The last week of every December is usually a period of reflection for me. I reflect on how I faired in my business, career, family and personal life from January to December of that year. I have done this consistently since 2018. The case of 2022 was unique because the company, Buildsafe Nigeria Ltd, which I founded in 2013 was going to be 10 years in February 2023. I realized that I have not done well as I loved to do. The popular saying that “you cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result”, came to my mind. It was a bit challenging to decide how to approach the improvement process. I eventually decided to do gap analysis of our system.
The gap analysis revealed that I, as the managing director, did not have the right competencies that will take Buildsafe to the desired level. Sound engineering experience alone was not enough. To my amazement, I found out that I was putting so much effort into enhancement of our engineering capabilities without any improvement in our business development strategy. To close the identified gaps, I decided to enrol for MBA at Lagos Business School. I was not sure if I would cope with the pressure associated with an MBA program. Luckily Modular Executive MBA (MEMBA) matched my considerations at that time. I consider this decision to be the best I have made in the last decade.
I was eager to start the programme. Any day that passed looked like a week. I was calling the school frequently to know when the programme will commence. We finally started it in July 2023 as MEMBA 12. So far so good. I am getting exactly what I expected. The four courses introduced to us were all exciting. Firstly, Corporate Finance Accounting (CFA) has helped me to understand financial statements. I wondered how I have signed nine audited reports during my business without understanding the contents of the financial statements in the report. Now the story is different. Few days ago, I started the analysis of our financial statements from inception, hoping to use it to identify areas of improvement. The second course is Management Communication (MC) which has positively transformed my communication style. The third course is Analysis of Business Problem (ABP). ABP has challenged me to analyse every situation based on facts rather than sentiments. The last is Data Analytics (DA). This course has taken MS Excel into a new realm.
The way these courses have been thought shows that one complements the other. For instance, while CFA is giving you the basic knowledge and application of corporate finance, DA is equipping you with the skill to analyse and make quantitative sense of the available data. ABP on the other hand gets you to read meaning into every communication or data. Finally, MC will aggregate and present your thoughts, analysis, and ideas in a way that it will be understood by all stakeholders.
I believe that NBA is good for every manager. What do you think?
#MEMBA12
