My First Day as a Managing Director in a bank. In a post-conflict country- just coming out of a long-drawn treacherous war. My thoughts were ‘can you make it in this tough environment. I had the chills and God said, ‘Be Still and know that I am God’. Two years went past quickly but successfully.
I recall sitting in the office of the Managing Director of the bank. I said to myself, miracles do happen. I desired so deeply over the years to get to this point in my career and I worked and prayed hard for this to happen. Now, I had the opportunity to run a bank as the most senior officer of the organization, this was exhilarating, not because of the positional power but because I had the opportunity finally to serve the organization, serve the team and be a role model for the team to look up to.
I said to myself, ‘You finally made it. God is Good. From where I was coming- rising from the entry-level position as a customer service assistant at a branch of a bank and now a Managing Director. For me, this was a miracle! It was my dream come true especially as a WOMAN!
I knew to a large extent what colleagues at the entry-level generally felt about their career opportunities in the future. As a customer service assistant, I saw colleagues with no dream and drive to get to the top because they did not see how they could ever make it to the C-suite from the entry level.
The truth is, first, Rome was not built in a day. But more importantly, you must have a vision for yourself when you embark on a project whatever that project is. Be it professional or personal. From Day 1, I saw myself as a Managing Director.
My colleagues often teased me that I was too committed to the organization and the clients. And they would ask me questions like ‘Does this bank belong to your father?’ ‘Are you getting a double salary for this extra effort?’ I could never understand these questions. I would wonder why these colleagues could not see what I was seeing.
So, 20 years after, here I was on Day 1 with a huge opportunity to make a difference as a Managing Director. I was determined to be a role model for the team and the market. Managing Directors should serve their different stakeholders and serve not from the top.
I am happy to say that after one year on the assignment, the team recognized my leadership skills, and they were happy to give me the requisite feedback. The only reason I knew they gave me honest feedback was the fact that for the first time after 5 years of the bank’s operations, the bank became profitable.
I put the turn-around success of the bank’s operations to the team. They had become happy and motivated, and they gave their jobs their best. Of course, as expected, some lacked the drive, energy, and zeal to get motivated. The war in the country over the years had already traumatized the people.
So, for those of them who could shift their paradigm, I salute them even today. They were strong to make the mind switch given their experiences during the war which I had the opportunity to have some insight into because we shared experiences during the breakfast sessions we had instituted as a community of practice and this forum gave the team who wanted to share an opportunity to share and to ‘let it out’.
Currently, people who do not have the motivation to look to the future and see beyond the present, potentially miss out on great opportunities. My advice is that they sum up the energy and courage, put in their best effort, and they will realize that they stand a very good chance of getting to the top with God on your side.
The God factor is absolutely necessary for sustainable success.
It was a tough assignment though, but God fought for my success.
I give God the Glory and Thanks.
