Forgotten Diaries

Yomi Olugbenro (Partner,  West AfricaTax Leader at Deloitte) For young professionals and job seekers: Are you fit for purpose? Would you hire you? I’ve been reflecting over my recent experiences while interacting with fresh graduates and how inadequately prepared they are for the corporate world. There’s crisis brewing as we unleash more into the labour market without the needed capacity and mentality. We seems to talk quite often about unemployment issues in the country, but the challenge of “unemployability” is far bigger. Many job seekers approach interviews for which they are blatantly incompetent with entitlement mentality. The words of Dr Salami at the recent Deloitte in Dialogue on Nigeria Economic Outlook 2018 (#DeloitteNEO18) on our labour force’s “fitness for purpose” brought back the memory few days back. We claimed to have large and cheap labour force but we do not fully appreciate the competence gap. We could blame it on the education policy and/or the scho...

You can offer your ideas to people as bullets or as seeds In one way or the other, your efforts at helping someone to change may fail, worsen, alienate them, unless you approach them in love and humility. Most people already know what their problem is. Chances are they’ve been grappling with it fora while, and deep down they want to do better. And unless you’re prepared for a ‘Who-are-you-to-tell-me’ response, you’ve got to approach them in the right way.  Former U.S. Senate Chaplain Richard Halverson writes: ‘You can offer your ideas to people as bullets or as seeds. You can shoot them or sow them. Ideas used as bullets kill inspiration and motivation. Ideas used as seeds take root, grow, and bear fruit in the life in which they are planted. But there’s a risk: once it becomes part of those in whom it’s planted, you’ll probably get no credit for originating the idea. But if you’re willing to do without the credit…you’ll reap a rich harvest.’ So the word for you today is: ta...

"If you occupy a position without having value to add to others, you are only wasting space" -  Richard O.A

"When you have a set-back in any circumstance, do not think of taking a step-back neither should you push-back, but endeavor to knock-back & take a deep breath, while your mind be  unwavering, let God plan a come-back" - Richard O.A

It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have one and not be prepared for it. - Richard O.A