A DOSE OF HUMILITY

When people ask me some of the important ingredients for success, especially in business, one of my top five is humility. As a business owner, being humble means you accept that you don’t know it all, you can calmly reach out for help and take advice as appropriate and relevant to your well-being and that of your business. Being humble entails placing proper value on the contributions of other people as being vital to the overall success of your organisation, and that you treat your staff fairly. It means you acknowledge God and respect people who are ahead of you in your industry and kindly help those coming behind you. Unfortunately, some people confuse self confidence with arrogance; they feel so full of themselves that they miss great opportunities to learn. It is this type of arrogance and unwarranted mouthing off that stops some well-meaning people from investing their experience and expertise in other human beings.

At the end of 2020, as people were recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and organisations were beginning to work out how to manage their resources, I got talking with a couple of friends on what we could do to help some small businesses to get through the period and scale up. We realised that more than funds, some business owners were so devastated by the effects of the epidemic that they needed encouragement to start over. Some needed just a little hand holding and mentoring. We put word out and in a short while, quite a few entrepreneurs sent in their business reports. Of course some were quite outrageous, they were asking for financial support as if they were discussing with world bank, who incidentally, does not hand out money unnecessarily either. Without meaning to, my friends and I were already getting into a low key Dragons’ Den or America’s Shark Tank type situation.

There were about 20 proposals that fell into the categories we were interested in working with. We hoped to give a full mentoring and modest financial support to three companies and act on an advisory capacity to another five. Just looking through the proposals, I had a fair idea about the businesses that had the highest potentials but I still tried to keep an open mind. We set out two days and invited ten for each day. Let me just quickly point out that these friends of mine are people who are successful in their professions and who have businesses globally. They were excited to give back to society, to help another person up.

On the first day, we realised that the entrepreneurs came as if there would be leaving with a fat cheque at the end of the meeting. Some came with friends, family, staff and cameramen, it was a bit unwieldy. We gave a speech reiterating what the meeting was about and the scope of help we were ready to offer. Much to their disappointment, we dismissed the crowd and allowed only a member of staff per organisation to sit in the waiting area. I think it was when it occurred to the business owners that it was not a jamboree and we were more interested in a holistic growth than in dishing out money.

One of the entrepreneurs that we felt needed mentorship and not funds was very disappointed. He had started his business with adequate funds but just looking at his documents, there were areas that we felt could be tightened to give his operation a facelift and a bigger market share. He was also losing a lot of money paying compensations for avoidable liabilities. We analysed what areas we felt he would need guidance over and then he asked: “What of financial support?”

“Your need is more in terms of management than in funding.” One of my friends pointed out kindly. He stays mostly in the UK.

“Says who?” The young man asked arrogantly.

“Could you explain what you mean by that question?” Another friend asked. He and I had more experience with the African factor than the other two. Of course, I already knew that the young man was being rude but I decided to hold my counsel.

“I was made to understand that you people were ready to help some viable organisations to get back on their feet.” He retorted.

“That is what we are trying to do. We will offer you a mentoring opportunity that spans six months and we will review after every two months to know how you are improving and if there’s any need for a change in tactics.”

The man hissed under his breath and shook his head.

“With all due respect, Sir, I know you are all accomplished in your fields but this is my own field. I have been in the finance sector for 15 years. There is no problem with my management. What my organisation needs is funding and if you can’t see that, then, I have wasted valuable time coming here.”

I was shocked. We were not asking to own even 1% of their companies; we were not asking to be paid anything. We just wanted to help.

More than three of the entrepreneurs displayed similar attitudes. In fact, one must have heard some comments from others and he left ahead of our session with him.

Two weeks ago, I read an article that listed some promising organisations in West Africa that had died with the COVID-19 invasion and they mentioned that man’s financial platform. They said he’d closed shop middle of last year and was heavily indebted to the tune of a large amount of money. That told me that through other sources, he had received the funding that he thought was the core need of his organisation but the management loopholes had not allowed that money to save his business. He was too arrogant and ill-mannered to take advantage of quality assistance so easily and professionally offered.

Unfortunately, this is how many people lose opportunities and then inadvertently close the door of such help to other people that could have needed it in the future. A dose of humility might be the missing link to some people’s greatness. Reflect on this.

So long!

Fatherhood with Ibe

NO LITTLE CHILD ANYMORE

On the first day of this month, my little granddaughter declared that she had made the final review of her Christmas wish list, a compilation she seems to have been reviewing and updating since the middle of the year. She had consulted me and several others on the makeup of the list and each time she got a new and useful suggestion, her nanny or other people in the house would help her document it. The items on her list were a public secret; everyone was shown the list in strict confidence. When she announced that she had her final draft, I asked her if she was going to send the list to Santa Claus and she just looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

She told me clearly that the Father Christmas that came to schools and churches and malls were not the real Santa Claus, she said they were just wearing the Father Christmas costume. I was shocked. How did she know that so soon? I wondered, mentally recalculating her age. She then told me calmly that her Christmas wish list was for her parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. She said that she would give the list to all the people she had mentioned so that they would know what to get her as Christmas present.

She showed me what I was supposed to get for her.

“What if I don’t have money to buy you any gifts this Christmas?” I asked her.

She laughed disbelievingly, probably hoping that I would laugh with her but I just kept a straight face.

“Are you broke, Grandpa?” She asked, frowning. What? She knows what being broke meant, I wondered?

“No, I am not broke but I may not have the money to buy your gifts.” I said calmly.

She looked at me for a few seconds as if trying to decide whether I was serious or joking.

“Can you buy a smaller toy at least?” She asked me. I shook my head solemnly.

“That means you are broke, Grandpa.” She declared, looking worried.

How did a child of her age know what being broke meant, I wondered silently.

“The fact that I may not have money to buy your gifts does not mean that I am broke.” I explained.

“You just don’t want to buy anything for me?” She asked, frowning.

“No! It could mean that I have put my money into some businesses and I am waiting for the businesses to become big and give me more money.” I explained carefully.

She smiled and clapped her little hands in glee.

“That is good, Grandpa. So when your money is big, you will buy me a very big Christmas gift, right?”

I nodded helplessly, wondering when children stopped being easy to cajole and distract. The term ‘as easy as taking candy from a baby,’ no longer works. When we were young it was very easy to make promises to little children and divert them with something very small. In fact, kids used to believe that their teeth would fall off if an older person begs them for meat and they refuse. There were too many stories of children that got fleeced of valuable money and gifts by adults just by hatching up one story or the other. There was this friend of mine that had a pretty little niece who liked to dance. Visitors to their house would always give this little girl cash gifts and my dear friend always found a way to collect the money from the little girl. With as little as sweet or some biscuits, the child would happily part with her money. Some adults would give two notes of a much lesser denomination to a child and collect a bigger amount from the kid, for example two five naira notes in exchange for a hundred naira note. And, the child would happily surrender his single note for the two.

You can’t get away with that with today’s kids.

The one that had me in stitches was the story I heard of a six year old boy that a man asked to pick one out of a one dollar bill and N100 note and without hesitation, the little boy chose the dollar. The man asked him why he preferred 1 to 100.

“But this one is dollar,” the child replied.

Determined to understand the full extent of the child’s understanding, the man held out a N200 note to the child in exchange for the dollar but the child held out. When the man gave him N1000 note, he shrugged and surrendered the single dollar.

I think so much exposure to the internet and unsupervised access to information may be responsible for this loss of childish innocence in our kids. Sometimes, it makes things easier though but other times, I wish they would remain childish and impressionable as kids used to. Wasn’t that part of the fun of watching them grow up?