A Day in the Life Series: 3 Years at ABI + Leadership Reflections
It has been almost exactly 3 years since I published my first ‘Day in the Life’ article. As February is the month of my work anniversary, we can all agree an updated version is in order. Major career highlights so far have been working with super-talented professionals on the marketing execution of ABI’s premium brand portfolio and launching Budweiser’s EPL/Laliga Global Football Campaign in Nigeria. Everything is escalated when you are working with a global brand — the standards, the reach, the impact; every decision is weighed against global equity and local relevance. Over-time this balancing act becomes like second nature — you get used to it.
In late 2019, I ventured into (more like dived-in, head-first) field sales as a High-end Manager, in Lagos — the country’s most dynamic city and commercial hub. This role presented an opportunity to interact closely with consumers, witnessing first-hand their values, aspirations, and pain-points — our building blocks for superior customer-service and product-innovation.
My typical day starts at 5.30 am with a morning routine and some oatmeal. Next, a review of the KPI dashboard: month-to-date district volume…versus target, versus prior month, versus prior year…sort by brand, sort by SKU…compare against forecast, filter by area…and voila! I can now predict with 90% accuracy how the rest of my day will play out — the places I’ll go, the calls I’ll make, and the calls I’ll receive. We generally prefer KPIs to remain green and forecast models positive (extra points for double-digit!). At 8 am I get on a call with the team to update on status and align on priority. The meeting can last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the dominant color and gradient of our KPI dashboards. Afterwards, we head to the beer trade, where all the magic happens — growing share, putting-out fires and ultimately saving the world one customer at a time.
While I feel privileged by the opportunity to directly impact the lives and livelihoods of our customers and consumers through brand promotions and sales services, I must admit that leading a team (especially through these uncertain times) has been one of the most humbling and yet rewarding experiences of my life. With leadership, similar to cooking, it’s easy to tell if you are headed in the right direction; the taste of the results will expose whatever black-box system was utilized in the process.
In this article, I share some notes and advice from my leadership journey. Do let me know if these resonate with you, or if your experience has been quite different.
1) Know yourself
One of the first trainings I took on management was a week-long course of self-awareness. Undoubtedly, reflecting on personal motivations, ambitions, and aspirations are life-long learnings but higher levels of mindfulness and self-leadership make the process of inspiring others more seamless.
2) Human beings all want the same thing
Everyone wants to feel respected, valued and understood. I particularly like Wil Fameni’s spin on this — ‘treat people how you would want to be treated. This does not necessarily equate to treating people how we treat ourselves — because sometimes we are unkind, even to ourselves.
3) Focus on individual strengths
Imagine all the Avengers had the exact same superpower — say, time-traveling; will they really stand a chance against Thanos, or does the combination of their unique gifts make them an unformidable team? Venturing into unfamiliar territory a little, but I believe the point is clear.
4) Guide with an invisible hand
This term is borrowed from Economic theory but referencing it here literally to mean structures, processes, and tools (tracking dashboards are my favorite). These guardrails give everyone a clear sense of direction, defining goals and ‘how to achieve’; cultivating team DNA in the process.
5) It begins with ‘why’ but it doesn’t end there
Remember Simon Sinek’s viral video on ‘It begins with why’? It lives permanently rent-free in my head and I couldn’t have articulated his points any better. However, while drawing up plans and action points from the ‘why’, remember to incorporate the what, when, where, who and hows — also known as the 5Ws 1H.
6) Check the pulse, regularly
I picked this one up from Master black belt, Cynthia Moraka
‘On a scale of 1–10, how are you feeling today?’
‘A 9! Well, that’s pretty high for a Thursday, anything special happen that you’d like to share?’
This works well for small-sized teams, but monthly check-in surveys can be easily be developed for larger groups.
7) Challenge personal biases
Cognitive constructs and our ‘world-view’ lead us to approach challenges with pre-conceived solutions. It is one of the biggest ironies of problem-solving — on one-hand, objectively trying to identify the root cause; on another, simultaneously developing a solution. Brainstorming is an antidote for this, it fosters diversity of ideas and gets the whole team involved.
8) Information is like a drug
Administer cautiously, in the right dosage, and through the right (communication) channels. An overdose may lead to heightened expectations and anxiety, too little can cause pre-mature assumptions and chaos. The right amount boosts team health and overall productivity.
9) Eat Feedback for breakfast
If you are genuinely curious about how well you are performing as a leader, people will tell you. From my experience the conversation may go like this:
‘Well, I think you are doing a decent job so far and don’t have much feedback right now, except for that one time…’
I am training myself to listen, open-mindedly, and address the concern(s). So far, so good!
10) Prepare a last-line of defense
There will be good days and not so good days. This is the reality of life — although I hope you get more of the former. Our world is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous — even with the best plans and strategy, things may not go as planned. Constantly examine what is within your control and focus on it. If all else fails, rally the troops!
