Today I sat with a candidate for her last interview before getting her letter of engagement, and as I perused her CV, the question that seemed approbate to ask her was close to the one I want to answer in this short write-up. I asked her – “What have you achieved that you are most proud of?”. The objective of this question is to give insight into candidate psychology. What does the candidate consider as an achievement, what are they proud of from their past that they are likely to repeat etc.? The question delivered the answer that helped gain insight into the candidate’s way of processing things.
As I look back at my life and ponder about the investments I have made that have given me the most return on investment, I’m almost spoilt for choice in choosing which one, but there is a class that stands taller than the rest. It’s not immediately apparent, but it’s my best investment yet.
In case you are curious about this investment’s asset class, it’s important that I compare it with other asset classes I have invested in over the years. Over the last 22 years of my actively being involved in building either a career or a business, I have invested in many types of opportunities. I have invested in Real Estate, Stocks, Bonds, Treasury Bills, In businesses in Oil and Gas, Travel, Distribution, Manufacturing, network marketing, consulting etc. I have invested in cryptocurrencies, developing intellectual property, setting up automated businesses etc. The investment that has returned the most yield trumps all of these investment opportunities, fair and square.
The best investment I have had the privilege of making is in people! I mean, I can mention a few names worth more than all the investments I have made in businesses put together. Some of these investments are not fully matured and may not be until eternity, but the satisfaction from observing their lives is just so much that no other investment brings in the value that people do. If I wanted to take an article to list a few of the human assets my life has been involved with, it would be a big book with many volumes.
The return on people is not money they give back to you; neither is it how wealthy they become. The return on people is the joy and soul satisfaction you feel when you see how many lives they have impacted and how productive they have become. It’s when you imagine the residual reward you will get from God in eternity when all books are opened. Or when your link to thousands or millions of people you never met becomes apparent. Just looking at a few people today, I already have the foretaste of things to come.
My suggestion to you today, is to start investing in human beings, not all of them yield amazing results, but one person can be worth so much.
Kind Regards,
Adeolu Akinyemi.