When I pick up a book to read, I always say to myself that there is at least one lesson for me to learn in the book, my one takeaway. The nature of the takeaway does not matter, it may be clarification to a thought, a different perspective from one I had, a concept I was not previously aware of or considered before, or indeed a life changing idea. I do not know if the lesson will be on the first or last page of the book and I certainly have no idea what the lesson may be. This is my guiding principle, I always believe it to be true, hidden somewhere within those pages and my responsibility as the reader is to find it.
I have the same guiding principles when I see a movie or take a course. It certainly was my viewpoint when I applied to Lagos Business School’s Executive MBA programme. The programme is scheduled for 24 months, which is give or take 730 days. As always, I said to myself, “there is at least 1 thing to learn here”. It may be on the first day in class, an interaction on the veranda with a colleague, a mentorship engagement or on the last day of the programme, that would not matter. What would matter is that I am alert to the opportunity and ready for the lesson.
It felt the day came in one of the brush-up sessions, that is, before the programme had even commenced. It was during the “Search Inside Yourself (SIY)” module that I learnt what would be a “mind changing” idea. The module teaches mindfulness and emotional intelligence as a means to improves one’s overall productivity and wellbeing.
The co-facilitator, Dr Tunde Reis, OON, concluded one of the sessions by saying, “where I have succeeded in life, it was because I had the emotional intelligence to succeed at that level, and where I have failed, it was because I lacked the emotional intelligence to succeed at that level”.
This idea, this thought, this exposition immediately fundamentally impacted the way that I see things, evaluate situations, interact and respond to other, even assess outcomes. In simple terms, this idea changed my life. I remember thinking to myself sometime after the class, “if this programme ended today, I would have gotten a good return on the investment” because of this one class, or more particularly, this remark by the facilitator.
But the programme did not end after the SIY module. In fact, there are 700+ more days to go, and I believe there is more to learn, perhaps a lot more. I am tempted to think that is at least 700 more life changing things to learn. But no, I choose not stretch it, I will keep to the fundamental approach. It is “one more” thing to learn, with 700 opportunities to do so. My job, my responsibility, is to be alert and ready… I will be ready! How can I not be? Why would I not be?
