Latest / King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights / How to Master Strategic Visibility and Lead Fortune 100 Companies with Nadine Niba

Transcript

How to Master Strategic Visibility and Lead Fortune 100 Companies with Nadine Niba · King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights

0:00
The most costly mistake high performance make is assuming
0:04
that competence alone creates influence.
0:06
A lot of people believe that their results will speak for
0:10
themselves, but in reality, influence is built through
0:13
strategic visibility, through relationship capital and
0:16
aligning yourself with the enterprise goals.
0:19
So you don't have to just focus on let me just get my job done.
0:24
It is your job to get your job done, to build strategic
0:28
visibility for yourself, to go out there and create
0:31
relationships with the decision makers and ensure that you are
0:35
proven that the work you're doing aligns with the vision of
0:39
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1:23
Ladies and gentlemen, you once again welcome to the Kingdom's
1:27
podcast in Diary of the CFO. And today are going to be a
1:31
very, very, very special guest fighting out of Alberto, Canada
1:37
by way of Amanda Cameron Nadine, the superhero engraved Devo.
1:48
I'm so glad to be here if you're watching this.
1:51
Hi, thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed the episode.
1:56
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bonjour.
1:58
Bonjour, my Mozart, I said today on the Kingdom's podcast Summer
2:02
trip. Sava, Sava.
2:05
OK, OK. Masi, Masi.
2:06
Yeah, Masi Baku. So today on The Kingdom's
2:10
podcast, we're joined by a leader.
2:12
News journey from the Republic of Camry to the highest levels
2:15
of corporate North America is nothing short of remarkable.
2:19
Nadine Anibar is the Alberta back, a leader for risk advisory
2:23
at BDO Canada and the best selling author of Quarterback,
2:27
which reached the number one on Amazon within 24 hours of
2:30
Billings. With over a decade of experience
2:33
crossing by PwC and KPMG, she has built a reputation for
2:38
helping organisations achieve sustainable growth by balancing
2:42
in technology risk with human integrity.
2:45
Beyond titles and accolades, Nadine represents a philosophy
2:49
of leadership rated in relationships.
2:51
She believes the quality of our lives is determined by the
2:54
quality of our connections. Today, she joins us to share the
2:58
strategy, discipline and mindset required to architect a legacy
3:03
at the highest level. Nadine is an absolute honour to
3:08
welcome you to the game cast. Whoa, how are you once again?
3:13
I'm good. How are you?
3:15
I'm good, I'm good, you know, I'm happy.
3:17
I'm happy to have you on here and I'm in it.
3:19
I'm. Asking you, how are you?
3:22
Yeah. How are you?
3:25
Would I say I'm exhausted from reserving a lot of oxygen for
3:29
the introduction of the superhero?
3:32
No, you're not exhausted. You're fine.
3:34
You're happy to be here. I'm fired up.
3:37
I'm fired up. You know, it's, it's really
3:40
amazing having somebody that, you know, would I say, share
3:43
similar backgrounds, similar experiences.
3:46
It just gives you a positive bias towards that person.
3:50
You know, the PC, the KPG, you know, influence you.
3:57
You have to talk to this person. You have to enjoy such a
4:00
conversation. Well, before we get up to that
4:03
best face of origin and of course a resilient story of
4:07
yours, your long term vision is to lead a Fortune 100 company.
4:12
Not Fortune 500, Fortune 100. That is a tall one.
4:15
Very specific. Yeah, I'm going to be that kind
4:18
of. CEO Amazing How did your early
4:21
years in Cameroon and your first professional experience at Smart
4:25
Track Africa shape the resilience required for that
4:29
scale of ambition? You did, you did.
4:31
You did a good homework on me before this podcast, so.
4:35
Thank. You my LES in Cameroon yeah, you
4:39
did a lot of people who remember I worked at smart track but but
4:43
I did so talking about my early years in Cameroon.
4:46
My early years in Cameroon shaped my understanding of
4:49
responsibility and opportunity because I was growing up in an
4:53
environment where progress required discipline, community
4:57
and faith, and principles like that build resilience and fuel
5:02
ambition. So like my first professional
5:04
experience at Smart Track Africa, it exposed me to an
5:08
emerging market. Cameroon is an emerging market.
5:11
It's not a developed market and in an emerging market, structure
5:15
is limited, expectations are very high.
5:19
You learn to do the absolute best with very imperfect
5:23
conditions, right? So you rely a lot on your
5:26
creativity to solve problems in an environment that a lot is
5:31
very onsetting. So I think, and I was an
5:34
internal auditor at Smarttrac. I think those early days working
5:39
as an internal auditor in Smarttrac, though Basic Cameroon
5:42
was a global organisation because they had branches
5:45
throughout Africa. Working as an internal auditor
5:48
in an emerging market, having to put all of me to get things
5:53
right, really build the foundation of my resilience.
5:56
Living Cameroon coming to Canada now, a developed market working
6:02
across all of these large organisations within the same
6:04
function. That Price Risk Management tenor
6:07
audit gave me a 360 view on how an organisation is being run and
6:14
how every part intersects with each other, every department
6:19
intersects with each other. That eventually informs the CEO
6:23
on how to make decisions on what strategic direction this
6:26
organisation wants to go. I found myself in a position
6:28
where I I said I've seen a lot and my experience so far being
6:33
how 360 it is, has prepared me to lead a large organisation and
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that's why I'm really intentional and specific when I
6:43
say that I'm going to be the CEO of a Fortune 100 company.
6:47
This is coming from experience built over the years in an
6:51
enterprise risk management function where I've advise
6:55
business unit leaders across the organisation in both an emerging
7:00
market and a developed market. Giving me a very 360 well
7:04
grounded experience that whatever company I step into to
7:08
lead that company from point A to point B will be getting a
7:11
very refined professional. Wow.
7:13
Amazing, amazing. You know, it's quite interesting
7:16
that I studied economics for my first degree, right.
7:20
So looking at this from a global perspective, you talked about
7:25
emerging markets, developed markets, right, for a Fortune
7:29
500 company. But when I say branches across
7:33
different markets, how do you handle, would I say the
7:38
different moving parts across regions?
7:41
Like what is your strategy on ensuring that each branch goes
7:48
to market and they actually complete favourably within the
7:55
political environment, you know, the social, cultural,
7:59
technological, the legal frameworks within, you know,
8:03
those different markets? Like how do you envision it
8:07
from, would I say, a better eye for you?
8:10
Yeah. So first of all, we need to
8:12
understand that that's that's not a one person's job and
8:15
that's not a one department's job.
8:17
So you're thinking about maybe expanding or establishing
8:20
presence in a foreign market. You have to look at legal, the
8:24
rules and regulation. You have to look at the
8:26
competitors, what the competitors are doing when it
8:29
comes to even pricing. How do you price your products?
8:32
What price? Like transfer pricing?
8:34
As well enter into the market, yeah, now transfer pricing has
8:38
to come in the tax, you have to look at taxation rule.
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There's a tax department coming into the equation.
8:43
So if you are a CEO of that kind of company, you need to build
8:47
your a game team to tackle this expansion.
8:51
You have to have a solid legal team, you have to have a solid
8:54
transfer pricing team, you have to have a solid and marketing
8:57
team, you have to have a solid. I think it's going to be the
9:01
strategy team that is going to go in and do SWOT analysis,
9:05
strength, weakness, opportunity to look at what the competitors
9:07
are doing. And then it's you guys are going
9:10
to based on the results. Yes, yeah, you also have to do
9:13
look at the pastel analysis and it's based on the results of all
9:18
of this analysis that you see to together and make a decision.
9:21
The cash we need to there is you don't have to wait till you have
9:24
90% of the information to make a decision.
9:27
You should be able to confidently make a decision with
9:30
60% or 70% of the information that gets available to you.
9:34
But it's it's it's not a static thing.
9:38
You're constantly evaluating, you're constantly evaluating
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maybe every six months, everyone year.
9:44
Are we still on the right track? Do we need to pivot?
9:46
Do we need to change course of action?
9:48
So the first thing that will make anyone feel as ACEO when
9:53
considering that kind of move is thinking that you are the master
9:57
of knowledge and or be or you're going to be able to do this by
10:00
yourself. You won't.
10:01
And that's why companies hire consultants.
10:03
That's why they're going to hire AKPMGAPWC and EY a video because
10:08
they have this, that specialisation in house to
10:10
really come in and help you with things like this.
10:12
Amazing, amazing. So you've actually beats
10:15
credibility within the Beaker environment.
10:17
EYPWC So what is the most costly mistake high performance make
10:24
when trying to build influence inside highly structured
10:28
corporate systems? The most costly mistake high
10:31
performance make is assuming that competence alone creates
10:35
influence. Many, a lot of people believe
10:37
that their results will speak for themselves, but in reality,
10:42
inference is built through strategic visibility, through
10:45
relationship capital and aligning yourself with the
10:49
enterprise goals. So you don't have to just focus
10:52
on let me just get my job done. It is your job to get your job
10:57
done, to build strategic visibility for yourself, to go
11:00
out there and create relationships with the decision
11:03
makers and ensure that you are proven that the work you're
11:07
doing aligns with the visual of the company.
11:10
I think high performance that remain technically strong by
11:14
relationally invisible often plateau in their career because
11:17
influence is not only about performance.
11:20
You're supposed to have trust, clarity of voice and you have to
11:26
clearly demonstrate how the work you do impacts the organisation
11:32
bottom line. That's the profit and the
11:34
organisation vision, where the organisation is going.
11:36
Those who constantly demonstrate that they have what it takes to
11:41
align with an organisation, to get it from point A to point B,
11:45
are the ones who are going to stay within an organisation,
11:48
progress within an organisation and build influence.
11:52
But the people who just come in, get the the work done in silence
11:56
and get out, no one is gonna know.
11:58
So it's very important to do to hit all these pillars if you're
12:02
trying to build influence. Amazing, amazing.
12:05
The experience at PwC is coming in right now.
12:08
I used to tell my colleagues at PwC, you guys have been given
12:11
the chief code to succeed as a professional, The PwC
12:15
professional framework, leadership, technical
12:18
competence, thesis acumen, global acumen.
12:21
That is the ability to work with cross functional teams and
12:24
building relationships. Yeah.
12:25
What else do you need? I'd like for you to speak to how
12:29
much you appreciate that model and know how you actually
12:34
internalise it. Utilise it for your own account
12:37
career growth as well. That's exactly what I what I
12:40
what I expect and I like the way PwC articulates it.
12:43
It's not just the technical competence, it's the
12:46
relationship capital. It's being able to work across
12:50
service lines, understanding of global, a global perspective.
12:55
You cannot go to a client meeting and something really
12:58
serious has just happened in the political landscape or in the
13:01
economy landscape of the world that people are panicking about
13:05
it. And then you just go into the
13:06
meeting and you just go, good morning.
13:08
Let's jump into the walkthrough. Can you can we at least talk
13:10
about what's happening in the world right now?
13:12
It's it's very important. We are no robots, right?
13:15
I've hardly had a meeting where I went into the meeting and we
13:18
just went right into the meat of the matter.
13:22
You have to even if you it goes beyond, oh, how are you?
13:26
How was your day? How was your weekend?
13:27
What even the weekend. There was a war in Iraq and the
13:30
person you're speaking with on that call had family in that
13:34
country and you know nothing about it.
13:36
This is just the most basic way that a global perspective comes
13:41
into the picture. You don't know, you might think,
13:44
ah, that doesn't concern me. I don't even need to talk about
13:47
it. But at the end of the day, when
13:49
it comes to a job, you are relating with people and people
13:53
face all day every day. If you don't care about the
13:57
pressing that you're working with and you just want to get an
14:00
outcome out of the person, it's not going to go anywhere.
14:04
It's very much it's a people centric business.
14:08
You have to care about the people and you cannot care about
14:10
the people if all you care about is the technicality of the job
14:14
you're doing. You have to be a well-rounded,
14:17
balanced professional to succeed in the professional services
14:20
space and I'll say in in any career basically.
14:24
You know, so some some people you have different types of
14:27
leaders, some leaders are people oriented, some others are task
14:31
oriented. So I think that is the division
14:36
right there. But then the people centric
14:38
leaders tend to be more successful than the task centric
14:42
leaders. Speaking of the people Fest
14:45
leadership. I think.
14:47
You think what? Yeah, that's my philosophy.
14:49
My philosophy is people first leadership.
14:51
I wouldn't say that being a people first leader is what you
14:55
should 100% be or be a task central leader is what you
14:58
should 100% be. I think great leaders are able
15:01
to find a balance. Yes, I'm a people first leader
15:05
but I do realise the times when I have to put my foot on the
15:09
ground and say OK giving you enough pass is impacting the
15:13
organisations bottom line. If you don't deliver this by
15:15
this day I think it's no longer profitable for the company to
15:19
keep keeping you on the paycheck.
15:20
I'm capable of doing that even though my people and 1st leader,
15:24
so it's very important to know when you have to pull a trigger
15:28
or when to not pull a trigger. I consider myself a people first
15:32
leader because I tend to really invest more in people.
15:36
I think the onus is on the leader to invest in their team.
15:41
I feel like a lot of times some people make the mistake of
15:45
thinking leadership is a fancy title and people should serve
15:49
you. I think the responsibility of
15:51
leadership is enormous. It is your responsibility to
15:55
understand, at least to an extent, everybody that is a
15:58
direct report to you did their different frame of reference how
16:02
their live view was. Because we live in a world right
16:06
now where in every office, in every team at least, let's say
16:12
you have 10 people reporting to you.
16:14
And if you wanted to do a survey, this 10 people will
16:16
probably have come from 7 different countries.
16:19
There be somebody from India, somebody from Nigeria, probably
16:21
somebody from Cameroon, somebody from South Africa, there be
16:23
somebody from Brazil, there's somebody from Ghana, there be
16:26
somebody from Asia. It's, and all of these people
16:30
have a different way of seeing things.
16:33
They grew up doing things in a certain kind of way.
16:35
Your job as a leader is first to understand your people, not to
16:40
make your people see things from the way you saw things growing
16:44
up. So I tend to do the job of
16:47
understanding my people, understanding their frame of
16:50
reference, understanding how growing up was for them because
16:54
guess what? Different cultures, different
16:57
ways of life, different ways of doing things.
16:59
And it translates into the workplace.
17:01
You'll find that in some cultures you don't speak unless
17:06
you're spoken to, especially if you're the junior person.
17:09
And then people who come from that kind of culture will
17:11
translate that in the workplace in being most often silent.
17:15
Even when they're in a team meeting, their contribution will
17:18
not be heard because they will be silent.
17:20
Two kinds of leaders. One person can say Damilola
17:24
never speaks during meetings. I think she's reserved.
17:27
I think she's not a team player. I think she doesn't fit into the
17:30
team. So I think we are going to
17:32
severe this relationship. Another leader is going to say
17:35
Damilola hardly speaks. I would like to understand her
17:38
thought process and what's going on with her.
17:40
And then this leader takes the next step of understanding.
17:43
Damilola speaks with Damila. Tell me about growing up.
17:46
How is it like working in Nigeria?
17:49
And then Damila is going to say where I come from.
17:51
I don't speak to the leader First.
17:53
The leader has to speak to me before I respond.
17:56
I don't speak unless I'm spoken to.
17:58
And then, then the leader is going to realise in order to get
18:01
a contribution out of Damilola, I have to call her out to say
18:06
Damilola. I'd like to know what you think.
18:08
The next time they have a team huddle, the leader decides to
18:11
change the way this meeting is being run.
18:14
So instead of saying hi everyone, we are this face of
18:17
the project today, I'd like to know what everybody thinks.
18:19
And when you say I like to know what everybody thinks, The very
18:21
bold and confident people who grew up in environment, they
18:24
were encouraged to always speak up who speak up.
18:26
And and this other person will not speak up because that's not
18:28
their culture. And then you come in this day
18:31
after you've really understood what Daminola is, who Daminola
18:34
is, you come in and say, OK, hi everyone.
18:36
We are at this phase of the project.
18:38
And today I'm going to be going person by person to understand
18:42
what your contributions are. I'm going to begin with
18:44
Daminola. Daminola, what do you think?
18:46
And then now Daminola starts speaking and you realise that
18:49
this person is stupidly intelligent and their
18:52
contribution is just very sound. Two kind of leaders.
18:55
Now this leader is able to to bring this person out of the
18:58
shelf. The other leader assumed this
19:00
person was not good enough and kicked them out.
19:03
So I tend to be the kind of person that do not make very
19:07
quick decisions or judgments about the competency of my
19:10
people. I get I first try to meet them
19:13
where they're at, understand how they prefer to be communicated
19:16
with, understand what power dynamics look like based on
19:21
their culture, understand what communication looks like based
19:24
on their culture. And I realise that I get more
19:27
success with building a high performing team.
19:30
That's why I consider myself a people first leader.
19:33
However, it does not mean that if I find myself in a situation
19:37
where somebody is constantly slacking behind and is beginning
19:40
to impact the company's bottom line, I will not make the right
19:43
decision. I will.
19:45
So I think it's important that mostly that strike a balance
19:48
between people and task and take the right decision when it's
19:53
necessary. Of course, not too fast, not too
19:56
judgmental. Giving people the opportunity
19:59
and chances that they really need.
20:00
That is reasonable and strike a balance between putting people
20:04
1st and helping the company hit their bottom line.
20:07
Amazing. Amazing.
20:09
You just reminded me of a line from mixed martial arts fighter
20:13
Conor McGregor. He says position beats power and
20:17
timing beats speed. You know, and that is applicable
20:20
to, you know, different areas of life.
20:22
Position beats power and timing. You know, big speed is not about
20:26
time in the market for timing the markets actually to be a
20:31
good trader just as a leader as well.
20:34
It's about that balance between the concentration on the people
20:38
and the concentration on the task.
20:40
It's quite amazing you give this illustration.
20:43
Of course, the lady who was on the last episode of this podcast
20:48
talked about moving from Nigeria to Ireland.
20:51
And you know, she was that kind of person who don't like to
20:54
speak up to your meetings. And then she had a run in,
20:56
become manager, accused her of doing something and then the
21:00
manager reached out to her after the meeting.
21:02
I expected you to speak up. And then she was like, no, in my
21:05
culture, we don't speak up to authority or elders.
21:09
Wow, She said she meeting with the manager, right And then the
21:13
manager spoke to her saying next time you have to speak up for
21:16
yourself, right. And she, she learns to, would I
21:20
say, act in a more favourable way for herself.
21:24
Because really a lot of us will come from Africa, tend to have
21:29
this culture of not speaking up to say it's humble for you not
21:33
to speak up, but you go abroad and then it's a culture shock
21:37
that you can actually speak up for yourself.
21:40
It's it's really, really amazing.
21:42
Yeah, a lot of people come here and it impacts, it impacts us
21:46
negatively in the workforce. And I covered a lot of that in
21:49
quarterback. Yeah.
21:50
So when I was writing quarterback, I had seen a lot of
21:53
amazing things about not just the African culture, because I I
21:57
also think in other parts of Eastern part of Europe, the
22:00
culture is the same as the African culture.
22:03
And I think Asia, Chinese culture, that those culture are
22:06
very huge on respect for the elder faith hard work when they
22:12
come to corporate North America. And it's not just corporate
22:14
North America because when I published Quarterback, I had
22:18
people reaching out to me from UK, from Australia, telling me
22:20
that they experience the same thing.
22:22
So it's, yeah, it's in most developed countries, we struggle
22:27
a lot with getting rewarded in direct proportion to the work we
22:33
do. And that's basically because of
22:35
our culture and our upbringing. You get to work, you bury your
22:38
head, you do the job, you come back home, you pray, you go to
22:41
church on Sunday, you know that God is going to reward you for
22:44
your work. But corporate North America is
22:46
not a church. Everybody is facing their own
22:49
self-interest. And so you really, there's
22:50
supposed to be a mindset shift. But for somebody that you've
22:54
grown in a certain way for over 30 years, 25 years of your life,
22:58
18 years of your life, migrated to a new country, it's hard to
23:01
begin to unlearn things that have been ingrained in you for
23:05
over 10 years, 20 years, 30 years to Start learning a new
23:08
way. Some people say, isn't that
23:10
bragging? Hell no, it's not bragging.
23:13
You got the job done. Exactly how do you talk about
23:15
the fact that you got the job? Done exactly you, you know, even
23:19
for me or the personal notes, right.
23:21
So when I say I started this forecast two years ago, yeah,
23:25
two years and a few months and now we're global top 2%.
23:30
And sometime last year, I think I was speaking, I think when I
23:35
first got into the global rankings, you get into the
23:37
global top 10%, then you move to top 5%, top three, top two, top
23:42
1.5 and top 1% in the world. So we, we, we are going for that
23:46
top 1% this year. So it's interesting that I was
23:49
talking about it and then talking about my experience with
23:52
KPMG, PwC, you know, looking for accounts and fans and talking
23:56
about the fact that I have an MPA and my mother watched that
23:59
episode and she was like, that too much, blah, blah, blah,
24:02
blah, blah, blah. I'm like, nobody's gonna know if
24:05
you don't blow your trumpet. And there was another episode
24:07
with a guy who he's highly branched, you know, in the world
24:11
at what he does. And then he was like, I did my
24:13
research and you, I see you have your MBA.
24:16
I know you. You'd worked at the B Cross
24:18
there. And then my mom was like, oh,
24:19
wow, I see why you do this thing.
24:24
Because really, if you. Yeah.
24:26
So that's your mom trying to read it still?
24:31
Yeah, yeah, try to reinstall those African values in you, but
24:34
you're like, mommy, I'm operating on the global stage
24:37
now. It's not just.
24:39
Man you. Have to hold the values close to
24:43
your heart, but you need to know what works on what stage.
24:47
Yeah, because at the global stage, first thing you reach out
24:50
to a sponsor, they ask you what are your numbers?
24:53
OK, what sets you apart? So if you don't brag about what
24:57
you've been able to accomplish, how would you be able to be
24:59
compelling, you know, on a global stage?
25:02
Exactly. I think for for for Africans
25:05
watching us right now, you need a mindset shift, need a
25:08
reorientation to, yeah, you can be humble, right, While still
25:14
proud of yourself. So I think our people have a
25:17
distorted notion of what humility is.
25:20
They feel like being humble is you having, would I say lacking
25:26
your own self-confidence. You know, you're not painting
25:28
yourself as a star, as a superstar.
25:31
I. Think that I think that the
25:32
watch the phrase there is confidence.
25:35
Humility is confidence humility. So when you talk about your
25:40
accomplishments, you're not you're not not being humble.
25:43
And if you look at it very well, the people who don't talk about
25:46
their accomplishment are probably lacking confidence to
25:49
talk about it. You have to bring both together.
25:51
You have to be confidently humble.
25:54
It is your accomplishment. Tell people about it.
25:57
They will not know about it and the reason why you have.
26:00
To do that. Is because everybody, yeah,
26:03
because everybody is facing their own front.
26:05
Everybody is trying to create the next best opportunity for
26:10
themselves, so it is nobody's job to go and do a research
26:14
about you. Sorry, it's nobody's job to go
26:17
do research about you. You're supposed to tell them who
26:19
you are. I like that it's nobody's job to
26:22
go do research about you, the people first leader.
26:26
Nobody. 'S job to do, yeah.
26:30
And you know, this is the age of AI, you know, where people just
26:33
act in a way in an ignorant manner.
26:35
I tell them she's been. Do you have GPT?
26:38
Like do you have any AI to lawyers for the CES?
26:41
Can you please just type that in good English?
26:43
That question you just you find the answer.
26:47
You know, the age of AI has actually driven a lot of
26:49
disruption. And why do you believe People
26:52
First leadership is is still not optional, right, but essential
26:56
for organisation also? Yeah.
26:58
So why do I believe people first leadership is not optional?
27:01
Yes, right now in the in the age of AI, AI beginning to do many
27:09
more things. You call a company, AI is the
27:12
one talking to you. You send an e-mail AI response
27:16
to you. Have you ever found a safe
27:18
registration where you're like, that means connect.
27:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I, I don't know.
27:22
I'm not talking about. I know you.
27:24
Yeah. Like connect to a human.
27:25
Connect. Can I really just talk?
27:27
To I get frustrated, so I get frustrated.
27:29
Yes. And you get you get frustrated.
27:32
So it's become so important that companies double down on
27:36
nurturing those human relationships because those are
27:40
the only things that will make a difference.
27:43
The human relationships are going to be the huge
27:45
differentiators right now. AI cannot go out for coffee
27:48
meetings with colleagues. AI will not build bonding
27:51
relationships for you with with your team.
27:54
AI will not have difficult conversations with somebody on
27:57
your team when they lost their loved 1.
27:59
So it is very important now more than ever to double down and
28:04
develop those skills of emotional intelligence, cultural
28:08
intelligence, empathy. These are all little buckets
28:12
under the human skills. So organisations now more than
28:17
ever need to retrain those in leadership, those charged with
28:21
leading other people to be very apartment with emotional
28:26
intelligence, empathy, cultural intelligence.
28:28
Because right now, where AI can do almost everything is those
28:31
organisations that still have these human values that will
28:34
have a competitive advantage. Amazing.
28:37
I have an episode with Andrew apart from America, Andrew, it's
28:41
titled Humans first, AI next, humans first, AI next.
28:46
And that's just the way it is meant to be.
28:48
So let's talk about risk, right? A strategic risk and market
28:54
leadership. As Alberta's market leader for
28:57
risk advising, you focus on balancing eases risk with
29:01
technology risk. How come founders and executives
29:05
position risk management as a growth accelerator rather than
29:09
just being a defensive function? Organisations need to integrate
29:13
risk into decision making because if even you look at the
29:18
world and the way it's rapidly changing, you can make risk an
29:23
optional function. You need the risk enterprise
29:26
risk management function side by side with every decision you're
29:31
making. Is it like investing?
29:34
You need to look at the risk. Is it in hiring?
29:37
You need to look at the risk. Is it in considering what AI
29:40
tool to implement into your organisation?
29:42
You need to look at the risk because there's also a risk of
29:45
confidential data being exposed, right?
29:48
So I think organisations don't need to, yes, organisations
29:53
don't need to treat risk as that function that they bring in
29:57
where something has gone wrong. It's already too late at that
29:59
point. Risk management has to be that
30:02
function that we begin every week because risk is embedded in
30:08
everything we do. So when you do that, you are
30:12
actually being proactive and putting in measures and controls
30:17
in place to prevent costly occurrences in the future that
30:23
could impact your reputation. Financial losses.
30:26
I think reputational damage and financial loss are the two
30:29
biggest things. Reputational damage and
30:31
financial loss that can even make the business, the company
30:34
go out of business. Because if it let's take for
30:37
example, in a situation going concerned, let's take for
30:40
example, in a situation where it's like a hospital and you,
30:43
you, you implemented an AI tool without risk considerations and
30:48
patient's data is out in the open.
30:50
I don't ever see that kind of hospital coming back into
30:53
business. I don't see that happening.
30:58
OK, goodbye. So yeah, it cannot be an
31:00
afterthought. Yeah, OK, so let's talk about
31:03
the signals of integrity. We work closely with boards and
31:07
audit committees to strengthen governance.
31:09
So what are the three non negotiable credible executive?
31:14
Sorry, what are the non negotiable signals of integrity
31:18
that define credible executive leadership today?
31:21
I would say consistency, transferability, and
31:24
accountability. Consistency between what you
31:27
state as your values out there and what actually happens
31:31
inside. Transparency about both your
31:34
successes and failures, and proper accountability leaders
31:39
who demonstrate these signals. They build trust with both
31:41
boards, their employees, and their stakeholders.
31:44
Putting it plain and simple, that's it.
31:46
So what? What would you say about being
31:48
an authentic person? You know, authenticity is
31:51
actually very important. Of course, a lot of people in
31:54
the corporate world tend to put up a fake face.
31:57
The fake it to you make it character, you know, and it's
32:01
difficult to keep up with a character if that is not the
32:04
true you. So how do you help individuals
32:08
in that kind of a position? So this is quarterback, I don't
32:11
know if you can see this. This is quarterback I this is a
32:14
very interesting question you just asked because I put a note
32:18
in here. I said, I don't know if you can
32:21
see this. I said, Nadine, you did this
32:24
because, you know, this book became a bestseller 24 hours
32:26
after its release. It was unbelievable.
32:28
But the reason why I brought this up is, yeah, in chapter, I
32:33
think in Chapter 9 I spoke about the power of authenticity,
32:36
obtaining your identity, consistency.
32:39
Transparency. And accountability are part of
32:41
authenticity. I'm going to Chapter 9 now.
32:45
This is amazing FC. This is highly aligned.
32:49
The power of authenticity Maintain your identity.
32:51
This is Chapter 9. The power of authenticity
32:53
Maintain your identity. I think it is very important
32:57
that you are authentic. Authenticity builds credibility,
33:01
it helps people to trust you and it is a first sign of
33:05
leadership. They realise that a lot of
33:08
people in corporate spaces, it's not, let me not say a lot
33:11
because what percentage is a lot?
33:13
Some people struggle with authenticity and they, they,
33:17
they find put themselves in situations where they have to
33:20
fit a mould, they have to talk a certain way, they have to dress
33:24
a certain way. I'd like to put out a catch 22
33:26
year. There's a difference between
33:29
authenticity and making an environment comfortable for
33:33
everybody. Let me use a very basic example
33:38
to differentiate what I'm saying.
33:40
You cannot be working in a team. And the kind of food you eat is
33:46
very spicy, a little cooked from the house, a lot of pepper.
33:50
And then you come to work, you put it in the microwave and the
33:53
smell gets everybody in the office coffee.
33:55
And then you keep doing it again and again.
33:59
And in your mind you say, well, that's my traditional food.
34:02
I have to eat. If the smell of the pepper is
34:04
talking, you get out. No, that's wrong.
34:06
So you have to be authentic, but not without making an
34:11
environment comfortable for everybody to coexist.
34:15
You have to be authentic, but you have to be considerate.
34:17
Another example is they can't say, OK, today the entire team
34:22
is going out to play golf and you say where?
34:24
Where I come from, we didn't play golf.
34:26
I'm not going to go. That's going to work against
34:28
you. You have to be authentic, but
34:29
you have to be wise. That's a team burning activity.
34:32
You don't know how to do it. Shrub anywhere and clap for the
34:35
others who are doing it right. So it's very important to be
34:38
authentic, but not at the cost of making an environment
34:42
uncomfortable for everybody else to coexist.
34:44
Yes, I. Think that is you.
34:46
Can be authentic, Yeah, And keep your authenticity.
34:49
And it could be something like, well, if this pepper is just too
34:54
much and everybody will be coughing in the office, maybe I
34:56
should rather just eat this food for dinner and take something
34:59
lighter for lunch in the office. Golf is not what I play.
35:03
How about I go there because for the team bonding and interact
35:07
with everybody else, clap for those who are playing and maybe
35:10
take one or two lessons because it's not something I grew up
35:14
playing. They should be your negotiables
35:16
and non negotiables when it comes to authenticity.
35:19
These are my values. I'm a Muslim, I'm a Christian,
35:22
nobody's going to force me to become an atheist.
35:24
That is black or white. That is not going to impact
35:27
anybody's coexistence in the workplace.
35:29
Stay true to your faith, but there are some other things that
35:33
will clearly impact. It's going to make some people's
35:35
chick turn red. Insist to do it, to say, OK,
35:38
this is me. Yeah, I'm being authentic.
35:39
Let me bring an example for myself.
35:41
Most African women are very loudly spoken, overly confident.
35:46
That's me. When I walk into a room, I
35:47
dominate the room. But I've had a lot of situations
35:50
where the people who report to me come to me and say some
35:52
that's why you speak to me. I feel scared.
35:54
And I'm like, Oh my God, why do you feel scared?
35:56
Like, Oh my God, your voice is sometimes loud.
35:58
It's very commanding. OK.
36:00
Oh, no, I wasn't really trying to shout at you.
36:02
So imagine if I said, well, that's the African woman thing.
36:06
If you can't take my voice is OK, I'm not going to have
36:09
anybody on my team like it or not.
36:10
But I have had to learn to tone it down sometimes when depending
36:15
on who I'm talking to so that the same message, I'm not
36:20
diluting the message can go through and be understood.
36:24
Remember, communication is two ways.
36:26
You have to say what you're saying, but the other person has
36:28
to understand what you're saying.
36:30
Now, if you take that authenticity bullshit and put it
36:32
at the front and you're like, well, I'm a strong black woman,
36:36
I'm gonna speak and scream to the top of my voice.
36:39
If you don't get it, you don't get it.
36:41
You failed the basic possible communication.
36:43
Exactly. The message did not communicate.
36:47
The reason why I brought in all of these examples is to say that
36:50
you have to be authentic. You have to maintain your
36:53
identity, but you have to read the room.
36:55
Amazing know when to draw the line but sometimes the line may
36:59
not be white or black if I be grey like they did LinkedIn
37:03
photo. Well, OK, so global leadership
37:06
patterns right through your involvement in the Commonwealth,
37:09
Caribbean, Canada Leaders Dialogue, what patterns have you
37:13
observed about leadership excellence across different
37:16
economic environment? Nice that across different
37:21
economic environments, leadership excellence is defined
37:23
by adaptability, clarity of purpose, and respect for local
37:27
realities. Leaders who succeed globally
37:30
listen first. Sorry, the two.
37:33
Years one mouth for user, two years one mouth for.
37:36
Exactly, exactly. They listen first before they
37:39
prescribe solutions and then they align their strategy with
37:43
context rather than imposing uniform approaches.
37:47
So I can't leave Canada and go to Jamaica and I say this is how
37:52
we do it in Canada, This is how you should do it.
37:54
No, you have to have respect for local realities.
37:57
You should be able to adapt your leadership style based on the
38:01
realities of the localization you're operating in at that
38:06
time. And the only way you're gonna
38:08
succeed at that is if you listen first.
38:12
I was watching this master class about this CIA agent.
38:16
I think he worked under Obama and Obama has sent him on a
38:20
mission to North Korea to establish a, to establish a
38:25
strategic relationship with North Korea.
38:27
And so he was talking about, even though I think the primary
38:31
thing that they wanted to get out of North Korea, they did not
38:34
get, he said that on that mission.
38:37
That was the furthest they had gone in any negotiation whatever
38:42
with North Korea. And to him he categorised that
38:46
is success and the reason why he categorised that and to him he
38:49
categorised how far they went on that negotiation is success.
38:53
And this were the things he did differently when he went there
38:57
and he arrived, he didn't just go OK, I came for us to talk
39:00
about this, let's go talk about this.
39:01
No, when he met with the minister he was going to meet
39:04
with, he accompanied him to the local Korea festivals, he danced
39:10
with the people, he went with him to his kids school event,
39:13
went to all the monumental places in North Korea.
39:17
He digested the culture and the way of life and he saw that the
39:23
more he did that, the more they saw him as somebody who didn't
39:28
just come to get what he needed out of a negotiation, but
39:34
somebody who cared about the North Korean way of life, about
39:39
their values, about their principles.
39:42
And because he demonstrated that they were more receptive and
39:46
more friendly to him. You see, this goes back to what
39:50
I spoke about cultural intelligence and a leader being
39:54
the one that has the honours to meet people where they're at.
39:58
People are more like you're more likely to get.
40:00
Outcomes out of things. When you demonstrate that you
40:04
deeply care about the people you're working with beyond just
40:10
getting outcomes, even if just getting outcomes is your real
40:15
intention, if you don't demonstrate empathy, care, and
40:18
respect for their culture, that negotiation is going nowhere.
40:21
This is actually a very, very, super amazing illustration.
40:24
And then you just reminded me of something that I always tell my
40:27
guests, I have only two goals on this podcast.
40:31
That is to educate and to motivate.
40:33
And if you help me achieve those goals, I'm very happy with you.
40:37
So from me to you today, baby niever.
40:41
Thank you very much. I'm very happy for, you know,
40:44
doing my own job for me. Wow.
40:45
So let's talk about your book, your book, the quarterback
40:49
framework. Like so the quarterback
40:52
metaphor, like that book actually held an under one
40:55
position for 90. Why did you choose the
40:58
quarterback metaphor to represent the even grand
41:01
experience in corporate in North America?
41:04
Quarterback represents leadership under pressure.
41:07
Think about the qualities of an essential of an elite
41:12
quarterback. Pocket presence, composure.
41:15
It does not matter if the opponent is winning.
41:18
You keep playing undefeated with that undefeated spirit until the
41:21
final whistle is blown. Pocket presents.
41:24
It does not matter if somebody is shouting at you.
41:26
Stay calm. Confidence.
41:29
If your opponent is winning, you can't keep your spirit down.
41:33
You keep playing like it's a fair field because you know that
41:38
even if it's 10 minutes to the end of the game, you can still
41:41
emerge the winner. So when you look at the
41:43
qualities of an elite quarterback, those are the same
41:47
qualities I want the immigrant to possess in corporate North
41:52
America. It does not matter how many
41:54
times you get fired, you don't come back and say, my goodness,
41:57
I've been fired 2 times. I'm never going back to work.
42:00
So you keep fighting, you keep, you dust your resume, you go
42:04
back out there, you keep applying because trust me, until
42:07
the final whistle is blown, which is you're dead.
42:09
Nobody has won over you. You need to even remember that.
42:13
And with the quarterback mindset, you would know this.
42:16
Nobody can sit in a boardroom and make a decision about your
42:20
destiny. The worst they can do is say
42:22
that you're not a good fit for this company.
42:24
But guess what? If you have an undefeated
42:28
spirit, 2 weeks later you could be in a better company.
42:31
A local champion could be kicking you out and telling you
42:34
you're not a good fit for our company, and two weeks later you
42:36
are in Google if you didn't let your spirit go down.
42:39
So when I was writing quarterback, my goal was to
42:43
infuse the qualities of an elite quarterback into the mindset of
42:47
the reader. I want you to know that you are
42:49
the champion. The quarterback is always
42:51
playing in unfamiliar terrains. It's not.
42:54
The field that they're playing in is not always a field that
42:57
they know naturally. For immigrants, you're already
43:00
playing in an unfamiliar terrain.
43:02
You left your home country, you're in a new country.
43:05
It's an unfamiliar terrain. They gave me stuff, But failure
43:08
is not an option. Pocket present.
43:10
You wouldn't go to work and your manager scrolls at you and you
43:14
scrolled back. You dare not do that.
43:16
You know that when you do that. And if you're even black, if you
43:20
become an angry black woman, Pocket presents, you stay calm,
43:23
even under pressure, even in unpleasant situations, you may
43:28
take your teas and your respect because you know that you have
43:32
it in you. And if you realise that that's
43:34
not an environment, a good environment for you, you walk
43:37
away with your head high. Because guess what?
43:41
I'm qualified. I'm triple qualified.
43:44
I've surmounted a lot of mountains, living a whole new
43:48
country, starting life in a whole new other country.
43:51
It is not this little thing you're putting in front of me
43:53
that's going to make me act out of character.
43:55
I'm not going to act out of character.
43:57
I won't tarnish my reputation. Because of you, I have a
44:00
brighter future ahead of me. There are other fields for me to
44:03
play in bigger, bigger games more than this.
44:06
So I'm going to walk out of the situation with my head high, my
44:10
confidence and everything intact, and I'm going to be
44:12
playing in the bigger field 2 weeks later.
44:15
So it was very intentional titling the book quarterback and
44:18
the strategies that I wrote inside.
44:20
Because you are the quarterback of your career.
44:23
You are the mastermind. Nobody has the authority to
44:27
decide how that career goes except you.
44:30
The worst anybody can do is tell you I want you out of my
44:33
company, but they have no power to determine how far or how
44:37
short your career turns out. Because in your hands, you and
44:41
you alone. Basin, your career is in your
44:43
hands. And of course, Speaking of elite
44:46
level quarterbacks, what are your thoughts are Tom Brady?
44:50
Where does the best? The greatest of all time.
44:54
The greatest of all time. Out in the book, yeah, he's the
44:58
greatest. Oh wow.
44:59
You know, I, I really, really appreciate that guy and what his
45:03
views, what he represents. But what being sticks out for me
45:07
is the longevity of his career. Like how consistent consistently
45:13
hard working, because hard work is not interesting, it is
45:17
boring. Nobody likes to work hard, but
45:20
I'd love for you to speak to the power of consistency.
45:22
Another connecting dot I find between yourself and myself is
45:25
that we are African professionals, black African
45:29
professionals who have been able to recognise the power of
45:33
consistency right? If you are consistent at
45:36
something over for a long period of time, yeah, the results will
45:41
be astronomers, the results will be exponential.
45:45
So I think about myself for example, starting two years ago,
45:49
right, within just two years, making it into the top 2% in the
45:53
world. For context, there are over 4
45:56
million podcasts in the world and to be in the top 2% amongst
46:00
the 4 million it made and being African, right?
46:04
And looking at the time, I see people who started in 2020, that
46:08
is COVID period. I was not even outside of the
46:10
country at the time, DC bar top 5% and you top 2% and people ask
46:15
me, oh, how do you get that high?
46:17
Look at the body of work. Go look at the body of work and
46:20
people see the massive number of episodes, right?
46:23
But it has always been every week, every week, every week,
46:26
every week. And at the end of two years, you
46:29
just see, whoa, so you have this massive body of work, right?
46:33
And you know, looking at organisations like Better Help,
46:36
Better Help is number one in the world, number one in the world
46:40
for online therapy. And they reached out to me and
46:42
said we admire your body of work and would like to partner with
46:45
you. It was humbling for me, you
46:47
know, and I think validation when when you get corporate
46:50
validation, it kind of humbles you and makes you feel
46:55
appreciated. Like I likely to speak to the
46:57
power of consistency, you know, for the young especially.
47:01
Young people. You know, listening to us today.
47:03
The sacred of your future is hidden in your daily routine and
47:08
the word routine is consistent. It's something you do every day,
47:13
every day, every day. You are going to get it really,
47:16
really wrong when you you think that oh, I'm just going to skip
47:20
the workout and then one day I'm not going, I'm just going to
47:23
take a setting drug and the weight just goes down.
47:25
No, it doesn't happen like that. In order to maintain a healthy
47:30
weight, a fit physique and it comes through the daily
47:34
consistent workout. It's not going to be 1 grand
47:37
gesture, gesture one day that is going to save the day, right?
47:41
Same with your career is consistently showing up every
47:45
day and consistently doing great work.
47:48
It's not one grand gesture one day that's going to make you an
47:52
excellent internal auditor or it's going to make you out, but
47:55
instant. It doesn't work like that.
47:57
So every time when I when I speak with youths,
48:01
professionals, I tell them that the secret of your future is
48:04
hidden in your daily routine. And that routine, everything
48:08
about that routine is consistency is boring.
48:11
Yes, it is boring, but you have to wake up and do it every day.
48:14
Amazing. I was Speaking of boring.
48:15
I remember having to write the professional exams, you know.
48:20
Yeah, back in those days, you know, studied every day, studied
48:23
every day, and then, you know, get the results.
48:26
It's really, really amazing. And it's kind of amazing.
48:28
How many kilometres? How many mountains?
48:32
How many, you know, seas and oceans we've had to cross to get
48:37
to where we are today? Cool.
48:39
You did it. You did it.
48:40
Oh, they did a rather plus what they did, you know.
48:44
And you know, it's something I'd like for you to speak quickly
48:47
about the faith aspect because I remember sometime last year I
48:50
was speaking with somebody and then I told them, but it's not
48:53
possible for me to feel like it is not possible.
48:56
Like we got all things are possible.
48:58
And did you know the probability, right?
49:01
If if a lot of times you wouldn't appreciate the, the
49:04
journey of an immigrant, especially the journey of a
49:07
black immigrant, right? If you're born in Africa, it
49:10
feels like you are not starting life at the point of origin.
49:14
You're starting at maybe -5 and you need to beat the odds to get
49:18
to the origin. 100. This should be a highlight reel
49:25
-100 you know, and then you're from Cameroon or from Nigeria.
49:30
Think about how, like, do you know how many accidents go to
49:34
save me from. Do you know how easy it is to
49:36
lose yourself, to lose your life, you know, in Nigeria or
49:39
Cameroon? And then I left there, Yeah,
49:41
moved, you know, countries and, you know, promotion after
49:45
promotion, denture after adventure.
49:48
Come on, you, you're, you're, you have come way too far just
49:52
to come this far. Do you ever think that way?
49:54
And of course, like what's the role of in your tribe and most
49:58
of. I like when you said that you
50:00
can never fail. It's impossible to fail and the
50:03
reason why that statement is true is because all things work
50:08
together for good to them that love the Lord and to those who
50:11
are called according to. His purpose?
50:14
And so if you believe that Romans 828, you realise that
50:19
that two principles hold true. The only thing that counts as
50:24
failure in this life is the chances you didn't take and the
50:27
chances you took but you gave in your mediocre self.
50:30
You didn't do your best, you took it for granted, but as long
50:34
as you took the chance and you gave it your best shot, what
50:37
comes out of it is the result. Now that result could be what
50:41
you want or what you know you'd want but depends on.
50:44
Depending on your faith level and your work with God, you are
50:48
able to see the message in either result you get.
50:52
Definitely you will be expecting a certain outcome in mind right?
50:57
A lot of people would think if I don't get the outcome I wanted,
51:00
I failed. No, no, you did not fail if you
51:04
didn't get the outcome you wanted.
51:06
But this was something you put in your best and you did
51:08
everything right and you were expecting outcome A.
51:10
You got outcome B. God has probably given you what
51:13
you need and know what you wanted.
51:16
And what you have to do is reframe your mindset and how
51:19
you're looking at it. Because chances are, the B you
51:23
got instead of the A is what is going to propel you forward,
51:26
depending on how you look at it. My greatest breakfast in life
51:30
have come from the things that a kind of mind would have seen as
51:33
failure, but they were just the best outcome that God wanted for
51:37
me. Preach it, preach it.
51:38
But it's it's amazing. Do you know what is my favourite
51:42
Bible verse? No Philippians chapter 4 verse
51:46
13. I can do all things.
51:47
Surprises strengthens me. Exactly.
51:49
All things. Not some things, not a lot of
51:52
things. All things we have to say yes,
51:55
yeah, yeah. I love that scripture.
51:58
Keep you going. You know, let's talk about
52:01
mentorship and financially to racing.
52:04
So mentorship is central to your work with Junior Achievement
52:08
Southern Alberta. How does teaching financially
52:12
Tracy to young people sharpen your strategic decision making
52:16
as a corporate leader? You know that anything that you
52:19
teach, the knowledge you have of in multiplies I mean CPA.
52:24
So definitely yeah, it's I understand finances and taxis
52:32
and investment because things that I learned.
52:34
However, it is in the teaching of it that my knowledge of it
52:39
has been refined and I genuinely enjoy doing it because teaching
52:43
young people how to grow money and save money and preserve
52:48
money and the tax system and how to take advantage of the tax
52:53
system that the tax haven, because this is a company that
52:56
is heavily taxed. Sometimes my boys pay up to 40%
52:59
in taxes. You need to understand the
53:03
things that the government has put in place to give you a tax
53:06
breeder, the tax free savings account, the registered
53:09
retirement account. If you don't take advantage of
53:11
all of these breaks that the government has put in place, all
53:15
you're going to do in this country is work and pay taxes.
53:18
And so I'm really passionate about helping people gain
53:20
financial freedom when I do these things and it helps me in
53:24
return. That's that's the gift to gain
53:26
part of it. I'm giving, but I'm gaining.
53:28
Amazing, amazing. I I love the way you framed it
53:31
that you know, if you know something, it sort of like gets
53:35
multiplied if you teach and that's another connecting dot
53:39
that yourself and myself have. I used to be a teacher, right?
53:44
I your CPA. I'm an ACA, so I taught
53:48
corporate reporting, financial reporting, financial accounting
53:52
for the professional students writing their professional
53:56
exams. And it's amazing the exponential
54:01
way in which I was able to understand the concepts.
54:06
Of course, it's one thing to study and pass exams on your own
54:10
is another thing for you to study for the purpose of
54:13
impacting that knowledge on another person.
54:16
And even when you're in the classroom, questions that
54:19
different individuals ask you make you see things from
54:22
different lenses, different perspectives, and it broadens
54:25
your horizon. It's a, it's a really, really
54:27
amazing thing to be a teacher, right?
54:30
So relationships and alignment, right?
54:33
You often say the quality of our lives depends on the quality of
54:37
our relationships. So how do you intentionally
54:40
evaluate and elevate your professional circle to ensure
54:46
alignment with your Fortune 100 CEO goal?
54:50
The quality of our lives depend on the quality of our
54:55
relationships. It goes down to people.
54:59
People are more likely to give opportunities to people that
55:03
they like and trust, not who is most competent.
55:06
People are more likely to work with people that they like and
55:09
trust, not who check the box on every qualification that was
55:14
mentioned on the job advert. So the most important capital is
55:20
your relationship capital. The most important currency you
55:24
have is your relationship currency.
55:26
And so for me, I don't take that lightly.
55:28
I do the work of investing into my relationships, the
55:33
relationships I want to keep. It's a lot of work to maintain
55:37
relationships, so you can't go having relationship with
55:40
everybody because you. Yeah, that's honest to all.
55:48
You can't go around have a relationship with everybody, you
55:50
know. It sounds more like the robotic
55:52
relationship, Yeah. That's not what I'm talking
55:56
about. That's not what I'm talking
55:58
about. Like.
55:59
Even let me interrupt you a bit. Let me interrupt you a bit.
56:03
I remember in London, this girl from Hungary, and then she was
56:08
telling me I want a relationship.
56:10
I want a relationship. I think, I think I'm having when
56:16
I say flashbacks it, it, it was like at a social event and you
56:20
know, with the accent. I want a relationship, want a
56:23
relation. Oh.
56:24
My God, Oh my God. You're telling me you can't keep
56:27
having relationship up or down? Maybe I should tell that person
56:30
you can't have relationship. No, no, you can't.
56:33
You can't. You can't just, it's at the end
56:36
of the day, it's gonna be very shallow, right.
56:38
And yeah, identify. Yourself in.
56:41
There's going to be. Don't spread yourself in there's
56:44
going to be close friends that going there's going to be
56:47
acquaintances, there's going to be professional networks.
56:50
You, you, you have to define for yourself how frequently you want
56:54
to keep contact with each of these buckets.
56:56
Maybe professional network. You want to say, hey, can we
56:57
grab a coffee every once in six months?
57:00
Because you know that in a professional space, these
57:02
relationships are very important, right That closely.
57:06
These are the ones where you can be calling on WhatsApp and you
57:08
guys are just gisting everyday. That's not what we're talking
57:11
about. I think now we are really
57:13
focused on maintaining the professional relationships.
57:15
It's very important to for the professional relationships you
57:18
want to maintain, even if it's a once a year coffee meeting, to
57:22
just sit and talk about how the year has been.
57:25
My very first employer in Canada 12 years ago, I think she was
57:30
the person who gave me my first years and then referred me to EY
57:34
12 years later without working there.
57:36
She and I have a coffee meeting January of every year just to
57:40
talk about how is life going, how's your career going?
57:43
Any areas you need advice from me?
57:45
Yeah, and once a year. And it is still a very solid
57:50
relationship. So to preserve a relationship,
57:53
you don't have to talk to them every day or go out with them
57:56
every month. It can be once a year or once
57:58
it's six months, but it could be a very quality one hour.
58:02
Just don't make relationships transactional that you're only
58:05
reaching out to somebody at a point where, oh, you're out of
58:07
job and you need another job and that's when you have to speak
58:09
with them. Nourish the relationships
58:12
throughout so that it's not a transactional something.
58:15
I think relationships should not be transactional.
58:17
Yeah, I totally agree with that. I totally, totally agree with
58:21
that. And of course, Speaking of, you
58:22
know, quality relationships, myself and yourself, we're able
58:25
to connect due to a quality relationship with our virtual
58:29
friend. So big shout out to Damilola if
58:32
you're watching this baby, they have the podcast today and
58:38
you're going to move to the rapid fire ground.
58:42
Are you ready to rumble? Let us go, let us go.
58:46
So I'm going to ask you 5 questions.
58:49
Just tell me what comes to your mind real quick and wrap it up.
58:53
So number one is the legacy metric.
58:55
So when you step into a Fortune 100 CEO bro, what is the first
58:59
structural change you will make to define the workplace of the
59:03
future? Our embed leadership development
59:06
coming into the core strategy with the focus on people first
59:09
leadership and striking the balance.
59:11
Amazing, amazing. It means first AI debt.
59:14
So #2 question the growth catalyst.
59:16
So what is 1 overlooked technology risk that leaders are
59:21
underestimated right now? Lastly.
59:24
Ethical governance of AI? None of it.
59:27
That, yeah, yeah, I appreciate that.
59:30
I appreciate that it's something that we have spoken on on this
59:33
show multiple times. And really for you articulating
59:36
it that way, I think you need, you deserve maybe in the next
59:40
Grammys would have a Nadine Niba with a nomination for the next
59:44
Rabbits. So, the essential assets beyond
59:48
your CPA and NBA, what single skill has generated the greatest
59:53
return in your career? Strategic visibility.
59:55
Amazing. Yeah, I love that.
59:57
I love that. You know, because when I think
59:59
about it, NBA, you have an AB as well.
1:00:02
I'm an ACA year CPA, Yeah, but the green economics as well.
1:00:05
But I think about to be what has really even me the greatest
1:00:10
returns has been relationship building.
1:00:12
It's not just about the credentials.
1:00:15
Yeah, it's about the relationships that you build a
1:00:18
lot the way. So let's talk about the
1:00:20
immigrant edge. What cultural value from
1:00:23
Cameroon do you protect fiercely in North American boardrooms?
1:00:27
Community. Amazing, amazing.
1:00:29
So I've. Never had a word.
1:00:32
You know, we, we, we grew up in a very communal.
1:00:34
The lifestyle back home is very communal.
1:00:37
Yeah. Very, very, Yeah, Highly,
1:00:39
highly. And even in corporate spaces, I
1:00:43
haven't dropped that part of me. And, you know, it's amazing what
1:00:46
we can do with technology these days.
1:00:48
You can also strengthen the bond of a community by leveraging our
1:00:52
technology tools to close feasible gaps.
1:00:57
So the final word If your lifes work were distilled into one
1:01:01
sentence for the next generation of leaders, what would?
1:01:04
One sentence for the next generation of leader.
1:01:08
Let's see of the rest of your life depends on the quality of
1:01:11
your relationship. Amazing you.
1:01:14
I keep saying this even at the experts.
1:01:17
Sounded like a broken record. But the fortunate and
1:01:20
unfortunate it is that it is 100% true, no lies told.
1:01:27
Yes, 100% true, no lies told. You know, this, it's, it's good
1:01:33
to always have, you know, sayings that you leave by or you
1:01:38
can even die by, right? And you keep repeating it.
1:01:41
It's amazing. I, I mentor like a group of
1:01:44
podcasters, right? And it's, it's crazy when you're
1:01:48
a pacesetter. As a Black person, I've been
1:01:51
privileged to mentor guys in the top 5% and two guys in the top
1:01:56
10% and one of them stole my life.
1:02:00
That I always tell people, and this is my authentic life.
1:02:03
You know? Alice say gratitude is good.
1:02:05
What's that? Please tell me.
1:02:08
Gratitude is good attitude, Yeah.
1:02:10
And when a person shares the time with you, they share their
1:02:13
life with you because the SI units were measuring life this
1:02:16
time. So thank you very much, Nadine,
1:02:19
for sharing your life and your time with me today on The
1:02:21
Kingdom's podcast and Diary of a CFO.
1:02:24
And for me, it is goodbye to the guys, right?
1:02:27
But guys, what's up, what's up? Watch our ads, you know what it
1:02:31
has on YouTube and Spotify. And always go for something in
1:02:34
your lives, right? Conceive belief, strive to
1:02:37
thrive and achieve. Lady Niba, do you want to leave
1:02:40
a shout out to anybody or do you have any last words before you
1:02:44
say goodbye? My last words to you is the
1:02:47
secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine, so stay
1:02:51
consistent. I'm amazing.
1:02:53
I love that. I love that I love that I love
1:02:56
that, I love that. I love that Consistency is a
1:02:59
weapon, and I like to say I weaponize consistency.
1:03:02
So you've heard it from me, you've heard it from the game.
1:03:04
So guys go out there and put in the work.
1:03:07
So it's goodbye from me, and of course it's goodbye from Dating
1:03:10
Bieber. Bye.
1:03:11
Bye.