KEY LESSONS FROM WORK CONFERENCE

I attended a company conference  which was held online over a 2 week period with over 200 presentations made by 100 speakers from both within and outside the company. It was truly a banquet as we were well fed with ideas, inspiration and encouragement.

There is so much that I learnt from this event that I do not even know were to start from in terms of the key ideas. I summarize the main lessons which have stuck to me up to this day:

1. Exposure! Exposure! Exposure!

If there is one thing which kept coming up more especially from the external speakers who were invited to speak, it was there level of exposure in life. This is in relation to the areas they were invited to make a presentation on be it on compliance, leadership, marketing, specialty in a field. They all had great experience gotten through the early years in their careers. They didn't work for one company but had stints at various institutions which sort of galvanized their experience as they couldn't just look at things from one perspective. They worked for institutions which made blunders and helped them bounce back from their fall of grace which enabled them to be in pole position to lead companies looking for individuals with the right profile. One speaker mentioned that he had worked at an early age as a lawyer for a number of companies which had major fraud issues and these experiences enabled him to serve at very senior level for the firm. It is really important to have practical experiences and challenges early on in career as these seem to shape your life in future career progression. If you don't encounter enough interesting encounters then you are sterile and not growing in terms of exposure and mental preparations for more difficult challenges ahead of the journey. They had long years of experience working in a particular field of a company and helped build up a segment from the ground up (proven track record). They were essentially purple cows in those fields hence the reason they were invited to give presentations.

This made me ask myself the question. Am I getting the right exposure in my life and work? Is it relevant and something which will make me valuable in future in terms of what i have to share with others? Does my day to day work show that I am gaining the appropriate exposure or experience which will make me an invaluable member of any company? 

The 2nd set of questions were; What can I start doing starting today on a daily basis to expose myself to different scenarios which will help me become valuable? Is my current work giving me the necessary exposure to be in a position to offer or make valuable intellectual contribution?

One thing for sure is I need to make some drastic changes to my work starting with going out to meet with challenges/experiences and as well as deliberately put myself in a position which I would want to spend the rest of my life on being called on to give presentations and share my experiences with others. the sooner i work on this, the better it is going to be for me.

'Practical' experience is the best teacher.

2. Focus on your core competencies

During one of the speakers presentations, he had mentioned how has companies focused on only projects above a certain value.  When I heard him say this, I remember thinking to myself how our company could also learn from it and start engaging in bigger projects in order to make more money. After the presenter concluded his talk, the Chairman and owner when giving his comments on the presentation highlighted the difference in approach between the two companies which them focusing on bigger projects and us on those of lesser value. Then he went on to indicate that it is good to focus on your core competencies and ours is in distribution and smaller projects just like they have also done the same. 

I was then forced to ask myself; what are my key competencies in life? It is very important to know where you stand with regards to your own strengths. Otherwise, you will jump at every carrot which is dangled at you. You need to know what your strengths are and work hard to maximize on these strengths as well as understand your weaknesses and minimize exposure to them as much as possible.

No matter how exciting something might seem to be, factor in your strengths and whether a particular job or task will be something that you would be willing to put in your life on the line for. Are you willing to pay for the price in full and in advance? 

Not everything that glitters is gold.

3. Don't treat staff as employees, treat them like people

When the HR presentation was done by the General Manager of the unit, the chairman emphasized one expression which the reader had made during his presentation; the importance of Managers or Supervisors to say thank you to the subordinates. He indicated these simple acts of kindness make the whole difference. Like the Apostle Paul said pursue love and let everything you do be done with love.

One of the external speakers re-emphasized this point when he said that the mistake which most companies make as they grow bigger in size is to start looking at the staff as employees and not people. It is important to recognize the role that each staff member plays and to take note of their names speak to them like people who matter. You will be amazed at what difference this makes as these staff tend to be excited and even share with their families or friends about how the CEO spoke to them and even knows them by their name. 

Be kind, always.

4. Ask for help

One of the executives of the company had asked one of the Directors earlier on in his life to be his mentor. He humbly approached, opened up and requested the Director to help him as he was seeking to create a path in his career earlier on. And this has proved to be one of the key differentiators not only in terms of his growth in the company but also in life. You can not succeed alone and usually in life it is important to seek the help of those whom we look up to to guide us as they have had to overcome most of the obstacles which will find on our way to succeed.

In addition, their was also a scenario sometime in the company which lead to owner to seek the help of a specialist in the industry to help with establishing a particular brand which has hugely contributed to the success of the company. The Mentor even indicated in his speech that the Chairman humbled himself and asked him to teach him all he knows about the products and through this they established a very strong bond leading to the overall success of the business.

Who has come before me in where I want to go whom I can confide in as a mentor? Who are the low hanging fruits; those close by who have done something in line with were I want to be? Be humble enough and tell them how much you admire them and want to learn from them. You might just be surprised with the feedback you receive earning you a guide to propel you towards mastery in a short space of time. Enter into the field as a learner so as to get as much as I can from that particular industry. 

If I have seen further, it is because of standing on the shoulders of giants.

5. Comfort is your worst enemy

As one of the speakers was being introduced, the chairman mentioned of a time when the company was solely based on being a Distributor of products but didn't have its own product line. However that changed one day following a meeting with one of the major suppliers to the firm who frustrated him. He mentions he was so frustrated that day, he vowed never to ever be in such a vulnerable position again. After the encounter, he started looking for opportunity to be self reliant and creating own brand for the company. Around the same time, the industry specialist he was about to introduce contacted one of his colleagues if they might be interested in having them make products for them. And that is how a partnership was established and this proved to be a game charger for not only the company but the industry which the company operates in as well as this product has become a market leader even surpassing the very one which had frustrated him in the beginning.

Normally in life, nothing major ever happens until someone has been put in a tight corner and its either they have to fight with everything they have or die. This can either be an encounter with a bad boss leading to loss in employment or confrontation with an enemy whom you know if you don't do anything you will be completely wiped off . I have a cousin who was forced to resign from his job because he had a bad boss forcing him to resign and take up entrepreneurship and now he has done 10X better than if he had continued to work. Also have a friend who in his university final year project, he failed his dissertation (wasn't in good books with his lecturer). With no other means of survival, he set out to pursue his true passion in Technology setting up a business which has rewarded him more than any company which he could have worked for in his life. 

Something special happens when we are forced or we put ourselves on 'death or desperation ground' and the above testimonials are testament to that fact. In most cases, comfort is our biggest enemy as we do not challenge ourselves to grow but want to maintain the status go. Having a good job or nice boss might be the worst thing which has ever happened to you. But guess will never know until you find yourself in a similar situation. Like they say, you will never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option that you have. You don't have to quit your job but you have to seriously challenge your environment and vow to extend yourself as much as you possibly can without the limits of your comfort zone. 

Necessity is the mother of invention.

6. Form strategic partnerships or alliances

A number of external speakers who made presentations indicated how their companies have continued to grow by entering into partnerships (acquisitions, mergers, etc.). You have to realize that you cant have all the strengths or resources. The key is to be deliberate about the partnerships you get into so that these complement you and make you stronger together.

This has made me think not only about myself but look out for others who may have somethings which I maybe lacking. You may have the intellectual capacity but lack the finance and therefore look out for someone with this strength. Or maybe inclined towards the technical aspect of something while another person might be good on the marketing side.

Two is better than one. 

The above are some of the main key highlights gained from this conference.