LESSONS FROM A CEO

There is a saying that learning is a progressive and lifelong endeavour. The moment you feel you don’t have to learn again, you begin to depreciate in value and as a  matter of fact, to stop learning is to die. 

A great man ( Mike Murdock) once said “when asked what I do for a living, I tell them I learn for a living”, little wonder his influence is incontestable. 

I am going to be sharing with us briefly, 10 valuable lessons I gleaned from my encounter with a pastor who also doubles as a medical Consultant CEO. Tighten your seat belt and come with me.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, DON’T MAKE IT HARD 

Now imagine a life where you have all the time, freedom, financial freedom, the good health you desire and can spend time with your family and those you love, just doing what you love to do by imparting lives and putting smiles on people’s faces. Now I hear a question: is this possible ? My answer is a big  YES. As a matter of fact that was God’s original intent for man, and God is pleased when this happens. (Proverbs 35:27,3rd John 1:2).

I have learnt that what it takes to achieve this among a few other things are:

Deep love for God and Intimacy with Him (1st Corth.2:9-10)

Righteousness (1st Kings 3:11-13,Psalm 11:2-3)

Commitment to self-growth and development (Proverbs 1:5,13-15,8:1-20)

Diligence and Commitment to a cause. (Proverbs 22:9)

Consistent commitment to excellence

Commitment to engaging in value-adding activities/services. 

On the other hand, laziness, negative thoughts and words, procrastination, and above all, disobedience to the above principles will eventually lead to a life of hardship ( Proverbs 13:25).

GOD IS ALL YOU NEED 

It is usually said that hard work is what is needed to be successful in life, however, it has been proved that hard work alone does not necessarily make one successful in life. My life experience made me to  understand that it is God’s grace and favour combined with “smart work” that produces tremendous results (Ecclesiastes 9:11). If the former were to be true, then labourers, bricklayers and truck pushers would have been in control of the world’s wealth, but we know that they are not. Robert Kiyosaki said “if you trade your time and strength for money, you can not be rich “(Cash flow quadrant of rich dad). Remember that it is God who gives us power to make wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:18).

YOU’VE GOT  ALL IT TAKES 

It is generally said that whether you think you can do it or otherwise, you are right for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 3:27). It will be of interest for us to  know that God has equipped us with talents, gifts and virtues that make for a fulfilled life. It therefore our duty to prayerfully discover and harness our unique endowments so as to bless humanity with same. We all have what it takes to be successful inside of us. All we need to do is to discover our unique make up, develop and harness it in order to bless humanity and by extension, create the expected end. If we do not realise the fact that we possess great potentials inside of us, we tend to settle for anything life offers us. The resultant effect is hardship, misery, poverty and endless woes. 

RELEASE THE GOLD IN YOU

Having this knowledge that we all have what it takes to create the ideal lifestyle that we desire, it is imperative that we strive to excel by stirring up the virtues of greatness that God has equipped us with. NOTE, for gold to be valuable it must first be sought for relentlessly and when found, there is a digging and then it is passed through series of refining processes which include passing it through fire. Comparatively  speaking, so do we need to sharpen our talents, gifts and abilities through constant learning and research. 

We rediscover our true selves when we ask deep and searching questions such as WHO AM I? WHY AM I  HERE? WHERE AM I FROM? WHAT CAN I DO? WHERE AM I GOING TO?. The answers to these questions should therefore widen our horizon about life generally and with particular reference to our abilities. With consistency and determination comes excellence, achievement and fulfilment of purpose by imparting humanity positively. 

A wise man, (Dr Myles Munroe of the blessed memory) once said that the richest place on earth is the graveyard, not because of the cost of the coffins nor exuberant ceremonies, but because there lies untapped  potentials.

In summary, there are no words as “I can’t do this” but rather, I don’t want to do this" because we truly can do anything if we would commit just enough time to learning how it is done.

THIS WORLD CAN BE A BETTER  PLACE

Think about a world where everyone is concerned about making impact, solving problems and concerned about what to do to improve the quality of living and not giving to social vices. Let us also think about a world where everyone productively engages himself or herself with the common goal of solving the existing social problems. Ponder over a wonderful world wherein our collective efforts is geared towards making generations after us greater. A generation where love, peace, acceptability and social development are deeply rooted norms. 

A wise man once said “you will always get in abundance, what you want, if you will help as much more people get what they want” (Rev. Sam Adeyemi). It is very instructive knowing that we ought to live a life of  selflessness. 

YOU CAN SOAR ABOVE THE LIMITATIONS OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT 

To a large extent, one can be limited by the vicissitudes of his immediate environment. However, we can always rise above every limitation if the right things are in place, such as the right mind set, right thoughts, health, determination and ability to take prompt action.

From the Bible, we discover that one way to soar above limitations as well as experience good success is to live a righteous life coupled with meditating on God’s word. (Psalms 1, Josh.1:8).

STEP OUT OF THE CONVENTIONAL 

With no intention of  appearing insultive, most people operate in the slavery mentality of go to school, get a good grade, get a good job, work for a good pay, then retire and depend on Pension. It is obvious that with the rate of unemployment particularly in developing countries and the rapid technological advancement, where the use of computers/robots are replacing humans even in some very complex areas like in hospitals where robots now operate on human beings. It therefore becomes pertinent that we develop our God-given potentials to enable us be self reliant. With determination, proper mentorship and willingness to deal with our comfort zone, we can over a period of time become great entrepreneurs, investors, business owners, in addition to our careers. It is to be noted here with due respect that working for salary will never make one to be financially free. The question then is, what do we do? Observations and the study of some great entrepreneurs have shown that having multiple streams of income is what actually makes one to be financially free. Thus, much as a paid job (salary) is good, it should  be a platform to launch us to a height where we can express our potentials and harness same for imparting humanity positively. The above point is the reason why workers in the Oil and gas sector are not financially free, at the best they can be rich. 

I was privileged to meet a man, Dr. Musa who is a Medical Consultant and also doubles as a pastor and CEO of several multinationals. One can see in him that he is not under any  stress because he’s been able to step out of the conventional to give his potentials expression. This automatically takes him above the hardship that comes with conventionality.

Food for thought, think of how much good you will do to yourself, family and the world at large if you will just take the bold step out and obey the voice within. YES YOU CAN!!.

YOU CAN ACHIEVE  YOUR DREAMS 

I will like to reiterate the story of Joseph in the Bible who had a dream at a very early age in life that he was going to be a voice in his  generation. Then suddenly, opposition, blockers and stoppers of destiny arose from his own brothers. This led from his being thrown into the pit, to slavery in Egypt, to his imprisonment all in an attempt to  abort the dream and stop him from fulfilling his destiny. It is worth noting here that Joseph remained focused and determined, and he loved and revered God. Integrity, holiness and uprightness in character were his watchword and eventually despite all he went through, his dream spoke for him and became a reality. (Habakkuk 2:3).

You can also achieve your dream irrespective of the odds and challenges you are faced with. If you can adopt the principles of commitment, consistency, uprightness, godliness, focus and finally smart-work.

BUILD SYSTEMS 

It is an indisputable fact that the world is now a global village. It is therefore imperative that one builds working systems around one’s business out post in order to be globally recognized and relevant. It is also important to create master minds, that is, people of like minds in the organisational set up to not only make it a global concern, but self sustaining and expanding. This is the nature of the businesses we have in Asian countries where companies and organisations far out live their founders. 

According to Dr. Myles Munroe (of the blessed memory), leaders do not maintain followers but raise up leaders. This is a method whereby such leaders replicate themselves in their organisations or companies. Such companies still thrive long after the leaders are no more. Robert  Kiyosaki is of the view that “If you trade all your time for money (no leverage), then you are poor”. The reason is because if something happens to such a person, business suffers. 

Working systems are the reasons companies and organisations last for hundreds of years. 

BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR BEGINNING 

The Bible teaches us not to despise the days of our little beginnings. If we follow the principles enunciated herein we will surely end up great. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

What do you want to be remembered for?

What would you want to be celebrated for?

What should you do differently ?

What do you think of yourself ?