Leadership is responsibility! Sometimes it is not bestowed on you, you just have to look around and take it! Whenever I hear the comment making the rounds these days about A2W being my business, I truly feel honored and proud. All I have done, is handle the business of others, like I would mine! I feel really complimented when others genuinely think it’s mine, the truth is, I probably wouldn’t be able to do things better if it was actually so. I belong to a kingdom that runs by stewardship.
I learnt a value from my days in P&G, that value is called ownership! It says to handle the company’s resources like they were yours. That value struck a point with me, as it resonated with clear instructions in the Bible. Luke 16:12 – “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?”. The passion which drives me is to help others, take responsibility to make things better and the strong desire to be found faithful. The truth also is that when you are faithful with little, more gets committed into your hands.
This year would make this A2W journey six years, and I am truly humbled to say that by God’s grace, what we received as a purely travel service company has grown into an entrepreneurial platform! In the words of my Aunty – A2W, Now truly rocks!
My motivation in all of these years have been simple – “how can I be a part of the success story of others?”, now I’m seeing them take shape!
1. Empower: How do we ensure that this opportunity can truly empower our people. People pay a lot of lip service to their dreams, how can we use this platform to help people connect to their dreams.
2. Envision: The greatest need that people have is guidance. Most people can get anywhere if they know where and how. This platform provided me an opportunity to truly help others succeed, and give the necessary guidance.
3. Energize: I see a lot of retired and senior citizens, full of life but limited in energy, experienced but denied the opportunity of adding further value to society by being retired from work. There is wisdom in grey hair, and it’s only when the old and the young come together can we dream dreams and see visions. This platform is achieving that.
4. Enable: Knowledge makes able while ignorance disables. There is so much wasted training, as people learn without application. There is also so much untaught, as people struggle through their finances without knowledge. This platform provides training that is downright practical.
5. Engage: I have come to meet people who have added tremendous value to my life, and many I have had the privilege of doing the same. We have with this platform built a community. I now have brothers and sisters that my parents are unaware of.
The A2W you see today is a seed. The harvest is mind blowing. I see our role in the modeling of the New Nigeria. I see our role in the transformation and reconfiguration of the economy. I see us as a mighty force, as major players in Africa’s rise of agents of distribution. I see us as the nucleus of societal change. I am not going to wait for anyone to make the change I need to see happen – if it is to be, it is up to me! In the kingdom I belong to, leadership starts with the commitment to serve others, to be the servant of all. If it is to be, it is up to me – that’s where leadership starts.
Yes, A2W can be yours too, just ask how can I serve the most people, and those opportunities are always available.
