austin.makani
meritmanagement@ 2011
Austin Makani
•God Fearing
•A proud father of Trinity Teresa Makani
•Single and not ready to mingle
Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill
 Attitude
manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with
regard to a person or thing; tendency or
orientation, esp. of the mind.
 Skill
the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice,
aptitude, etc., to do something well
So they Say…
Skills Vs. Attitude : Chicken & Egg :
Education & Experience Vs. Job :
What does IT take?
SKILLS
 As defined, it comes from knowledge, its acquired
either through tactic or explicit.
Which are the right Skills?
 You have to have a VISION!!
 Defn: the ability or an instance of great perception,
especially of future developments.
 See what you want to achieve
tomorrow and PLAN accordlngly today.
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”
Obama knew he would be the president of the United States of America a long time ago before he even became the senator.
Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete knew he would become the president of Tanzania since 1995 when he appeared for the first time.
What do you want to be?
 This can sound a question of a 5 years old but let us get
a true example from the audience!!
Kofi Annan…
 He wanted to become the Secretary of the UN. He knew one thing and one
thing for sure. He had to get his SKILLS right. What did he do?
 He picked the CV of the Secretary
General then, picked his key skills,
He pursued them and more!!
He is a GREAT Success…….
So, what do you want to do??
A line by Wanaume, “Kwani wao wameweza wana nini? Hata sisi
tushindwe tuna nini?”
So, what must you do?
 On your free time, read about the people you want to
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be in the future.
Read job advertisements and see what it requires, what
skills, how long of experience, etc
Read about the companies you want to work with.
Network, meet people working with the company and
create relationships with them
Visit the company
Volunteer, Internships, Field studies to know the the
the in depth of the company
Go-Go-Go and win them
Be that position
ATTITUDE
FORMULA TO SUCCESS:
If A=1, B=2, C=3…. Z=26 then;
? M+O+N+E+Y
13+15+14+5+25 = 72%
? E+D+U+C+A+T+I+O+N
5+4+21+3+1+20+9+15+14 = 92%
BUT
A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
Attitude as defined…
manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with
regard to a person or thing; tendency or
orientation, esp. of the mind
 Attitudes are acquired through:
social learning :
social comparison :
genetic factors (not all agree on this) :
 Attitudes can be learnt
Classical Conditioning :
Operant or Instrumental Conditioning :
Observational Learning or Modeling :
social stimulus pared
Award for correct, punish for the wrong
Observing and imitating the people they admire
Components of Attitudes
 Knowledge:
The more informed you are on the topic, the stronger your attitude
typically predicts behavior (e.g., if you know a lot about a certain subject example Math,
and you say you favor it, you also are likely to actually engage
in it)
 Self-interest:
The more the topic affects you, the stronger the attitude-behavior link
(e.g., how strong is your attitude toward implementing final exams here at CBE vs. at
IFM? If you were given a vote at both locations, which vote would be
most consistent with your attitude?)
 Social identification and value relevance:
The more the attitude topic is important to defining who you are, or the more it
reflects on your basic values, the stronger the attitude. Stronger the attitude,
stronger its link to behavior (e.g., attitudes toward smoking or alcohol
consumption vs. attitudes toward speeding or cheating).
 Accessibility
Stronger attitudes are usually more accessible to consciousness/awareness, &
thereby can more easily regulate behavior.
Building the right attitude..(tips)
1. Become more aware of your thoughts.
2. When a negative thought enters your mind replace
it with a positive thought.
3. Be kind to yourself. Do at least one thing a day that
you enjoy doing, and which makes you happy.
4. Listen to music that you love.
5. Read about the life of positive and successful
people.
6. Read every day inspiring quotes.
7. Visualize your life as you wish it to be, and believe
in what you
visualize. Refuse to have doubts and negative
thoughts.
8. Practise on how to build a positive attitude
9. Learn to use affirmations – positive statements.
10. Join other people who are interested in building a
positive attitude
11. Read Books and periodicals
You are Simply the Best…
 The best combination for a perfect employee would be
of course – someone with the ‘right’ attitude and
matching skills for any position, but if one had to lean
on a percentage, I would go for 70 percent attitude
and 30 percent skills.
Right Attitude…
 Do more than exist -- live
 Do more than touch -- feel
 Do more than look -- observe
 Do more than read -- absorb
 Do more than hear -- listen
 Do more than listen -- understand
Final Story
 Retiring Carpenter
 A Little girl with jellyfish
 A small boy tipping a waitress at an ice cream parlor
 Watch your attitude today
and “be the man you want to
see in the future…”
Thank you for your attention!!