As I have found myself in positions to mentor others, I have devised a theory of my own – that everyone is qualified to be a mentor. I believe that even if you are only one step ahead of another person on the ladder of life, you have a responsibility – an obligation – to reach behind you and help them up with a combination of your experiences and your wisdom.
When I was in university some years ago, I was primarily involved in journalism. I loved it. I was also a part-time Geography teacher in a private high school while running tutorials for my peers and juniors. Then I took on debating and public speaking in my second year and won a range of competitions; I then interned as a… Read More »For Discovery, Before Purpose
The first time I met him was in March 2015, and at that time he was remarkable in an unremarkable way; he was a chubby little boy with a curious dress sense and an eagerness to stand out. We later joked about his checkered shirt and tie combo on his first visit to South Africa to participate at the second… Read More »He Taught Me Leadership: Mubarak Adetunji
“I am a Nigerian going to school here in the US, but I’ll like to eventually have some impact in my home country, and I’m just not sure how to go about it. Do you have any advice for me?” The question was asked by a young lady named Simi, after I had delivered a talk to a room full… Read More »Before Opportunity Strikes
I have never formally had a mentor. I don’t even know if that’s true, but I don’t recall ever entering into a formal relationship with a person and agreeing to be mentored by them. Yet, I have been helped along my personal and professional journeys by several people whom I will consider my mentors; some were academic mentors who guided me… Read More »Is Mentoring Overrated?
I think back very often to the time when I was 13 years old. Being an adult seemed so far away and I was not sure I could wait long enough to do all the things for which I needed to be grown-up: have a job, run my own company, get married, be my own person and every imaginable set… Read More »Memories
Success is not too far from the person who sees the right things even when things aren’t right. #ThinkLikeFaith
Too many times, I’ve committed myself to certain tasks and invested countless hours in them, only to encounter a familiar brick-wall somewhere in my head. I begin to question the relevance of that project, its potential for impact, my interest in pursuing it, and whether I am supremely qualified to embark on that task. Once a while, I soldier on;… Read More »Where is Your Heart?
You hate to fail. You cannot stand the pain of disappointment. You work very hard and push yourself to the farthest limits, because you’ve tasted victory once in life, and you want that same taste over and over again. You have the best work ethic anyone can aspire to, and your incredible skills are designed to bring you great results… Read More »In The End
The grass is greener on the other side – I’ve heard this statement proven and debunked time and again. When you’re going through hard times, you can readily look back on where you were and where you could have been if you hadn’t made that ‘wrong’ move, or if you hadn’t listened to that person. You think that every single… Read More »On The Other Side
It’s 10:25pm in New York from where I took off; it’s 7:25am in Dubai, my next stop; and 5:25am in Johannesburg, my final destination. Ten hours and 45 minutes ago, I took off just as I have taken off every other week over the last couple of weeks, and almost every month over the last two years. Today I’m perched… Read More »Community of the Skies
Every Nigerian who has had the privilege to travel out of the country (whether to Ghana or Russia) knows the pains of being a Nigerian, and every Nigerian who has a relative who has enjoyed such privileges has at least heard about the countless headaches and embarrassments that Nigerians are condemned to suffer out of the borders of their fatherland,… Read More »Pains we live with