Toxic bosses are far too common: They’re the reason 57% of employees have quit a job, according to one report.

But sometimes, you need the paycheck. Robyn L. Garrett, an author and CEO of leadership coaching firm Beamably, has a “secret trick” for figuring out whether it’s time to abandon ship.

“Defining your personal values can be tremendously powerful at navigating an issue like this. Not only which values are the most important to you, but [also] which ones you actively oppose,” Garrett told the Harvard Business Review’s “New Here” podcast earlier this month. “We don’t always know why we have negative feelings about the workplace, but if you’ve taken the time to define your values, it can make it much, much clearer.”

You should probably consider leaving your job if you are completely opposed to your boss’s approach on a moral level. If the problem isn’t quite as severe, like a communication issue, you might be able to find a way to deal with your frustrating manager, Garrett said.

Her first step: identifying the “variety of factors” that define your relationship with your boss, and using that information to form a plan of action.

“What are their needs? What are their motivations? What are your needs? What are your motivations? How do those things clash? But how can they also work together? And are there ways that the two of you can compromise,” said Garrett.

If your boss is flexible and rooting for your success — their toxicity emerges in other ways — they’ll be willing to come to an agreement, Garrett said. If they’re stuck in their ways, you’ll have to resort to changing your communication style to match theirs.

If you approach them about your feelings, for example, they might not be receptive. If you come equipped with research and data that supports your argument, you might be more successful.

“A lot of bosses are financially motivated. They’re all about their KPIs and their metrics,” Garrett said.

Garrett speaks from experience. Once, while working in an international position, her boss would conduct “2 a.m. conference calls that would go on for two and a half hours,” then pile on assignments for her to complete afterward, she said.

“I tried to communicate with this person, but they were very aggressive and they took advantage of me because I was young and I didn’t know better,” she added.

Indeed, direct confrontation may not be your best bet: 69% of workplace leaders already say they’re uncomfortable communicating with their employees, according to a 2016 survey from Harris Poll and communications firm Interact.

Whatever you decide to do, don’t forget to keep track of your physical and emotional wellbeing: Toxic workplaces can contribute to anxiety, mental fatigue and stress, experts say.

“It’s important to protect yourself at all times,” Garrett said. “Make sure you’re taking care of you because they’re not always going to, unfortunately.”

CNBC

After back and forth, the Chicago State University (CSU) released the academic records of President Bola Tinubu to his political opponent, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday.   

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, had requested the documents to back his allegation of forgery of CSU certificate against Tinubu.  

The allegation of forgery was one of those dismissed by the presidential election court in the suit Atiku filed to challenge the election of Tinubu. Despite the court’s ruling, Atiku continued his case at the US court, hoping to get official documents to back his claim and possibly include them in his appeal at the Supreme Court.  

Through his lawyers, Atiku sought these key things – an example of a CSU diploma issued in 1979; Tinubu’s diploma issued in 1979; example of a CSU diploma that “contains the same font, seal, signatures and wording” as Tinubu’s diploma issued in June 1979 and CSU documents certified and produced by Jamar Orr, an associate general counsel at CSU at the time.  

Tinubu had done all within his power not to have the records released, saying they would cause him severe harm because they were private to him but a United States District Court in Northern Illinois ordered CSU to release the academic records.  

No sooner had CSU released the records than the social media literally caught fire as supporters of the two top politicians took time to share materials that they considered favourable to them.  

However, a deeper analysis of the documents pointed out some issues.  

Authenticity of graduation  

The documents contained Tinubu’s admission records, and a letter dated 27 June, 2022 confirming that he attended the university from August 1977 to June 1979 majoring in accounting. The letter said Tinubu was awarded Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Honours on 22 June, 1979.  

Diploma issue  

A careful look at the documents showed that the certificate which Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is different from the certificates CSU issued in 1979. Tinubu, who had previously claimed to have lost his original certificates, presented a replacement of his CSU diploma to INEC.  

Gender error  

A copy of his Southwest College transcript with which he gained admission into CSU identified him as female, but CSU has attributed this to a clerical error. However, there were errors on the date and social security number. Also, the space for birthday was left blank in the Southwest College transcript Tinubu submitted to CSU.  

Gaps in College certificate  

Tinubu who applied to Southwest College for an associate degree in 1975 claimed to have attended Government College, Lagos, and presented a 1970 GCE A-level result. Whereas, Government College, Lagos, was established in 1974 by the military administration of Mobolaji Johnson.  

Birthday mismatch  

In his documents to INEC, Tinubu said he was born on March 29, 1952. This is his known date of birth, at least from the yearly colloquium he organised consistently until he got elected into the highest office in the land. However, in the record released by CSU, Tinubu was said to have been born on March 29, 1954, a clear gap of two years.  

Farooq Kperogi, a US-based professor, who analysed the documents said while some were authentic, he believed part of it was forged.  

In a piece entitled, ‘6 Major Findings about Tinubu from the CSU Documents’, Kperogi wrote, “Tinubu obviously identified as a man throughout the two years he studied at the school. A Nigerian CSU graduate and Tinubu’s classmate swore under oath that Tinubu ran for and won election as president of CSU’s accounting students’ association. His yearbook photo from 1979 also clearly showed a younger version of Tinubu.  

“The Bola A. Tinubu who applied to Southwest College for an associate degree in 1975 claimed to have attended Government College, Lagos, and presented a 1970 GCE A-level result with grades E in Chemistry and Biology and an F in Physics. The problem is that Government College, Lagos, was established in 1974. So, there’s a chronological conundrum there, which signposts forgery.  

“It is not clear at the moment if the GCE A-level result is fake or authentic—or if it belongs to the man we know today as Bola A. Tinubu. My hunch is that it does not belong to him. But this will become clear in the coming days.”  

Tweeting via @AreaFada1, musician Charly Boy wrote: “My people, Chicago University don release all Tinubu’s manuscripts to Atiku. Una don dey see as everywhere dey smell for dis we country now. Dem say, when the head of a fish is rotten, the rest of the body will be in a state of rottenness.”  

Another Twitter user, Oluwole Jagaban, said, “Master strategist wey no fit handle ordinary certificate forgery, haba! Wetin the CEO of APC cannot do no exist.” Ladies and gents, exposing the first transgender from Nigeria.

Yeye dey smell. My people make una make sure dis man vomit our mandate, from henceforth na vawulence pro max i dey.”  

But Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, who was Tinubu’s campaign spokesman, asked Atiku to apologise to Nigerians.  

“From the responses by Chicago State University, ATIKU’s journey to Chicago and back has been a journey to nowhere; a fruitless exercise and an odyssey in self-humiliation. President Tinubu and Nigerians deserve an unreserved apology from him,” he said.  

Daily Trust

All Progressives Congress on Tuesday chastised the Peoples Democratic Party presidential standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar, over his quest to obtain President Bola Tinubu’s academic records from the Chicago State University.

National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, attributed Atiku and the PDP’s action to what he called ‘post-election defeat disorder.’

He claimed Nigerians had rejected the opposition party following years of mismanagement and admonished the former vice president to quit politics.

This is happening as the United States’ District Court for Northern Illinois received the former Lagos State governor’s certificates as ordered by Justice Nancy Maldonado.

The court was still taking the deposition of Tinubu’s certificates as of 8pm Nigerian time on Tuesday, following the release of the documents by CSU on Monday in compliance with the court ruling.

Chicago State University released the academic records of the President following requests by former vice president Atiku, who was the PDP candidate in the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert had on September 19 granted Atiku’s request for the release of Tinubu’s academic records but the President filed a review of the order.

Tinubu’s lawyers insisted that the documents would not be relevant in Atiku’s appeal against Tinubu at the Supreme Court and asked for a review of the ruling.

However, Justice Nancy Maldonado, a federal judge, overruled Tinubu’s objections and ordered the CSU to release the president’s academic records.

In the CSU documents, which went viral late Monday night, the institution responded to Atiku’s four requests.

In response to Atiku’s first request for “A true and correct copy of any diploma for a Bachelor of Science degree issued by CSU in 1979,” the US varsity said, “The documents responsive to this request which CSU, after diligent search, has been able to locate are produced herewith and Bates labelled CSU 0001 through CSU 0007. The students’ names on these diplomas have been redacted for privacy reasons.”

On the second request for “A true and correct copy of any diploma issued by CSU in 1979 to Tinubu”, the varsity said, “CSU does not, in the ordinary course, keep copies of student diplomas, and after the diligent search cannot locate a copy of the original diploma it prepared for Mr Tinubu in 1979, hence, has no documents responsive to this request.”

Responding to the third request seeking the release of true and correct copies of the diplomas issued by CSU other than (Tinubu) contained in the same font, seal, signatures and wording, the CSU said, “The documents responsive to this request which CSU, after diligent search, has been able to locate are produced herewith and Bates labelled CSU 0008 through CSU 0010.

‘’The students’ names on these diplomas have been redacted for privacy reasons. The CSU is also producing Bates labelled as CSU 0011 and CSU 0012, diplomas prepared for other CSU students (with their names redacted for privacy) which match the format of the Tinubu’s replacement diploma dated June 27, 1997.”

Also, while responding to Atiku’s fourth request for “true and correct copies of any CSU documents relating to Tinubu’s that were certified by Jamar C. Orr, including with limitation, the documents in Exhibit D to the Uwais Declaration, and all communications to or from CSU concerning the certification of such documents by Jamar C. Orr, during the period August 1, 2022 to August 1, 2023’’, the CSU said, “The respondents’ documents certified by Orr are produced herewith and Bates labelled CSU 0013 through CSU 0032, CSU’s prior objection to the communication aspect of this request was sustained by the Court (see Doc. 40 at pp, 28-29 and Doc. 54 at p, 32), hence no documents responsive to that subject are being produced.”

The Coordinator of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but the APC publicity director berated Atiku for going to such a length in bitterness over his electoral loss.

He stated, “We have said it times without number that the PDP and Atiku are suffering from ‘defeat disorder syndrome.’ The next thing for them to do now is to file another application at the court asking for the number of times Tinubu attended lectures at the Chicago State University.

‘’There is just nothing they won’t question, including asking God why he created the man Tinubu. There is what they call post-trauma disorder syndrome. If they are not treated for it, they will continue to manifest stupidity until such a time when the proper psychiatric assessment of their situation is done.’’

Ibrahim further knocked the PDP for refusing to accept defeat, advising the party’s presidential candidate to retire from public life.

“Remember, Nigerians voted them out. They refused to accept it and went to court. The court threw them out. They refused and went abroad where they were voted out again.

‘’Now, they are still refusing to accept. To us, it is a foregone issue. The case has been rested. Atiku should just swallow his pride and bow out of public life,” he counselled.

PDP reacts

However, the PDP insisted that Tinubu’s academic record released by his alma mater had vindicated its position.

PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, claimed the CSU record indicated that the President presented conflicting documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Abdullahi hinted that the relevant documents would be presented before the Supreme Court to prove the PDP and Atiku’s case against Tinubu.

Atiku had filed 35 grounds of appeal at the apex court to nullify the Presidential Election Petitions Court’s judgment that affirmed Tinubu as the winner of the February presidential election.

Asked if they were satisfied with the documents released by the CSU, Abdullahi said, “Yes we are; that was exactly what we requested. We have suspected and proven that we have a conflicting record about Tinubu, the president of the country, and that is why we sought reliefs from the court to see what he was issued when he graduated from the Chicago State University as he claimed in 1979.”

Speaking further, he added, “He who alleges must prove. Now that we have the document, we will tender it before the Supreme Court. So it’s now for the revered justices of the Supreme Court to see if indeed what we have said against this person can be proven, and then the necessary thing be done per the extant provisions, laws and the Electoral Act.”

Declaring that ‘the game is up,’ Abdullahi stated, “If the judiciary has any modicum of honour left in it, this is the time to prove it and if Tinubu and his people, APC have anything good for Nigeria in their entire conception, this is the time to prove it. Tinubu and the APC should apologise to Nigerians, hand over and go.”

Punch

At least 37 people, including two pregnant women, were burned to death after a blast at an illegal oil refinery in Rivers State, a local security official and community leader said on Tuesday.

Illegal refining is common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria as impoverished locals tap pipelines to make fuel to sell for a profit. The practice, which can be as basic as boiling crude oil in drums to extract fuel, is often deadly.

The latest incident happened in the early hours of Monday in the Ibaa community, in Rivers State, Rufus Welekem, the head of security in the community said.

A Reuters witness saw charred remains of 15 people at an open space surrounded by burnt palm trees and a motorbike.

"Thirty five people were caught in the fire. Two people who were lucky to escape also died this morning in hospital," said Welekem.

Relatives had identified some of the victims and taken them for burial, he said.

Nigeria has for years tried to clamp down on illegal crude refineries, with little success, in part because powerfully connected politicians and security officials are involved, local environmental groups say.

Crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and legal battles over oil spills are pushing oil majors operating in Nigeria to sell their onshore and shallow water assets to concentrate on deep water operations.

Reuters

Niger has banned all exports of liquefied petroleum gas (otherwise known as cooking gas) until further notice, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

National production should be used to supply the domestic market, and in case of surplus a special authorization can be requested to export it, the statement said.

Niger normally exports its surplus petroleum gas to neighbouring Nigeria where prices of cooking gas have been rising in the past couple of months.

Reuters/NewsScroll

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy visits troops in the northeast, holds security meetings

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday discussed the battlefield situation with commanders in Ukraine's northeast, where he visited troops on one of the hottest fronts of the war with Russia.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had been near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and heard from the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on defence in the area and on offensive actions further south, near Bakhmut.

"It is extremely important that Kharkiv, despite everything, not only holds on, but helps to keep our entire east strong," Zelenskiy said.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the president also said he met brigades fighting near the northeastern towns of Kupiansk and Lyman, recaptured by Ukrainian forces late last year. The area has been subject to Russian attacks in recent months.

"We met with brigade and battalion commanders to discuss the battlefield situation, pressing issues, and needs," he said. Photos showed him meeting soldiers in a poorly lighted room.

The president discussed preparation for winter in Kharkiv as Ukraine expects an escalation of Russia's strikes on energy infrastructure. Kharkiv, a major industrial centre, has not fallen into Russian hands since the Kremlin invasion in February 2022.

Zelenskiy, who has regularly visited troops, also handed out awards and urged troops to keep their motivation high.

The president's office also posted video footage showing Zelenskiy shaking hands with troops, inspecting equipment supplied by Western countries, sitting at a long table with commanders and being briefed by an officer standing in front of a map.

Since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in the east and south four months ago, Ukrainian troops have made only gradual gains, but Zelenskiy has rejected foreign criticism that the advance has been marred by poor military strategy.

** Ukraine troops advance on southern front - general

One of Ukraine's top generals said on Tuesday that his forces were advancing in the south, one of two theatres of their counteroffensive to evict Russian occupation forces, but offered few details of their gains.

"In the Tavria sector, there has been an advance by the defence forces," General Oleksander Tarnavskyi said in a post on Telegram, using the military's name for the southern front.

Tarnavskyi, head of the southern group of forces, said troops had conducted 1,198 assignments in the past 24 hours, with Russian forces sustaining losses of 261 men and a further 10 being taken prisoner.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, in its evening report, said offensive operations were proceeding in the east and south, with little elaboration.

It reported Russian air strikes in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the focus of the drive south to the Sea of Azov. The report also said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in areas of Donetsk region already recaptured by Kyiv and around the long-contested town of Maryinka further west.

Military analysts have spoken in the past week of Ukrainian forces consolidating positions around the village of Verbove on their southward drive.

The drive in the east has focused on recovering land around the devastated town of Bakhmut, seized by Russian forces in May after months of heavy fighting.

The Institute for the Study of War, in an assessment issued on Monday, said Ukrainian forces had made marginal gains in the area straddling Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

No additional mobilization, Kadyrov's role in special op: what Shoigu's report was about

There are no plans for additional mobilization in Russia as the armed forces have enough personnel to carry out the special military operation, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in a conference call.

He also pointed out that the Russian military had significantly weakened the combat strength of the Ukrainian troops, thanked the peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh and praised Chechnya and its head Ramzan Kadyrov for their contributions during the special operation.

TASS summarized the main points of the minister's speech.

On conscription and mobilization plans

Fall conscription will be carried out according to plan and within the timeframe established by law, with 130,000 people being drafted to the armed forces. "I once again draw attention to the fact that no conscripts, including those from new regions, will be sent to the combat zone."

"The General Staff has no plans for additional mobilization. The armed forces have the necessary number of servicemen to carry out the special military operation."

Since the beginning of the year, more than 335,000 people have signed up to serve in the military or in volunteer formations. "Just in September, more than 50,000 citizens signed contracts."

On special military operation

The Russian military repulsed all Ukrainian attacks in the Soledar-Bakhmut area, as well as attempts to break through the defense in the area of Verbovoye and Rabotino in the Zaporozhye area: "Through active actions, our troops have significantly weakened the combat potential of the enemy and inflicted serious damage on it."

"Our fighters are acting bravely and resolutely, showing true heroism." Since June 1 alone, 57 associations, formations and military units have received the honorary title of guard units, 20 have been awarded medals, and in the most prestigious units 50-90% of the servicemen have received state awards.

On Kadyrov

"I would like to make special mention of the Chechen Republic and its head Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov. <...> The units under the command of Hero of Russia Apty Alaudinov have proved worthy during the special military operation."

In total, three motorized rifle regiments and three battalions were formed in Chechnya, and after training at the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, more than 14,500 men were sent to the war zone.

On Nagorno-Karabakh

Russian peacekeepers continued to perform their duties when the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated, and through their mediation the sides managed to agree on a full ceasefire.

The military organized the evacuation of more than 98,000 civilians, including 32,000 children, to Armenia and ensured the delivery of almost 300 tons of humanitarian aid.

"I thank our guys - Russian peacekeepers - for their selfless and professional actions, which helped to avoid further casualties."

On military medicine

Medical support for the Russian military in the special military operation zone is "well organized," and first aid on the battlefield is provided "as a rule, in the first minutes after someone is wounded."

More than 98% of the wounded in the Russian armed forces recover. The mortality rate in hospitals is 0.43% and continues to decrease.

Reuters/Tass

Both pro- and anti-Tinubu news outlets and blogs are selectively reporting the documents that Chicago State University handed over to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday. Here are 6 non-partisan tidbits I discovered from poring over them:

1. Chicago State University’s Office of the Registrar affirmed that Bola A. Tinubu indeed attended the university “from August 1977 through June 1979” and was “awarded a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Honors on June 22, 1979.”

The registrar also swore to this under oath. The penalty for lying under oath in America can be steep. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

This information is consistent with my September 2, 2023, column titled, “Tinubu Definitely Graduated from Chicago State University.”

2. The certificate (we call it “diploma” in the US) that Tinubu submitted to INEC is inconsistent with the certificates CSU issued in 1979 and subsequently, indicating that Tinubu forged his. (In the US, diplomas are mere ceremonial documents that most employers don’t ask for. Transcripts directly from universities are the usual ways to verify attendance and graduation.)

Although he did legitimately graduate from Chicago State University in 1979, he obviously lost his certificate and, instead of applying for a replacement, decided to forge it.

That strikes me as mysterious self-harm. It costs only $26 to get a replacement diploma from CSU. But it takes between eight and 10 weeks to receive it after filling out the Diploma Replacement Order Form.

My guess is that, in the typical last-minute, fire-brigade approach to things among Nigerian elites, Tinubu didn’t plan ahead and didn't have enough time to apply for his replacement diploma from CSU to meet INEC's deadline and decided to visit Lagos’ infamous “Oluwole” for a counterfeit replacement.

3. The Southwest College transcript that Tinubu used to get admitted to Chicago State University belongs to a female. I had questioned the authenticity of the transcript because of the many errors in it, such as the date and social security number. We await what CSU has to say about this.

This reality, though, seems to validate uncorroborated but long-standing whispers from the grapevine that Tinubu, who was allegedly born Lamidi Amoda [Yoruba Muslim domestication of Abdulhamid Ahmed] Sangodele in Osun State’s Iragbiji, stole the identity of a female Bola Adekunle Tinubu to go to America.

4. Nonetheless, this whisper may be difficult to sustain in light of the fact that Tinubu’s Chicago State University admission letter dated August 23, 1977, was addressed to “Mr. Tinubu,” not Ms. or Miss Tinubu.

Was the “F” in the transcript from Southwest College a clerical error, especially because the social security number and the dates were also clerical errors? Or was there a cover-up somewhere?

Well, we saw from the documents released to Atiku that after accepting his transfer credits from Southwest College (which later became Daley College), CSU required Tinubu to take qualifying exams in English, math, and reading, which he passed. Why did CSU allow a man who presented a transcript that belonged to a woman to take qualifying exams as a man?

Tinubu obviously identified as a man throughout the two years he studied at the school. A Nigerian CSU graduate and classmate of Tinubu’s swore under oath that Tinubu ran for and won election as president of CSU's accounting students’ association. His yearbook photo from 1979 also clearly showed a younger version of Tinubu.

And Tinubu’s handwriting and signature in the June 27, 2022, Consent to Release Student Education Records form, which authorized CSU to release his academic records to one Oluwole Afolabi of 3 Roosevelt Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey, seems to me similar to his handwriting and signatures in his CSU records.

Finally, if he used a woman’s associate degree from Southwest College to gain admission to CSU without having any background in accounting or business administration, his performance at CSU was perplexing. Of the more than 30 courses he took there, he got C’s in only three courses. The rest were A’s and B’s, which earned him honors.

5. The Bola A. Tinubu who applied to Southwest College for an associate degree in 1975 claimed to have attended Government College, Lagos, and presented a 1970 GCE A-level result with grades E in Chemistry and Biology and an F in Physics. The problem is that Government College, Lagos, was established in 1974. So, there’s a chronological conundrum there, which signposts forgery.

The GCE A-level result also shows that “Bola A. Tinubu” took the exam as an HSC student, which used to be a two-year study after 5 years of secondary school education. In other words, the owner of the certificate must have graduated from secondary school at least in 1968.

It’s not clear at the moment if the GCE A-level result is fake or authentic—or if it belongs to the man we know today as President Bola A. Tinubu. My hunch is that it doesn’t belong to him. But this will become clear in the coming days.

6. Tinubu tells the world that he was born on March 29, 1952, but the birthday recorded in his CSU transcript says he was born on March 29, 1954. The space for birthday in the Southwest College transcript he submitted to CSU is blank. So is the record of his secondary school education. These facts added to my previous suspicion that the transcript was probably fake.

If he was born in 1954, it means he was 14 years old when he graduated from high school.

Bonus: Tinubu’s last name was misspelled in a few of the CSU documents. I thought the “THUBV” misspelling in his final graduation record was bad enough until I saw “Tinububu” in one of the documents. Bubu, remember, is Buhari’s nickname among a vast swath of Nigerians. Make of that what you will.

We should all thank VP Atiku Abubakar for his doggedness, which has helped us to get this much clarity about Tinubu’s past.

Richard Branson has developed an unconventional leadership style that has gained a devoted following. His teachings on entrepreneurship and success are numerous, but three in particular reveal his soul and the human aspect of Branson's leadership.

As the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, Branson recognizes that we all must accept the thing we fear the most – our failures – as the path to success and growth. He also believes we must meet our employees' basic needs to positively impact our businesses.

These principles have proven successful for Branson, and he shares them as his keys to success.

1. Reframe how you look at failure

Branson encourages and even celebrates failure at the Virgin Group. He believes that without trying something new and failing, it's virtually impossible to innovate and grow.

Branson has indeed failed spectacularly over the years, like his Virgin Brides experiment (with Branson donning a wedding gown for publicity) that tanked severely. But he's quick to point out that failure is every part of the entrepreneur's journey:

We've never been 100 percent sure that any of the businesses we've started at Virgin were going to be successful. But over 45 years, we've always stood by our motto: "Screw it, let's do it." Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again. Making mistakes and experiencing setbacks is part of the DNA of every successful entrepreneur, and I am no exception.

2. Communicate with your mouth and ears

Leaders often make the mistake of assuming that communication is about telling their people more information, giving them more directions and commands, and sharing more of their point of view, when all employees really want is to be heard.

For Branson, the best of leaders instinctively understand that communication is a two-way street. He said:

Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader; you have to listen to the people on the front line. That's a very Virgin trait. Listening enables us to learn from each other, from the marketplace, and from the mistake that must be made in order to get anywhere that is original and disruptive.

Most leaders with a good head on their shoulders understand that their front-line workers know when things are not going right or what needs to be improved. 

"If you listen to them," says Branson, "you can soon improve all those niggly things which turn an average company into an exceptional company."

3. Put your employees ahead of your customers

Branson is a people-first leader, which I admire, and for the right business reasons. He has said in the past that if you take care of your people, your people will take care of your customers, which makes everyone – especially shareholders – happy.

Branson has instilled across the Virgin culture the belief that a company's success starts and ends with having an employee-first mindset. 

If managers engage their employees, they'll become more loyal and produce better work, which leads to a better customer experience and, at the end of the road, more profits. In an interview with Inc. some years back, Branson shared:

If the person who works at your company is 100 percent proud of the job they're doing, if you give them the tools to do a good job, they're proud of the brand, if they were looked after, if they're treated well, then they're gonna be smiling, they're gonna be happy, and therefore the customer will have a nice experience. If the person who's working for your company is not given the right tools, is not looked after, is not appreciated, they're not gonna do things with a smile and therefore the customer will be treated in a way where often they won't want to come back for more. So, my philosophy has always been, if you can put staff first, your customer second, and shareholders third, effectively, in the end, the shareholders do well, the customers do better, and you yourself are happy.

This business practice is increasingly becoming the norm for more progressive and fast-growing companies that value their people, even ahead of their customers. The principle is predicated on a simple formula for success: Take care of the people first, and the business will take care of itself.

Inc

Chicago State University, United States of America has released to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

The CSU released the documents to Atiku on Monday in compliance with the order of a United States District Court in Northern District of Illinois.

In ordering the CSU to release Tinubu’s academic record, a US district judge dismissed the President’s objection.

The judge ruled: “For the foregoing reasons, the court overrules President Tinubu’s objections to Magistrate Judge Gilbert’s recommended ruling, and therefore, adopts the ruling in full.

“Mr Atiku’s Application is, therefore, granted. In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, represented to the court as October 5, 2023, and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery.

“Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to Requests for Production Nos. The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Given the October 5, 2023, filing deadline before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the court will not extend or modify these deadlines.”

In the CSU documents, which went viral late Monday night, the institution responded to Atiku’s four requests.

Responding to Atiku’s request for “A true and correct copy of any diploma issued by CSU in 1979 to Mr Tinubu,” the US varsity said: “CSU does not, in the ordinary course, keep copies of student diplomas, and after the diligent search cannot locate a copy of the original diploma it prepared for Mr Tinubu in 1979, hence, has no documents responsive to this request.”

Atiku intends to use the CSU academic record in pursuit of his appeal at the Supreme Court where he is challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

But Tinubu’s legal team has argued that the documents would be of no use at the Supreme Court.

Punch

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, has said while it is not necessary to have the best educational qualifications, a person must be honest and honourable about his or her past to be a great leader.

Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, who spoke during an interview with the Arise News, said challenging the election of Bola Tinubu as president was part of what built and made a nation.

Obi said, “We are at a point where we are challenging the process, these are part of what makes a nation.

“The process through which people come into office or assume or achieve anything is far more fundamental than what they do thereafter. It is important that people come through the right door and not just jump in through the window.

“As far as I am concerned, again, when it comes to the issue of working, even opposition is part of building the process of having the proper government. What is important is that we challenge the process through which this government came into being, and that challenge is still there.” 

On the issue of paper qualification by Nigerian politicians, Obi said, “I never said anything with regards to improving the degree or doing this. The issue of qualification is the issue of leaders making statements, doing things that are honest and truthful. This is an issue of honour and integrity. It is the foundation on which you build society.”

“If you look at what is happening in Nigeria today, there are so many issues of certification, age, all sorts of one falsification or the other, all over within the leaders. There is no way people can be doing this and be able to do the right things because that means they are living a falsified life, and that is not good morally.”

Daily Trust