By Goje Okamgba
Imagine that awkward moment when stage fright overwhelms a speaker before a huge taunting crowd!
What inspires you?
I always draw inspiration from God, both at a time of prosperity or adversity. Also, great achievers and sometimes lives of ordinary people inspire me to aspire higher. Ability to impact on the lives of ordinary people instils in you sense of fulfilment and challenges you to soar higher.
I get inspired whenever I drew inspiration from people who excelled through a dint of hard work, determination and commitment. Also, my inspiration is sometimes drawn from effortless things that let you pursue and attain your target goals. Putting all together, I get inspired by the need to be the best in whatever I do, the realization that no matter how difficult it may seem and how great the achievement might have been, challenges can be overcome, and performance can be improved when one has the right vision, strong passion, right judgment and proficiency in execution.
This is how I get inspired; either by God, people, self or things.
How do you unwind?
I love music and good movies. I love to spend time with family as much as I can find the time. I listen to news channels a lot to get current on topical issues. I spend reasonable time on social media from Facebook to Instagram to twitter.
I love to play electronic games when the time is there. I love to listen to great music, from foreign to local, from oldies to new hits, from reggae to gospel, from soothing to RnB, and I love to dance and party. I also love to meditate and communicate to my God and read the Bible occasionally (something I love to do more). And more recently, I love to play lawn tennis.
I enjoy meeting people and networking at social events. I am very sociable and easy-going person who values exchange of ideas and meaningful discussions. I believe in having great time while working hard, and balancing the two well, which is why I love the hospitality industry, because it affords you the opportunity to achieve all I stated above, while adding smiles in the face of others.
- Best book read?
Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power. You know it is such an amazing book, full of important lessons, guidance, survival tips and how to succeed as a leader. I especially love Law 16 which suggests using scarcity well to increase one’s respect and hour. Also, it contains a lot of amazing quotes in different other laws but my two most memorable are:
| The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation, is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your feelings. Emotions cloud reason, and if you cannot see the situation clearly, you cannot prepare for and respond to it with any degree of control. |
| Once the words are out, you cannot take them back. Keep them under control. Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The momentary satisfaction you gain with your biting words will be outweighed by the price you pay. |
It was from this book I began to pay more attentions to the subject of emotional intelligence, and I am glad at where I find myself today.
I was never a bookworm in my youthful days. When I start a new book, I want to immediately get into the mind of the author, imagine his conclusions and sometimes peep at the conclusion to see if I was right.
And if I see myself being right, I get bored and I end up not finishing the book. My best subject was Mathematics, and so, I only needed to read just enough, but rather spend time analysing, solving and stretching my imagination. I understand the importance of reading voraciously and while I keep working at this, I am thankful to social media because it can indeed be a source for good learning when one’s time is better applied.
Best film watched?
This is difficult to say, because I have watched a lot of great movies. But generally, I prefer thrillers, and so I could easily remember a 2008 action thriller titled Taken. The suspense, the intelligence gathering, the actions and Liam Neeson’s bravery in the hair-raising thriller remain poignant in my memory.
I also love Nigerian movies, and particularly enjoyed the premiere of Steve Gukas’ 93 Days. It was a true life story on the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria and the heroism of the Nigerian people. I am really proud of our movie industry, which appears to be flourishing.
Favorite football club or any other sport that strikes your fancy?
Chelsea is my favourite team. Quite a few people know why we are loyal fans of The Blues. For me, the major reason is that a lot of people do not ever realize that a Nigerian, Michael Emenalo, is an assistant coach and currently a technical director at Chelsea F.C. beside the many Nigerian stars that play for the club. As such, in my opinion, no other club has supported Nigeria more than Chelsea.
Most Embarrassing moment ever experienced
The most embarrassing moment of my life was when I first started public speaking. On one occasion during my university days, I was campaigning for the post of departmental financial secretary. When it was my turn to read my manifesto, I opened my mouth, and no word came out.
Thankfully, the noise in the room helped me. I just mumbled and disgracefully descended the podium. Imagine that awkward moment when stage fright overwhelms a speaker before a huge taunting crowd! Well, despite that I was eventually elected. I then concluded that if in my worst performance I succeeded; imagine what could have been my fate if I honed my public speaking skills. So, I made every effort to overcome this challenge, and I did so remarkably well.
Happiest moment ever experienced
My happiest moments are too numerous to enumerate. I may not be correct to say one moment was the happiest. If you record chains of feats and receive strings of accolades in quick succession, you will easily lose count of the best.
So, I can only talk about what I can remember at the time of writing this – starting from just this weekend when I was voted Seven Stars CEO of the year (it was like a bolt from the blue as it was completely unexpected), to when my daughter became a valedictorian (best student) in school, to when I successfully put smiles in the faces of over 3,000 youths in my village last December. I cannot even begin to talk of happy moments at work. Whenever I solve a customer’s problem, or host the big and mighty and they leave a note of appreciation of how well they have been taken care of, I get excited.
What is family to you?
Everything. The immediate reason for my existence, for the work I do, for the improvement I seek, for the inspiration I have become and for the future I wish for. And my definition of family expands as my sphere of influence does. So, it is not just my immediate family, but people I encounter in my life journey. I see the Transcorp Hilton family as my second family because the familial relationship infuses in us the spirit of teamwork and dedication to duty.
Talking about my immediate family, I doubt if God has blessed anyone more. My wife is God-sent. My children are heavenly. My parents celebrate 60 years in marriage this year in complete love and good health. My parents-in-law are such an amazing pair, and my father-in-law clocks 80 this year. I am in total peace with my siblings and I love every one of these people. I can go on and on about cousins and uncles and others.
Turn on’s?
I love to win (scared of using this word because of Donald Trump), but indeed, I like to succeed and achieve little and great things and to conquer new territories. I am a determined goal-getter who strives for goals however difficult. I l love to challenge myself. When I win, I become humble, and when I lose, I feel no sense of dejection or rejection.
In view of this, I get my turn on when I am appreciated, commended, admired, loved and respected. So, you can imagine how many ‘turn on’s’ I get. No DULLING.
Turn off’s?
I am proud of my proficiency in emotional intelligence. This allows me to have mastery of myself and respect for others. So, I generously make excuse for people even as I urge them to get better, but I find it difficult to tolerate insincerity, boastfulness and complacency.
I will like to conclude this chat by saying there are several other keys to achieving success as a manager. Emotional Intelligence is one. A manager must accept criticisms, corrections, interact and share ideas with subordinates, motivate staff, be tolerant and exercise restraint. People who have higher emotional quotient or emotional intelligence are very good decision makers. I link these attributes to my strict Christian upbringing, parental discipline and desire to entrench the good name of our family.
