inspiration post

There were many events of significance to me this past weekend. Some are spirit lifting, some are lesson laden but one particular event was heartrending. To me, this is one of those moments when the ink in my pen refuses to flow. My heart is heavy, the words are few. Nigerians groan under harsh conditions but resilience describes her people even in the face of uncertainties of what tomorrow holds. When everything else fails, the succour we seek is in the place of worship, where we dump all challenges and hold on to the hope in the God of creation. If this only hope is taken away, what then is left to live for? It was a black Sunday in Owo, Ondo State yesterday when unidentified gun men mingled with worshippers to maul down unidentified number of people and spilled innocent bloods in a carnage that can be well described as the Owo massacre.

I was thrilled to be admitted to the Book Club @ Peace House under the leadership of Mrs ‘Peju Babafemi. She is a reader, a leader and a technocrat who presently occupies the prestigious seat of the Head of Service of the Ekiti State Civil Service. In a world that has dynamically gravitated towards instant messaging and short codes as means of communication, I am particularly excited that we still have a few leaders championing the reading of books as a veritable means of transmitting knowledge. My inspirational page this week is dedicated to the Book Club @ Peace House. My book, Winning Strategies, has been nominated for reading and discussion at the third edition of the book club programme of the Book Club @ Peace House. What about the book? Winning Strategies is a handbook for leaders and aspiring leaders, written by Akin Oluwadare Jnr, my humble self. The book was unveiled in November 2020 and officially launched in June 2021

Anytime I remember my childhood, I cannot but wish that I have the privilege of choosing how to live but life is more than mere wishes. Naturally, children don’t like to work. They work better in an atmosphere of play, understandably so. I remember how we looked forward to recess when I was in the primary school. Recess then was a short break between morning and early afternoon classroom work, the type we can call biological break. Recess to us as school children was more than a biological break. It was a moment of liberty to play. The freedom to play within the 10 to 15 mins recess had a way of refreshing and reinvigorating us to do classroom work before the big one, the lunch break. We looked forward to recess the same way we looked forward to lunch break. To us, both symbolised the freedom to play. Lunch break to us as school children was much more than a period to eat lunch. It was synonymous with freedom from classroom work regimentation, when you could choose for yourself the kind of play you preferred without being restricted to the four walls of the classroom. Sometimes I wonder if the teachers would have been able to keep us in the classroom from morning till closing time without the periodic breaks at intervals to enable us draw strength from play. This is for children. Now as adult, what impact does short breaks have over your work? Have you ever thought about that?

Communication has never been this aggressive. Inventors of mass communication as a course of study must have seen into the future of the media to know that a time would come when everyone and anyone can communicate to everyone and anyone even without their consent. Could it be the reason they named it mass communication? With the advent of the internet, technology has not only ceded the management of communication to ‘everyone’, the invention of instant messaging vide the social media liberalised information dissemination in a manner that confirms the mass appeal of communication through unsolicited advertisements and chain broadcasts. Even then, the freedom of expression enabled by the seamless communication of the modern age requires wisdom and tact. Many times, communicators offend receivers of their messages knowingly or unknowingly, even when they mean no harm. In other words, communication can be more violent than physical combat.

This is not a political post. The political atmosphere is charged, no doubt. Hence, it is not unexpected to read meaning to the subject of this post. Let me say with emphasis that as a leadership coach, the topic I chose for discourse today is more about leadership than politics and I take full responsibility for any reaction this post may attract. I met Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) for the first time ever at the Fountain of Life Church, Lagos sometimes in 2009. The occasion was the annual Word Explosion conference of The Fountain of Life Church where Pastor Osinbajo was a guest minister. Aside the fact that Pastor Osinbajo is a friend to the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, his younger brother, Akin Osinbajo (SAN) is also a Pastor in the church. Pastor Yemi Osinbajo spoke for about an hour and half. Before then, I have never met him physically nor had the opportunity to listen to him speak, even virtually. I still remember every detail of the sermon word for word but let us save that for another day. I took a long sigh after his ministration and I prayed quietly that God should cause a miracle to get Pastor Osinbajo closer to the top echelon of leadership in Nigeria. Six years later, by providence and divine orchestration, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, became the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do”. This is an excerpt from Steve Jobs’ epoch making speech to the staff of Apple some years back during the “Think different” campaign. Unarguably, Apple products have changed the world. Many times we think about the future as if it is far away but more often, the future comes knocking on our door before we know it. You can actually bring the future closer by the action you take today, particularly if you still have all the time to make a choice and chart a course for yourself. I remember in my secondary school days when everyone wanted to be a medical doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer. The popular mantra then was professional course and you were made to prepare for this challenge by the choice of subjects you offered. In my school then, it was particularly more prestigious if you belonged to science class and our colleagues in science class saw themselves as first among equals. Others were made to feel like second class students not bright enough to stand the rigours of study.

If you are that upwardly mobile young man or woman who is still at your prime, if you still have full vigour and the benefit of flexibility to take decisions that affect your life and growth, let us have a dialogue. We may not totally agree on all the issues but let’s get into it. I will come back to figure 6. There is this young man I know. Very diligent, hardworking and reasonably ambitious. I knew him through a cousin of his and he offered that I should be his mentor. I saw in him a promising young man and I accepted his offer with gladness. He was a messenger in the organisation he was working with at the time but he was determined to make a success of his situation. We agreed that we should be in constant touch. He enrolled in a university as a distant learner. Slowly but steadily, he progressed in his studies and we kept regular touch.

I think that passion is much deeper in meaning than we usually ascribe to it. Very often, we use the word ‘passion’ loosely but the emotional attachment to the word activates positive energy that is difficult to ignore. Passion defies the odds and it could be addictive but in a positive way. It is not difficult to identify your passion. There is a leading question that can point you to the way of what you are passionate about. What is that thing you derive so much satisfaction doing that you will still enjoy doing even when there is no financial rewards? To some, it is a straight answer while to others, some deeper thinking is needed before they can answer. There is something about passion. Sometimes it looks crazy, particularly when it is only you who have a deep understanding of what you are aiming at. At other times, it may not make sense to an observer and it may be difficult for you to explain for others to understand. What you shouldn’t do is to pander to the whims of others and jettison your passion simply because you want to be accepted.

It takes discipline for anyone to accept criticisms, even when the criticisms are constructive and objective. Very few people, if at all, enjoy to hear from people who don’t share their views on any matter. An average human being would prefer to hear himself through others who share his own views. As close as your nose is to your eyes, you will need the help of another person to see a spot on your nose except you use the mirror. A possible interpretation here is to say that the closest person to you may not be the person you need most if you care to know how well you are doing. It is the most natural thing for one to surround himself with people whom he loves and who love him in return. How would someone enjoy hearing from those who don’t like him? But he honestly needs to. It sounds like a contradiction but that is what it is. Most of your loved ones would dress the truth in sweet words and rather tell you what makes you happy to keep the fire of friendship burning. There are times you need more than that.

Show me an entity that is about to get its leadership right and I will show you a setting that is about to set the pace to do new things. It’s no rocket science. It’s either you are doing something new or you are doing old things in new ways before you can get new results, particularly if you are displeased with the results on your hands. Nigeria is on the march again, looking for Mr President. Events of the past few weeks have altered the political landscape. Politicking is in full swing and horse trading has almost gone full circle. The political atmosphere is charged. Tongues are beginning to wag and tempers are already rising. We are on the march again, looking for Mr Fix it.