid the catch-22 of protecting brand reputation and failing to realise the dangers of a misalignment in projected visual corporate identity, since Gareth's pictures and endorsements have been associated with the show over the years. 
 
Quite frankly, the SA Idols has projected its socially responsible behaviour through the ability to retain its judges over the years. However, an understanding of the reputational implications of the interplay between the antecedents of the emotional attachment to this projected image and M-Net's momentary socially responsible claim in the Gareth's debacle is critical. M-Net failed to realise the deleterious effect of its unfounded decision on the longstanding brand affinity of Gareth's fans and its associated emotional attachment to the M-Net brand, being Gareth's 12th season on the show.
 
For the record, M-Net reacted to the public outcry over Gareth's remark: "people don't understand free speech" on the social network - Twitter, in the wake of the Penny Sparrow's racism row, by terminating Gareth's contract in anticipation of a public boycott of its show.
 
 
5 lessons for Corporate Communication Professionals
 
1. The intricacies of the institutional factors influencing brand affinity is industry/market-specific, which may not necessarily translate to mainstream consumer behaviour toward stimuli (brand loyalty).
 
2. Alignment of internal and external corporate communication promote brand equity - All marketing efforts geared toward brand recognition should be aligned on all communication platforms.
 
3. The ability to manage the complexities of corporate brand identity is critical for managing a business organisation's social media presence.
 
4. External stakeholder engagement strategies should not offset loyalty to internal stakeholders.
 
5. Reputation management is a race, not a sprint - "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think of that, you'll do things differently" - Warren Buffet.

Thanks for checking in,


Abosede Ijabadeniyi

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)