Life Lessons: Mentoring Session

Since 23 weeks ago when the Life Lessons Interview column was introduced, it has continued to attract increased followers, as over 250,000 persons now track it directly weekly, minus the pass on rate.
Significantly, too, text messages and e-mails have continued to pour in from readers with some asking for a platform to interact with the guests we have featured for deeper insights into some of the issues we raised with them.
I raised this particular request with some of those we have featured; and interestingly, they all agreed that once in a while, they would be willing to address any issues raised by readers. This is the second in the series of what could be described as mentoring sessions. In this second edition, we are featuring responses from three of our national mentors, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; Engineer Yemisi Shyllon and Dr. Sunny Emmanuel-Ojeagbase. Please enjoy the insights. Questions to any of the featured guests could be sent as SMSs to 09067059433, or as e-mails to ayo.arowolo@thisdaylive.com. Past editions can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/y8bodjaa

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa
You said you made a mistake in the choice of the person who succeeded you. What would you do differently?
As I said in the interview while preparing for my retirement and in deciding who succeeded me, I had been inundated with rumours which I dismissed off- handedly, but I discovered I could have handled the issue differently. If I were to do the same thing again, this would be my approach:
In the first place, I would not have relied on just a person in the consideration of who would be my successor. I would have recommended at least three persons and allowed the Board to make a choice.
Second, I would have listened to and investigated the rumours and gossips concerning my preferred successor-candidate then. I have since discovered that in every rumour, there could be an element of truth which should not be ignored completely.
Third, to ensure good succession, it is important that more than a candidate is being groomed and positioned for succession, especially at the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) level. At the time of decision-making, if there are not enough in-house potential (as was in this case because of retirements), then, candidates from outside should be considered.
And finally the Board must play a very effective role in succession planning and execution. I believe that when all these are considered, the possibility of making errors in succession planning would be greatly reduced.

Eng. Yemisi Shyllon
I read that you were trained as a chartered engineer, chartered stockbroker, chartered marketer, chartered business administrator, qualified lawyer and art collector; and you seemed to have excelled in all. How were you able to do this while in paid employment? Do you really need all of them to succeed?
On how I manage to acquire different skills while in full paid employment, the answer is multi-tasking. I believe very strongly that when we have clear and compelling goals, we can do so many things simultaneously, and also excelling in them. That has been my experience. When I was studying Law at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), I had to combine that with being the Board Chairman of two giant entities with over 200 staff and also an Executive Director of another company. I was also involved in construction activities. Interestingly, I still ended up having the best result in Law during my set. I registered for my Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Examinations while I was still with Nigerite. I remember that I would go for lectures immediately after office work and I used every free period, including weekends and night time, to study. One thing that also helped me was that I encouraged other people to also register for the same professional examinations and that made it possible for us to read and study together. I applied the same strategies for all the other examinations and I allowed none to affect my official assignments. The point I am making is that a lot depends on multi-tasking, focus and time management.
On the second question, I would say it depends on your objective. In my own case, the reason I decided to go for the stockbroking certification was that I knew I was going to participate heavily in stocks and it came very handy in helping me to upgrade the way I select stocks. At the initial stage, I relied essentially on government policies. At the time, there was this indigenisation policy in which shares being held by foreigners were being transferred to Nigerians. Some of the companies also Nigerianised by transferring their operations to Nigerians. I used to read newspapers a lot from where I was able to gather a lot of information to analyse the situation of things. My perception, then, was that the Stock market would grow and the value of the shares would increase. So I started to buy shares. But as time passed, things were not going on as expected. Some of the Nigerians who took over from foreigners abused the privileges. They did not follow the corporate governance rules strictly adhered to by those who handed over to them.
Consequently, I had to train to become a chartered stockbroker. I had to apply strict rules of professional practice to my investment in shares by subjecting the stocks I wanted to invest in to both trend and fundamental analyses. Trend analysis allows you to look at the trend and regression lines of the value of the stock. And if it points upward combined with the perception that it would continue to grow, then, you would buy.
Fundamental analysis enables you to analyse the financial accounts of the companies issuing the shares to determine what the true real value of the shares would be vis-à-vis the market value of the shares. If there is a positive difference, that is, the market value of the shares of the companies is much lower that the true value, then, you buy because there is the likelihood that the share price would increase in future and vice-versa if the market value is far higher than the true value, because the potential for price appreciation is low. Without my training as a stockbroker, this would not have been easy for me. I would still have relied possibly on my stockbrokers to do the analyses for me.
It is the same thing with my Law training. This has helped me on many occasions. An example was when I was invited by a close relative who was floating a bank together with his friends. It was under former President Ibrahim Babangida’s Administration, which was issuing banking licences then. When I told him I did not have money, he said they could use my five-storey building as equity. Eventually, the licence did not come, and they had borrowed heavily, and it was a problem repaying the loan. Unfortunately, I gave a personal guarantee. Before I knew what was happening, they wanted to sell my house to redeem the loan. But thank God, I put my knowledge of Law into good use and that saved the house. I published a caveat emptor in the paper to tell the prospective buyer that there is a difference between Yemisi Shyllon as the landlord of the property and Yemisi Shyllon as a member of a limited liability company. That’s part of the advantages of being a lawyer. But there was a personal guarantee that would not save me. I thought of a way out, then, I told members of my chambers that there is a doctrine in law which made me to realise that what I signed was not what was before me. They said it is not possible. Then, my friend who stepped in to help me; he agreed with me and took it to another fantastic lawyer. He looked at it and said it would work, because the personal guarantee was stapled. I signed the last page, I didn’t sign the other pages. That was what saved me; they would have sold my property. So, in this case my decision to study Law paid off. Don’t get me wrong: I am not saying that you have to acquire every skill you need in all aspects of your business and life transactions. You can engage professionals. But in my own case, I considered those skills necessary.

You said the advice by one of your mentors saved you from embarrassments. Could you share one of such with us and what approach would you suggest is the best way to keep record? Should you leave this for your accountant, or should you get personally involved?

Yes, there were many instances but all revolved around people claiming I had not made certain payments even though my records suggested otherwise. It was my record keeping practice that vindicated me in all the cases. And that is why I advise that one of the skills you need to develop fast is the ability to keep good records.
One of the best ways for keeping record in your business is to record them as they are happening. Never commit anything to memory because you will easily forget them and omit some. When you omit some, your record will not be accurate; it will not reflect the true picture of what your business is doing.
If you start your business on a shoestring budget, you may not be able to hire an accountant immediately.
You should get over that hurdle by ensuring that you keep every invoice and receipt properly for the bookkeeper to work on your account at least once a month.
But as soon as your business is able to, you should hire an accountant. With these you should be able to save yourself from embarrassment.

End