By Gbadamosi Joseph
Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed like you were completely out of place? You began to ask yourself questions like “What on earth am I doing here? How do I blend? How do I give the best impression of myself? Sometimes we end up making terrible mistakes we regret later on in life. Mistakes that could have been avoided in the first place. You see, life is about learning. We keep learning each and every day of our lives. Truly, there is nothing that can’t be learnt. One of the most erroneous ideologies in our ever developing society is the mindset that some are intelligent enough to learn while some are not. Develop the attitude of learning and there is nothing you cannot achieve. My name is GBADAMOSI JOSEPH and I hope that by sharing with you my experience at a leadership conference you see the need to step out of your comfort zone and take your world by storm.
I arrived at RADINSON BLU Hotel, Ikeja at exactly 11:30 am with expectations as high as the skies. These expectations had been ignited by a friend of mine who spoke about the conference in high tones. Armed with my ticket I asked the Gateman for directions as to the particular hall the conference was taking place. He directed me and I thanked him profusely.
I stood in front of the first elevator waiting for the security personnel to complete his search of my belongings Goodness! I was excited. It was a five star hotel, the pinnacle of the Hotel rose high into the skies.
As we stood in front of the elevator and the security personnels checked all our belongings to ensure we meant no harm, I quickly dusted my trousers, checked my shirt and made sure my shoes were looking good to go.
“Joseph stop! It’s a leadership conference not Paradise” Ayo said trying to hide his own excitement.
As soon as we were done we were led into the main hall. My goodness, it was huge! There were huge chandeliers dropping from the ceilings, the highest form of sophistication I had seen in a while. There were a few stairs spiraling from the center of the hall into ‘GOD KNOWS WHERE’. The look on Ayo’s face was pure gold. I laughed out loud. We were definitely going to get lost.
I took a moment to glance around at the busy men and women floating around like they owned the world, their dressing were top notch. Standing there it was easy to forget you were in one of the most corrupt and poverty stricken countries in the world. Suddenly, I looked at my dressing. I was a bit disappointed but I swore I would be more prepared next time. A man swayed in with three ridiculously young girls dressed as harlots. They had obviously booked a room. I and Ayo exchanged glances, the same thought crossing our minds.
After walking up and down a couple of stairs, almost barging into a very important room, and standing in front of lifts like we knew what we were doing we finally decided to ask for directions from the main secretary at the entrance.
“Good morning ma, please we are here for ‘INBUILT 2019’ by ‘THE UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD’.”
“Oh, just walk down that road and turn right. You will see a couple of lifts. Walk to the first one by the right and punch in the number 5” She replied revealing a perfect set of teeth.
Finally, we made it to the hall. It was a glamorous setting. Seated were men and women of various calibers, colours and sizes. Some white, some Chinese, some Black. It was a beautiful sight indeed.
The First session had already began. I and my friend were late all thanks to our ego. The teacher was a Female Nigerian with beautiful hair and a silky voice. Using a slide show she rambled on and on about famous leaders who changed the world. As I looked down my eyes transfixed on her legs. She had a problem with one leg that prevented her from walking properly. I looked up. I had gotten my first lesson of the day. ‘NEVER LET YOUR LIMITATIONS STOP YOU FROM ACHIEVING YOUR DREAMS’.
“Leadership is about ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things. An aspect of leadership is followership. Transformative leadership is geared to spark a global positive change.” She said
“The likes of Abraham Lincoln, Barrack Obama and others were all ordinary people that decided to do something extra-ordinary.”
I payed rapt attention and completely ignored everybody around me. I was there for a purpose and no one was going to distract me. No one, not even the group of stunning ladies chit chatting right in front of me.
“I am currently a representative of the University of Bradford in some exclusive affairs. I did not get here by chance. I consciously worked and developed myself to a point of relevance.”
“The University of Bradford has just introduced a couple of courses. An example is the recent course on conflict resolution which has been in popular demand. Please if interested, do well to register at the stand.”
Out of pure curiosity I strolled to the stand and asked for details of the registration. After few minutes of scrolling through pages of millions of Naira, I swallowed and humbly went back to my seat.
It was Lunch time!. It was a buffet service. In front of me lay a sophisticated and apparently delicious set of Dishes. From Jollof rice to Chinese Rice, From Spaghetti to a weird looking noodle I quickly walked past. The most beautiful set of meals I had seen. After serving ourselves to our fill, we were arranged and placed on specific tables with a different topic each. On each Table was a facilitator to teach us a particular topic. Mine was a white woman who taught on BRANDING. It was eye opening but most of my attention was channeled towards the face of the woman and the intense feeling of doom that brooded over me whispering in my ears “Joseph, you will mess up soon. You will not hold the cutleries well, You will smile too much, your English will not be good enough”. With a gentle shrug I pushed the fears away and looked up. Ayo had finished his food and was going to get more for himself. “This guy does not seize to amaze me” I said to myself, laughing inwardly. Looking down, I concentrated on my chicken.
“Alright Ladies and Gentlemen it is time to network and get to meet yourselves!” I nearly dropped my fork. I was still ransacking my brain for a sort of magical formula that will make it easy to blend with these high class people when I heard a soothing angelic voice coming from my right hand side. “Hey handsome, how are you doing?” a stunning looking girl strode towards me. I looked back, no, it could not be me. But I was the one. She wore a gold dress embroidered with patterns only worthy of the best designers, her skin glowed in the light. She dressed to Kill.
“Oh, I’m Joseph. May I meet you?” I said standing up and holding my cup like I owned the world. If I was going to be here for the next few hours, I should at least make the most of it.
It turned out she was a popular voice in the world of fashion. Surprisingly we connected very well though I found her phonetics intimidating. I told her about some of my dreams and aspirations and it turned out we had like minds. Not long after we met lunch time came to a close. We quickly exchanged contacts.
The next sessions that followed were block busters. I learnt a lot. It was indeed memorable.
As I sat in the public bus transporting me back to my hostel from Ikeja, I ruminated on all I had learnt that day. One lesson stood out “TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL YOU NEED RELATIONSHIPS”. It sounded so loud in my ears I looked around for a moment in a dream like trance. Success is not a game of luck. You must be ready to pay the price of sacrifice, you must be ready to work, be focused on your dreams, consciously build solid relationships for no man is an island of knowledge and the sky will be your limit. Life is not designed to give you what you want but what you give. That day I knew that there were people who were doing really well in this terribly talked down country. From then onwards I ignored everyone who said it is not possible to make it in Nigeria. I got down from the bus and thanked Ayo profusely. Looking around me, I noticed the sharp contrast between the two environments I had been to in one day. Silently I whispered, with a will so strong my fists clenched “I refuse to live a life of mediocrity!, I will be successful!. I will make my family, friends and everyone whoever believed in me proud!. I owe them that much!.
P.S: If you found this helpful please comment underneath with @Leadership Conference. Thank you
0 Comments