This is how Mr. James Mwangi, CEO Equity Bank, broke down the path to a successful life for any university graduate or even other people in the society. He did mention 7 clear points in his speech at KCA University. It is worth a reading for anyone who is open-minded and has good ambitions of their future.
First, humble yourself, even if you are graduating with a first class academic qualification. Do not walk on air. There are other people out there who understand certain things even within your area of specialisation better than you do.You do not have it all and nobody in this whole world does.
Therefore, develop the capacity and propensity to harness other people’s abilities to the maximum in pursuit of your personal goals.
Second, there are many things you will try in life which will fail. Remember that it is the idea or the enterprise which will have failed, not you. Quickly move onto some other idea or enterprise which is more likely to succeed. Build into yourself and your operations a stubborn resilience and the ability to recover quickly after making a mistake or facing a setback.Even at our bank, we have made many mistakes and encountered many challenges.But we do not let the public and our partners notice because of our inner resilience and our ability to recover very quickly.
Third, you have been told that we learn through our mistakes. That is true. But whose mistakes are we talking about here? There are almost 40 million Kenyans so there are probably millions of mistakes which Kenyans make every week.Learn from those mistakes!
You don’t have to learn through your own mistakes. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel. Learn from the mistakes that others before you have made. This is a more logical and efficient approach to managing or running any enterprise you may get involved in.
Fourth, when the
times and circumstances change, change with those times and circumstances. Do
not be rooted in the past as you may be crashed in the rush of events
If you live next to
this new Super Highway, you have to learn to cross it differently. You cannot
be crossing it the way you used to do before the road was reconstructed.If you do that you
will be knocked down by the cars which now move much faster or by simply
finding yourself in the wrong lane. There will be no difference between you and
the person who attempts to drive on that highway dead drunk.
Fifth, evoke the
Power of One- the power of the individual. This world that we live in has never
been changed by multitudes. It is changed by individuals. Men like Winston Churchill,
Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Multitudes follow
individuals, not the other way round.
Sixth, always try and
be creative. Let your mind roam and even if you find yourself doing something
that has been done before, find a novel or an unusual way of doing it.
Your customers or
partners will notice the difference and, over time, you will notice the impact
your unusual approach will have on your enterprise.
Seventh, always be a
dreamer and , when you dream, dream big. No large and successful enterprise or
institution has ever been created by an individual who has not dreamt big. It
is the big dream we had about ten years ago which has transformed Equity not
just into the bank but into the movement you see today.
Finally, as far as
possible, do things not only beyond your comfort zone but also those things
that make you happy. Try, happily, to move beyond your village or locality to
the larger space beyond.
Well put by a man who was recently named Forbes' Africa Person of The Year 2012.
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