The Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr Tony Elumelu, has been in good spirits lately. And it’s not hard to see why this is the case. As an accomplished businessman as well as a proven philanthropist, he has every reason to feel good about himself.
Therefore, whether he is sharing Instagram pictures of himself working out, hanging out with his billionaire friends and global leaders, or at movie premiers, he’s always made it very known that he is currently at a really good place in his life.
Now, Mr Elumelu is also hanging out with young professionals and giving them important pointers to accomplishing success in life.
In a recently shared lengthy post, he said he hung out with five outstanding and young bankers, rubbing minds with them on a whole lot of issues ranging from family, career, and the Nigerian economy.
“It was so much fun to share stories and trade perspectives with them, while gaining insights and useful suggestions from their experiences working with us. In order to build to last, an organisation must cultivate systems and feedback mechanisms to encourage this type of dialogue. Open, frank discussions to listen, learn, inform, engage and educate.” – Elumelu
Writing further, Mr Elumelu said he had to answer questions that were asked by the young bankers. These questions bothered around childhood, early banking days, his family, faith, exercise routine, and more.
He also gave them very important career tips. These important tips he felt compelled to share publicly because it will most definitely benefit people. So here we go – Mr Elumelu’s career tips just for you.
You need to start out right
For him, young professionals should always ensure to start out their careers working in well-structured organisations that offer them immense learning growth opportunities. Such work environments should be able to inculcate needful work ethics and skills.
Now, while this is very necessary, it is important that not every young professional gets this opportunity. This is because such well-rounded work environments are very scarce in Nigeria.
Your dreams as a young professional are valid
This couldn’t be truer than true. After all, everyone wants to accomplish more set goals and be successful. Even Mr Elumelu himself was, at one point in his life, desirous of the time in his life when he would “finally earn my first N100,000.” Today, he is worth billions upon billions.
But he worked hard because dreams alone cannot get you what you want. Therefore, young professionals must be willing to put in the work in order to actualise their dreams.
Strive to be the best version of yourself
Mr Elumelu said young professionals should constantly upgrade themselves by making use of the numerous resources available to them, including the internet. According to him, the digitised nature of our world today makes it easy for young people to access information.
People management is highly important
Whether you are starting out as an entrepreneur or as an employee, Mr Elumelu said it is essential for young professionals to make people management a priority. This is because as an entrepreneur, the difference between the success or failure of your business can be dependent on how well you are able to hire and treat your staff. Therefore, it is important for young entrepreneurs to properly relate with those who work for them. After all, there is a good reason why there is a saying that the workforce is any organisation’s best asset.
In the same vein, young professionals must endeavour to understudy those above them. There is no better way to become an expert other than learning from the best.
He said you don’t have to emigrate from Nigeria
While many young people may disagree with him on this one, read this perspective first in his own words:
“You don’t have to check out, to travel out of the country to become successful. I hear of many young people traveling abroad as a way to escape the economic challenges. What I often say to them is that yes, challenges are real on the continent, but so are the opportunities. Of course, I did not always think so. As a young teenager, I also wanted to ‘checkout’ to America in pursuit of what was sold to us as the better life. Luckily for me, but unluckily for me at the time, my parents could not afford it. That seeming lack of opportunity opened me up to a future in Africa that I could not have had anywhere else. This is not to say there is anything wrong with aspiring to live abroad or relocating for studies, but never forget that there are immense opportunities available to you right here on the continent. If someone like me, from an ordinary background could make it, what makes you think you can’t?”
