SHOULDERS OF A GIANT

To be great, one must stand on the shoulders of those who know the way to greatness.

Oluwakemi Arewa

It was 2:00 pm. Time couldn’t move fast enough. Any minute now I said to myself.

It was the first time I was going to have a conversation with my mentor and I did not want timeliness to be a problem. Finally, at 2:30 pm I made the call. it rang twice and nothing.

I called again and this time around he picked up.

Oluwakemi, can I call you back? I’m still in the middle of a meeting.

 I said yes sir and cut the call.

True to his words he called back 10 minutes later.

We talked about my business goals and after listening to me, he called my attention to a statement I made and said;

You must never say maybe or if as an entrepreneur. Be sure of your vision and goals that’s the only way you’re really ever going to be successful. Your drive must be strong enough to steer other people to action.

Wale Olaoye

My brain automatically hit a reset button.  We had only been speaking for a few minutes and boom!  Words of wisdom.  Haa I should frame these words I said to myself.

  Before the end of the call, he gave me an assignment.

Write down your short-term goals, medium and long term so we can talk about them during our meeting.

I said yes sir. After which he cut the call.

Some days later, I sent the assignment to him by mail. He challenged most of my thoughts and gave me insights into how true business models should work

EUPHORIA

I walked into his office and I couldn’t believe my eyes,

He was the one. The images I had stored in my head from google did not do justice to his looks. He smiled briefly at me and said:

Welcome, Oluwakemi. How are you?

please Sit down.

I smiled back and curtsied. He asked me how my day was and if I wanted anything to drink.

I said no sir.

I was only interested in drinking from his wealth of wisdom. I saw him as an outstanding leader, a trailblazer of excellence and change with transformative skills that turned a small-scale business into a large-scale international company.

I asked myself.

What steps did he take to optimize growth? How did he manage staff?

Was there a business blueprint I could learn?

What mistakes did he make? How did he turn things around?

I wanted to know so many things. But I told myself, Oluwakemi calm down. One step at a time.

I did not have to wait for very long. That same day, WO gave me lessons in business management and personal success

BUSINESS TRAINING 101

I learned about self-development, business management, talent discovery, principles of business relationships, and the ethos of self-management.

All in one day.

LESSONS

One of the things he said to me that I will never forget is a statement on vision.  

What distinguishes a good entrepreneur is the ability to see the end from the beginning. As a leader you must always think of the consequences of your action or inaction. Simply put always keep the end in view

Wale Olaoye.

My first mentorship session was intense, insightful, refreshing, and very fulfilling. One of the things I was really grateful for was the fact that a giant in the industry made himself available to mentor, train, and coach others to become great individuals.

#WOSPROTEGE #LEADERSHIPDREAMS #EMBER27