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
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.
The Road to Kigali: The Story of Annonciata Mukandoli
I visited Rwanda in 2017. That is one holiday etched indelibly in my memory. For days after my trip, I found it difficult to sleep because of what I saw.
On one of my several tours in Rwanda, I went to the Catholic Church at a town called where a lady, Rachel was my tour guide. Over 10,000 people who had sought refuge in the church during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 were killed.
She took me round the premises of the church which had now become the burial site of the victims. I saw the crypts holding the bodies. We entered a crypt and saw rows upon rows of coffins where families who had been identified were buried.
WHAT TO DO IN A TIME LIKE THIS
(I wrote and shared this on our church platform today. Hopefully, it will be a blessing to someone here too). Read on.............................
Let me quickly share what has been a burden upon my heart throughout this week.
There is a lot of confusion in the nation as a result of the economic challenges and I believe there is a need to address this.
What do we do at a time like this?
Isaiah 8: 12 MSG
"God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:“Don’t be like this people,always afraid somebody is plotting against them.Don’t fear what they fear. Don’t take on their worries".
I was so shocked that I still recollect the event as vividly as it happened then around 2004/5. The guy was very popular then in Warri. A high-flyer who always dazzled everyone at our meetings. His presentations were always top notch.
He always looked dapper in his pin-stripe suits. His bulging biceps showed even in his suits. He always looked like someone that stepped out of a GQ magazine.
Then it was Christmas that year. He was home with his wife when robbers struck. Till date, I wonder if he struggled with them. His wife said he didn't. The robbers entered their Warri home, took their valuables and shot him. He died on Christmas day.