Some years ago, I was in London on one of my school tours taking high school students from Nigeria on summer holidays to the UK. It was vacation trips we packaged as learning excursions. I was then fully into (intellectual) events and tours. By the way, I still handle them. I had an events management outfit where I handle lots of events, corporate meetings and conferences for several organizations. We have handled logistics for several ECOWAS conferences in Ghana.
My team does not only manage the meetings, I do immerse myself in the subject of the meeting. As we process the speakers/participants documents and presentations, I read through and understand the subject matter to a large extent. While sitting through the sessions, I make sure I flow with the speakers and facilitators. On some occasions, I have landed an additional assignment as the conference rapporteur. This gives me an added edge where I have to summarize the proceedings and present to the conference owners as part of my contract.
I do extensive research on the subject matter of the meetings I am contracted to handle so as to efficiently cordinate the sessions. I have also managed developmental projects for several EU agencies operating within West Africa. I have gained this expertise by immersing myself in the opportunities I get to be part of the conferences and intellectual discourses. At lunch, dinners and cocktails, I engage the consultants and subject matter experts when we have informal conversations. To them, it is small talk, but to me I am being further educated.
I gained expertise in business negotiations when I managed almost all the ECOWAS-EU EPA negotiations meetings in Accra several years ago. We had earlier had a series of stakeholders meetings across West Africa. We then managed the ECOWAS team consultative meeting, before the proper negotiation lockdown itself. I did not see myself as an outsider who is just a meeting organizer. I immersed myself innocuously in the whole process and LEARNT from the experts. Over time, I developed industry expertise and the consultants actually thought I was a trade expert. In fact I begun to feature within their network.
I had been contracted by this school in Nigeria to take their students to London on a summer excursion when I got an email from the CEO of a highly placed consulting firm. I had been referred to them by another consultant. It was to help with some challenges they were having on a project they were running for the ECOWAS organization. I responded and let him know that I was in London. He immediately called and requested a lunch meeting in his office the next day, if I was available.
Of course, I handed over the group the next day to my assistant and headed for this plush high rise office overlooking St. Paul’s, in the heart of London. We had a lovely lunch in his beautiful office and talked shop. He outlined some of the problems they were having and I could easily identify the hurdles they were facing and knew how to clear them. I told him some of the interventions and strategies required to pull them out of the impasse and it was a light bulb moment for him. It was after I had returned to my hotel and reviewed the day’s events that I realized I had just been in an interview, wow. It was so light-hearted and warm I just flowed along.
Well, that engagement landed me a plush contract to be the local consultant in the review and reorganization of the HR systems of the ECOWAS organization. I had the mandate to also appoint local experts for the project.
At that time I was head of Strategy and Systems Unit of my church in Lagos, The Latter Rain Assembly (now Citadel, Global Community Church -CGCC). My team members in the SSU were some of the most intelligent personalities you have ever met, e.g. Tolu Abari. I practically carried the whole project to church and engaged my team members. Some of them earned hundreds of USD per day for between 10 days to 14 days working on the project.
I have also worked on some EU funded projects where I have flown my whole team from Lagos to Accra on an all expense paid trip + per Diem. And it was not just for fun, we delivered. Our outcomes at the end of these conferences charted the course for the next phase of the EU projects we were working on.. Meanwhile, the experiences were jacking up our CVs. We used to jokingly say that God had arranged an all expense paid corporate retreat for us so we could brainstorm on our church assignment, developing SOPs, M&E, and other organizational systems for the church.
This write-up is 2-pronged. What do you make of the opportunities and experiences which come your way? Do not take any opportunity for granted. Learn what you can from it. This will serve as leverage for a higher platform in future. Currently I have an admin support outfit/Business center where we process lots of documents for clients. This is my tent-making venture because I need money to do ministry . I understand data protection compliance and I am obliged to keep my clients confidentiality on information and documentation. But in reading materials, my learning itch kicks in and I am further enlightened on several subject matters.
Equally, the local church is not just for singing, clapping and praying. We are in the information and smart generation. Get a smart skill, develop yourself, engage intellectually. Spirituality and intelligence are not discordant. In fact, with a higher spiritual disposition and yielding to God, the Holy Spirit engages us to be relevant to our generation. Being relevant comes with value, greater opportunities and better consideration. All this, while serving in the Kingdom also. Shalom
#MusingsOfAbena