Networking

During our networking lecture with Fiona McDonald I learnt a lot of new things. After the lecture I was encouraged to network with other people. Networking is mainly connecting with people, primarily for business and social reasons.

For networking to succeed you have to first identify the purpose of the meeting, is it for business. You need also to identify the person you want to target, so that you can gather information about the person. During a function Fiona advised us not to just stand in the corner but rather talk to people, at least 5 people at any occasion because you might talk to a person who will make a difference for you, for it is said, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

I learned that for me to be a good networker, I basically need to:

Know how to start a conversation and always having a smile
Be curious about people, asking questions
Be confident and humble
Get people to talk about themselves, which means I have to be a good listen after all we were given two ears and one mouth because listing is twice as harder as talking.
Lastly we should swop details foe example business cards

Views on Globalisation

Mr Dlamini made a presentation on globalisation. He stated that globalisation was a new force which is now shaping the business terrain. While this is true I think the main question to ask though is whether globalisation is good or bad. For Mr Dlamini globalisation is good for all, developed and developing countries. But for me I feel globalisation is more in favour of developed countries, especially, America and Britain. These countries have power in the decisions which are made in the IMF, WTO and World Bank in turn these decisions affect developing countries. Developing countries are expected to follow the Western way of development instead of them having their own ideology of what is development considering their local context. I feel developing countries should be left to define what is development to them and how best to achieve this development. Like what happened in the East Asian countries. Today China and India have developed from being poor countries into super powers just by empowering their people and allowing the governments to be involved in development.

He ended with a quote which I thought was beautiful, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin Luther King Jr. If we do not talk about the effects of globalisation on the African continent it means we are going to be always following behind other continents in terms of development.

The Zimbawean Situation

What has been happening in Zimbabwe since the 29th of March when the elections where held is rather sad. I think most people were actually looking forward to a new president. Unfortunately it seems as if Mugabe still wants to hold on to power 28 years later. This is the case with some Africa leaders they tend to become power hungry and turn into dictators.

Here are some tips on stress management

Talk it out - Share it with someone else.
Write it down – It’s easier to see it in perspective
Shrug it off – Raise your shoulders then drop them. Relax your whole body
Breathe it away – Inhale deeply, exhale heavily a few times. Calm your thoughts.
Sort it out – List practical options. Weigh, decide then ACT.
Work it off – Do something physical so that you can clear your head and divert your energy.
Laugh it off – Lighten it with humour. Be generous with smiles.
Escape it – Notice something enjoyable around you. Get into the present.