2019 in a review-People first, but it starts with you.
At the beginning of this year, if you sent me a message around the hours of 1–5 am in the morning, you would almost be certain that you would get a response immediately or few minutes after; as the year winds up, I would most likely be sleeping or be responding later in the morning like around 6 am.
Why is this important as an intro for my 2019 in review? It shows an intrinsic shift in my understanding of how to work, the need to trust rightly, the importance of rest, leveraging relationships and maximizing opportunities. These things have echoed in my wins and losses in the year in review.
First the big Ls.
I planned a couple of trips across Africa in 2019, but couldn’t make any.
I allowed Imposter syndrome to rob me of a lot of opportunities that I could have applied for this year.
I still did not get the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
We won some too…
I spoke at my first TEDx event(TEDxFUTA) alongside someone I respect so much, Fisayo Soyombo (the drive to and fro, was a massive emotional boost for me).
Organized three paid classes around content creation and brand storytelling that I am still getting testimonials from on how the session changed the way some of the participants see creating narratives.
Led the creative strategy and design execution for my team at FourthCanvas on Ondo State’s development summit, #DevelopOndo — learnt a lot about interfacing with public sector players and the designs have continued to evolve as an integral part of the design assets for the state.
Led Content Direction on FourthCanvas’s digital campaign to drive citizen participation in the 2019 General Elections — #WeGoVote — that was featured on several local and international platforms including a Great Ads for Good Exhibition organized by ACT Responsible at the heart of the Cannes Lions Internation Festival of Creativity in France.
Worked on content projects for a tier 1 bank, a new bank (with the first National Banking License that the Central Bank of Nigeria has granted in the last 10 years) and one of Nigeria’s most ambitious savings and investment platform.
Found love.
Conveniently moved two major southwestern cities in 12 months, I now live in Lagos (Next year, I will probably publish a memoir on my love/hate relationship in Lagos).
Raised by engagement value(money) by about 7x (where some major gigs were times 2 of this).
Spoke at the University of the church I was born into Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) — when I told my mum that I was speaking here the first thing she said was that “Ko gbadura dada o…” This meant a lot to me. There is massive energy in the school in terms of opportunities and raw talents, I am pretty sure that I would be back.
I got to know Seun Onigbinde more (one of the most valuable relationships for me in this decade).
Let me stop here.
Now to the lessons.
People, people, people.
As long as you cannot exist in a vacuum in this world, excellence is still relatively a people game. So the dots connected for me like this, irrespective of what you can do, it is still a lot about who believes you can do them and is willing to commit time and resources in supporting you (by buying, talking about it, vouching for your offerings or even going the extra mile).
In brief, build valuable relationships — they will push you, shove you, sometimes get on your last nerve and at other times, they become the reasons why you still even have a nerve.
Who do you know? What do they know you as? Who do they know? Who do the people that they know, know? Is there something that you can do that this chain of people should care about? Do they believe that you can do it? Why should they care?
Big Questions.
However, there is a caveat to this, properly maximizing relationships starts with knowing “you”.
People first, but it starts with you.
“It is not about what you can do, but who cares about it enough to pay you for it”
My team
This is supposed to be under people shey? But when you work with FourthCanvas, one of the most people-centric companies I have experienced in this life (just wait until we start raking in the billions).
You are as good as your team.
I know that there are outliers to this rule, but imagine this person who you think works magic alone or if it is even you, in the middle of a group who understand his vision and committedly working to bring the dream to reality, can you imagine the energy levels on the ripple effect?
(Anyway, watch the battle for the keep in #TheWitcher (S01E08).
We created magic this year and everything can be curated in this sentence: I win, you win, we win.
When you pray for growth, expand your coast and be ready for the leap
In a chat with Editti Effiong (Anakle) early this year on my 25th birthday, our long conversation could be summarised in this line from him: Time and chance happen to us all, but consistency in what you have chosen to do, increases the chance. Because while you cannot control chance, your best bet is to be ready when it knocks on the door.
You may never be fully ready! But have enough to be mixed with faith to take that leap.
This happened a few times this year, and I am happy I took those scary jumps.
Timing is a key, even when you don’t know the door.
This lesson may sound a lot more esoteric than real-time but I trust that some people will be able to relate. Know when it is time for you to show and the time to exit the stage. Like, when the drum is played, listen to know when it is your time so that you do not take the stage when it is not your dance.
Missed a couple of opportunities by not understanding this.
A big area I am learning to maximize in 2020.
Nobody fucking cares!
Find the valuable edge you are giving out (emotional, financial, career, developmental etc).
Don’t ever assume that people care about you like that.
Do what you should, as you should and always be ready to transact in value.
Love changes a lot of things.
You can really love someone and still be irresponsible around them, however, finding love is a learning experience that exposes you to a new level of pruning, commitment and choices.
Love no be logic.
Love is not always sense.
Some of those general analyses will not work for you.
You may never be able to explain some things and it is fine.
Give your best, truly.
Build your community
How else do I explain this than the heading?
From the most valuable brands to the biggest movements, we have seen the power of leveraging communities around your offerings as a personal or business brand.
Facebook (of those years), Twitter and mob actions (clapbacks of life), Instagram fans, Email lists, Snapchat, Amazon, Tik Tok with plenty talk talk etc.
Find the people that are “Ko e je” (eating your work) and keep feeding them with relevant, interesting and valuable content. Virality can be a one-off (something that you cannot even plan for) but communities are a more sustainable way to impact at scale.
Secure the bag!
Secure the bag. That is all.
Lastly, in all you do find time to rest and spend time with the people you care about. The good life is important and memories with the right people are building blocks for fulfilling experiences. I had to do a 3 weeks shutdown this year, no work, no briefs, no work-related chats (just whispers) as my stress and blood pressure levels were off the chart and my Doctor advised that I should rest.
Yeah, this is why I sleep more and you most likely will not see me replying midnight chats or requests.
In 2O2O, I will intensify my efforts and experience around the overarching guiding goal — play my part in Africa’s most ambitious projects by helping them create compelling narratives. I want to create more communication/creative strategies/brand storytelling templates for startups and scaleups in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Train more.
Live more.
Love more.
Build more people.
Give back a lot more.
Build more valuable relationships.
Speak in at least 50 industry-relevant events.
Expand my community.
Display God’s supernatural excellence and loving-kindness more.
Travel more.
I mean, just do a lot more.
Before I forget, make a lot more money too.
Cheers to an amazing new year.
I would love to hear your thoughts or experiences around my lessons (I mean you can respond here, send a mail to ogbemiro@outlook.com, tweet at me: @o_gbemiro
