When I entered the labour market as a fresh graduate, I was young, quiet, shy, and a stammerer. This made me very circumspect in public gatherings and speeches.
My personality evolved when I started work at Harvard Chambers in 2006, a year after my NYSC. By boss was a one man squad, all the consultations, visa applications, appeals, reviews, and every formal work was done by him alone. He was a seasoned barrister, super intelligent, and a workaholic. He barely had time to guide anyone or do staff training. He comes first and leaves last in the office. It was difficult to learn from him because his office was private. Most of us were idle in an office that’s always very busy. Only the marketers, secretary, and typist were always occupied. That was the office setting! It was a managerial defect, which I later realized was my survival block building style.
I was not comfortable with the arrangement and my placement. I wanted a fully engaged and active work environment. A week after my resumption, I thought of how to create relevance in the job, and I decided to help myself by myself. I started going through files and jotting down questions. I filled some papers with questions, waiting for the opportunity to ask him. Sometimes, he would pass through our office and notice that I was always busy with files.
He observed my willingness to be involved and active. One day, he gave me two of the office cell phones to answer. I took the phones and made a detailed report of the calls I received. It was very neat, orderly, and with good handwriting. He collected the phones two days later, and I handed him over the paper and briefed him about the enquiries and my responses. He took the papers, stole a glance at me, and said I should go. I could sense that those papers and my verbal report sent a strong signal to him.
The next day, he called me and gave me some files of visa applications to do. I brought out my questions and asked a few, which he answered. Other questions were taken care of with time. In a few weeks’ time, he started sending clients to me for consultation. That was how I became the first consultant at Harvard Chambers, the first to do visa applications, and to write appeals and reviews in that office. He later employed other consultants and solicitors and started branching out to other cities and states. I was the first manager of his first branch in Victoria Island.
Harvard Chambers gave me a cooperate spirit, an enterprise mindset, and lots of business insight and courage. My personality took a meaningful change, and my stammering died a natural death as I became a consultant and started meeting people of eminence. I was enjoying the work, at the same time, challenged to brace up for the demands of my office. Clients pay consultation fees, so I couldn’t afford to fall below expectations.
That decision I took to be going through files instead of staying idle, those questions I jotted, the properness of the notes, and the interest I showed in the job were the relevance I built which eventually secured my spot in that office. While at the job, keeping up and making significant inputs was another relevance I built that secured my spot for my next season. I left after 3 years in 2009 when i opened my consulting firm, and I made sure that whoever works for me never stayed idle during work hours. I made it as a rule for them to let me know when they’re less busy because there must be something to be done.
Relevance can not be found in the corridors of laziness and mediocrity. Sometimes, nature demands we make the first move, launch the initiative, energise the spirit, or lay the groundwork. There may be opportunities behind those drawbacks or limitations you’re seeing. Have you taken the time to discover them or to maximize the little one you have?
Seasons come and go while what we make of it remains. My experience in Harvard Chambers taught me that opportunities are sometimes not found, they are created by efforts and actions, and as I advance in business, I realize that relevance is a responsibility we need to build and nurture as we prepare for our seasons in life.
Amara Ann Unachukwu.
