YOU NEED A JOB? ATTITUDE COUNTS! About five years ago my colleague and friend Jerry visited me in Obuasi one Saturday morning to discuss the possibility of establishing a non-governmental organization (NGO) devoted to addressing the research challenges in the civil society sector. At the discussion, also attended by three other friends Steve, Papa Yaw and Clement, we drafted a road map that would ensure we registered an NGO by January 2011. Truly we achieved our aim, and by January 2011 Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS) was born. This was an organization without any office (in actual fact I conveniently converted my single bedroom apartment into an office), no registered address, no bank account and no paid staff. With time I brought on board fresh graduates who had been students of mine during my National Service days. There was enthusiasm from the beginning. Everyone wanted to help. New ideas kept flying around. It was very exciting attending events in Accra and elsewhere and registering CeSIS to your name. Then frustration started setting in. I made it clear at a retreat we organized in January 2011 to draft a strategic plan for 2011 -2015 that the journey would be tortuous. There would be periods of hunger, disappointment, frustration and poverty. It was a message directed particularly at the young graduates who were full of hope and optimism (or fantasies?) that they were going to be spared the unemployment situation in the country by the formation of CeSIS. The point really is that it will take some time for any serious donor to dole out funding to an unknown organization, which is also new on the block. The risk would be simply too huge to ignore. In less than two years, CeSIS had started creating space in the civil society front. We issued press statements, questioning some decisions of Parliament with respect to some mining contracts. We attacked Newmont Ghana Gold Limited for harassing the people of Yayaso and attempting a sacrilege by relocating the Royal Mausoleum. We organized a media tour of Golden Star Resources’ Bogoso/Prestea Mine to acquaint ourselves with the operations of the company, particularly with regards to the treatment of waste water from the mines. The media magnanimously gave us space. At this stage the excitement of the young graduates was visible. They were granting all the radio interviews. But after some time, the press statements became too routine. Everyone wanted more. CeSIS had to be at the fore front of public discussions. So I introduced a simple exercise. We took a decision to do public policy discussions. Each member of the organization was given a thematic area to draft a policy statement for discussion. Till date only two out of seven members managed to write something. Before long, the young graduates kissed the organization good bye to pursue other interests. Some senior colleagues made subtle attempts to bring them back but the desire to search for “easier options” proved too strong. I have taken pains to narrate these events because I feel saddened by the plight of today’s fresh graduate. I receive requests from young people who want to be a part of our organization almost on a daily basis. I always have a chat with them but so far none of them has impressed me. The critical ingredients for surviving in life are missing. Let me deal with just five of these issues: 1. A clear, unambiguous purpose. You cannot just pick a bag and decide to travel to a destination you do not know. But unfortunately that is how some of our youth live their lives. They have no clear sense of destination. They exist because they are alive. Life is an exercise in “muddling through”. But if you are going to succeed in life, you ought to have a specific aim for being alive, and then know how you are going to get there. 2. Shelve your inordinate desire to make money quick. This desire can kill you before you know it. Money is good. It answers all things, as the Bible puts it. But the interesting thing about money is that you do not have to chase it. When you do what you love, money does not become a motivating factor for you anymore. You will derive satisfaction from working, and then all your material needs will be me. 3. Patience, they say is a virtue. Well, patience is no more a virtue for the youth. They are used to having everything fast and easy. When they are hungry, they eat fast food. When they want to talk, they press a button. Unfortunately there is no automatic button to press if you want to succeed. You will have to go through the mill. After three years CeSIS got small funding to undertake revenue tracking. Two more years later, we got a bigger funding. Now we are discussing additional bigger funding for a bigger project. But where are the young graduates who could have handled the project? When I worked full time for another organization most friends were very upset that I was not being paid well. They mounted enormous pressure on me to quit the job. But I didn’t. Today, I owe all that I know about mining and development to what I learnt in that organization. 4. Do you have capacity? How well do you know your subject matter? To do anything successfully in life you must have knowledge. Knowledge is acquired. It is something deliberate that you do. Instead of desiring to make millions it is always better to read, and read and read. If you are operating in the health sector, how well do you know Ghana’s health statistics? How well do you know about gender and its associated terminologies like gender mainstreaming? In the extractives where I work a knowledge of the interface between mining, oil and gas; and development is absolutely important. If you cannot make any intelligent argument or analysis based on your area of expertise, then you need to go back to school. It is sad that most young people would rather whatsapp and facebook than read any books. 5. Who is your mentor? Mentorship is missing in our lives. A careful study of all the so-called successful people in life shows that each of them had someone they looked up to. Moses looked up to Jethro. Joshua looked up to Moses. Timothy looked up to Paul. There are similar examples in the secular world of politics. Victor Owusu mentored John Agyekum Kufuor. Egala mentored Liman. Rawlings mentored Atta Mills. If you asked each of these mentees they will tell you that it was not easy. Being mentored means being humble and swallowing any pride left in you. It also means giving up the credit that is due you. In the Bible John the Baptist stated clearly of Jesus “He must increase, but I must decrease”. It is not easy to be a mentee. Some mentors are difficult. But the only way to get a piece of them is to “decrease”. Young men and women, be humble and learn from the best in your field! So you see? In an era of high unemployment across the globe, adopting the right attitude will help you get the kind of job you dream of, and also keep it!
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 07:44:31 +0000