Don't Do It If You Can't Talk About It (Excerpts From My Book 30 Career Lessons I Learnt Along The Way)
I put a random call through to my former boss after a long time of not being in touch.
He was my branch manager many years before, when I was a relationship manager, but I had since moved to another organization. I mentioned in passing that I was looking at recruiting one of
the guys who worked with us earlier.
His next statement stopped me in my tracks and I've never forgotten till this day. His exact words, "Don't try it. That guy is not a banker; he's a bandit". He then reeled out several dubious acts that were uncovered about the fellow and how he was let off ignominiously.
I had no idea until then. Immediately, I dropped all plans of hiring him.
Integrity is the most important characteristic in the work place for me. It is non-negotiable. Without it your career would be easily truncated.
A seeming lack of discretion can destroy a career that you have built for years.
Not even competence can take the place of integrity because a person can be trained but lack of integrity is a character flaw.
This is why I'd rather hire someone who has integrity but is not as competent, than take someone who is highly competent but lacks integrity.....
Get the book 30 Career Lessons I Learnt Along The Way by sending a DM to @Rovingheights
Philip Amiola: How A Simple Mail Evolved To Book Publication, Website & Newsletter Deals
Today, I met Philip Amiola physically for the first time. But here's the back story:
On August 5, 2020 (almost 5 years ago), I got a mail from Philip Amiola. A screen shot of the mail is shared along with this write up. Apparently, he follows me on X (formerly Twitter) and he had a few suggestions for me.
He suggested a personal blog or website and that he was willing to take my contents and publish them for free on a weekly basis via a newsletter.
The interview took place in Victoria Island, Lagos, that year. I arrived at the venue and met other candidates who came to interview for the role. A few were people I knew from Ibadan.
When it was my turn, I got into the office where the panel interview was held and sat down after I was instructed to do so. There were about seven people on the panel, and it was led by the managing director of the financial institution—an Indian.
One of the questions I was asked was, ‘Why should we hire you?’ The organisation had just started a new branch in Ibadan and was hiring relationship managers. I smiled and responded that I knew Ibadan—their target market—‘like the palm of my hands’.
I wanted to leave that year. I think it was 2006. Banking Consolidation was over then and the industry was opening up. I got an offer of employment from another organization and I went to inform my Branch Manager.
I was a Team Lead but our title was Profit Centre Manager at that time.
My Branch Manager didn't want me to leave. He asked me to see our Regional Director. He knew I respected our RD as we used to call him. I saw him as a kind of mentor.
He was a man that truly inspired me and I looked up to him. I wrote about him recently about how he gave me a ride in his SUV.
I went to the office of our Regional Director to inform him.
Don't Run Away From A Problem You're Designed To Solve
It was circa 2009.
It was an internal advert. I was in Ibadan then but the role was in Lagos. I applied. I got a call asking why I wanted to leave Ibadan which was my comfort zone.
While explaining, I was told the location I applied was a troubled one. The branch had made losses for about 5 years. Different Branch Managers had left or were fired. No one wanted the place. It was like a death knell for any career.
I was scared initially as I spoke to the lady. She wanted me to take my time to think about my decision but I told her my mind was made up. One, I wanted more from my career as I thought I had plateaued at that time so I wanted to try something new.
I always love to start my year the right way and I'm glad the Six Tripple Eight movie on Netflix is the first movie I watched this year. It was really worth every minute of my time.
I love films based on real life events or characters. I believe the secrets of men are in their stories and this particular one was well told.
As I watched the movie, 3 major lessons stood out for me:
1. No task or assignment is mundane- it depends on your perspective about your work or contribution.
Circa 2004/5, I attended quite a lot of interviews. Those were the Banking Consolidation years and while I worked in Ibadan at that time, most interviews held in Lagos.
Interviews were physical then. Most times when I drove to Lagos for those interviews, I came along with my wife who would stay back at the hotel until I was done.
Whenever I picked her up, we would then drive towards Lekki Phase 1 just for sightseeing. We had no business there but we won't leave for Ibadan without driving round. As we looked at those beautiful buildings on the different streets, we gave a free rein to our imagination.