part0007

I once posted an article on the social media platforms I hold entitled, “Developing the Art of Keeping Quiet”. In one of the platforms, I received a comment from Scovia Magara saying “My brother Obita , Thanks a million. The area you handled may be rare but critical. I don't want to lose this piece. Where should I keep it? Apoyo (Acholi dialect meaning “Thank you”) ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬”.

That comment had a huge impact in my life. It made me reflect on the need to store the information shared on the different platforms that I had created. Storing the insights for future reference would enable accessibility by millions of people who were not part of my different social media platforms.

I, thus, responded to her, “@Scovia and Lillian , thank you. Watch the space as I will compile that [the article of Developing the Art of Keeping Quiet] and other articles in two years' time in what will be titled "The Conversations of The Managers". It [the article of Developing the Art of Keeping Quiet] will be in the first series as others will follow after that.” Therefore, this book in your hand is a result of the comment by Scovia Magara .

After Scovia’s suggestion, in “The Manager” WhatsApp group, other two Managers [It is how we refer to all the members of “The Manager” groups] as well raised the same issue as seen below;

Robert : [This is] Out of the [discussion] topic. Member[s], I would suggest that we facilitate someone to put down all [the] topics that we discuss so we can come up with a book that can benefit many people.‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Patrick Obita: Robert , [that is a] great thinking and [the] point [is] noted.

Asaph‬: Patrick , [there is] something [that has] been crossing my mind...‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Patrick Obita: [That is] Very true Asaph and that will be done. Also, Robert [had] actually suggested the same thing.

As the group’s founder, I needed reference of the group’s discussions over the years as well. It is because of the value I attach to the management of knowledge, which is priceless and can be stored for generations to come. This is in line with my passion and interest in writing. It will challenge the way social media is used to take the learning from these platforms to another level.

In fact, some people have been inspired to put together the information they have been sharing on their social media platforms into books. These have inspired many people out there. In Uganda, Dickson Mushabe the founder of Hostalite, a web design and hosting company wrote his book “Am Not Sorry for My Mistakes”. This was because of the encouragement to do so by his followers. The book has inspired and continues to inspire many people out there. Personally, he has inspired me plus other people’s comments on my social media platforms to write books like “Tough Career Decisions” and “Your Normal Manager Next Door” to be launched in 2017 and many more thereafter.

Today we have so many people on social media platforms. Some go ahead to form groups or join groups of their interest. These social media platforms and groups, depending on their objectives, produce a lot of information, both useful and not, according to one’s perspective.

There are usually positive insights shared, which other people yearn for but cannot access. These are usually lost because of various reasons yet it costs a lot to access especially through organised trainings or consultancies.

However, some of these groups have limited membership yet many people do not know about their existence even if they might share similar interests or not. Therefore, very few people have access to the information shared. Yet, when shared with the remaining majority as well, it will greatly enhance their careers, personal, business, family or community lives to achieve their desired life calling or purpose.

Personally, I was not such a big social media fan and I hardly updated, shared or engaged others on the various social media platforms or accounts I held. I even forgot the passwords to some of the social media platforms, which I took long to access. I was of the view that most people who spent countless time on social media were unserious. This perspective, however, changed in 2016, when I had a serious career decision to make. It is when I really got into this wave of social media platforms and am not relenting any time soon.

Within this short time, I have been able to create various social media platforms, which have inspired and continue to inspire thousands of people; those I know and will know, those I have never known and will never know in my lifetime. I have also been able to meet great individuals because I committed myself to inspire others on these platforms. This showed me the need to create time to know other people out of your sphere of operations or comfort environment. In this way, I know that you will reach your purpose faster than you ever thought!

I continue to pay tribute to the Managers’ selfless commitment to learning. That for anyone who teaches / shares knowledge and experiences with others, they learn twice. These have continued to build the Managers towards the group’s quest of exhibiting “Leadership with Distinction” from wherever they are. These are shared with you to also exhibit leadership with distinction in your sphere.

The group’s membership is of diverse people in the organisational ladder, academia, private sector, civil servants, cultural backgrounds and self-employment spheres. This has made the group to be very interesting with the diversity of the information shared, attributed to the different experiences.

There is a lot to learn about management from the various disciplines shared here. Note that these are a series of conversations, as you read, join in and flow with our conversations because you are “Conversing with Managers.” The whole book is about conversations. The conversations might be intense, moderate and non-intensive. Commit your time to learning how ideas were nurtured in our group, how we came to be “Managers” because what makes a story sweet is not the conclusion alone but the journey, ‘the journey speaks knowledge, gives insight and hatches ideas.’