When I released “The Transformational Leader” in 2023, I shared the story of turning around Nigeria’s oldest indigenous bank, not to celebrate past achievements, but to extract the leadership DNA that made transformation possible.
After reflecting on that journey, three core principles emerge that every leader must master:
1. Excellence is a Habit, Not an Event: My transformation began in Primary Four when I moved from middle-of-the-pack to third in class. That moment taught me something profound: excellence isn’t about one brilliant performance—it’s about showing up consistently, day after day. At Wema Bank, we didn’t create ALAT overnight. We built excellence into our daily operations until innovation became inevitable.
2. Adaptability Trumps Comfort As a natural introvert who loved coding in solitude, becoming a bank CEO required stepping completely outside my personality type. The lesson? Your comfort zone is not your friend. When Wema needed a leader who could engage externally, I had to develop skills that didn’t come naturally. Leaders don’t have the luxury of operating only within their strengths.
3. Transformation Requires Courageous Conversations The hardest part of Wema’s turnaround wasn’t the technology or strategy—it was changing a 77-year-old culture. We had to have difficult conversations about performance, restructure teams, and challenge long-held traditions. True transformation happens when leaders are willing to address what everyone else avoids.
These weren’t theoretical concepts learned in business school. They were forged in the fire of real organisational change, during Nigeria’s banking consolidation, through the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the daily grind of turning around a struggling institution.
The question isn’t whether you’ll face moments requiring these skills—you will. The question is whether you’ll be ready.
Get “The Transformational Leader: The Journey of a Tech Bro Turned Bank CEO” on Amazon, Roving Heights, Laterna or at leading bookstores to discover the complete roadmap for leading transformational change.
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