CAN you tell us about yourself?

I started out life here in Nigeria as a middle child of a family of five children. I attended Saint Catherine Model School in Lagos. I proceeded to Federal Government College Odogbolu and was at OAU Ile-Ife where I graduated with a degree in Accounting.

I worked for a couple of years here before leaving for the UK to study. Life in the UK was very different, it offered new challenges and perspectives and I loved it. So, I stayed on after qualifying as a chartered accountant. I quickly got bored of Accounting and wanted something more exciting and diverse.

So I moved into consulting, specializing in business risk and strategy.  I have worked and consulted for some of the largest companies in Europe. The biggest driving force for me is to build something beyond myself, to propel change, to improve outcomes and to be excellent. I am constantly exploring ways to make life easier, better, happier, more fulfilling and balanced.

Today, Abolaji Idowu, who is rated as one of the top Business and Performance Coaches in the United Kingdom tells us his story from the cradle to the present. Idowu, who worked with top multinational companies in Europe before distinguishing himself as a Business Coach, shares so many instructive experiences. He is the founder, BGI Coaching and member of Action Coach, UK.

My biggest motivation is to see development in Africa, to ensure we create a fantastic future for the next generation where we can educate ourselves, feed ourselves, drive our own destinies and become leaders in the global economy.

Vibrant economy

This drive propelled me to enroll for an executive MBA where I spent two years researching about strategies to accelerate economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa.

On driving force: I had worked with various large organizations enabling them to grow to become more efficient and more profitable.  But still, I wasn’t satisfied. I also wanted to help Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, startups, non-for-profit organizations, and individuals.

We all know that a vibrant economy needs far more than just large corporates. This desire motivated me into becoming a certified business and performance coach. Coaching helps focus all my drive, passion, skillset and experience into a service that helps more people and businesses get their desired results without breaking the bank.

Could you tell us some   values that shape your life and the possible lessons that can be drawn?

My parents exposed me to handling large sums of money very early in life. My father would leave money with me for several months and just call for his money without notice. He would count to see if it was complete and then check the notes to see if I had taken out of it and replaced it. I didn’t know he marked the notes. He would say, if you don’t have integrity, you don’t have anything. I still playback some of those sayings in my head today.  I grew up watching them work hard on one business or the other. My father sold cars and was a government licensed auctioneer. My mother had a business centre and she ran a transport business. My parents believed in working for yourself and though they never went to university, they insisted that our chosen courses must be one where you can set up for yourself and grow your own business. They believed so much in independence. Probably the reason they had all their children go to boarding schools Sso, I’ll say one of my biggest values is independence. Personal growth is also a big value for me. Every year, I take stock of what I have learnt, what I’ve done differently, I check my personal SWOT to see if my weaknesses are decreasing and if I am becoming a better version of me. I always say to my friends that I am my own biggest competition. I must beat myself every year.

Having worked in some leading multinational companies, what was the motivation that made you quit and eventually become a Business Coach?

Every time I walk through the doors of any large multinational, I say to myself, “someone built this, someone started this”. If they didn’t start it, you won’t have a job today. So, I always knew I would have to jump someday and build something.  Having decided to start something of my own, I was faced with two options. Should I invest in a business that I can grow into a large company or should I start something that will enable multiple business and people to become better? Which one will benefit the economy more? Which one will give me the deepest fulfillment? The decision to become a Business and Performance Coach then was very easy. I knew I could help hundreds of businesses. Imagine if a Coach could help all Nigerian airlines run on time and offer services like the world’s 5-star airlines? Imagine if a Coach could help your bank, your children’s school, your departmental store, and your electricity provider among others become more efficient, provide world class service and become competitive?

In Nigeria, business coaching does not seem to be too well known, can you enlighten our readers on what it is all about?

Every great performer, whether it is an elite athlete, business legend or performing superstar, is surrounded by Coaches and advisers. As the world of business moves faster and gets more competitive, it is difficult to keep up with all the changes in your industry in addition to running your business every day.  Just like great athletes who find success by following the lead of a coach with a winning game plan, more business owners than ever before are turning to Business Coaches to help develop a winning game plan for their businesses.

What are some of the outcomes you’ve achieved with clients using business coaching?

I’have had various successes with different business size and types. From revenue increases in hundreds of percent, massive growth in profit, systemising the business in ways to reduce human intervention and errors, standardising products and service deliveries down to owners living the life they really desire. There are three main reasons why my coaching works. First, it helps business owners get 100 percent focused on their goals and the step-by-step processes to get them there. This focus alone is amazing in its effect on the owners/directors and their business results. Second, it holds you accountable to getting done, not just the day-to-day running of the business, but for the dynamic growth of the business. Third, it re-educates you on street-smart profit building strategies.

At a time like this, how well do you think your services could help Nigerians survive the harsh effects of recession?

The truth is, it is not all doom and gloom as our current situation provides new opportunities that can be explored and could potentially change Nigeria for good.  For example, parents who no longer can afford to send their kids abroad to study should turn their attention to the local schools, become more involved and start to demand quality. I live in England and I can tell you there’s nothing being taught in schools there that cannot be taught here.

Look at what has happened to the Nigerian music industry, it is fantastic. No one could have predicted this level of success 15 years back. It shows what we can achieve if we put our hearts to it. Now imagine if we can replicate that success in other industries. Nigeria needs to start its own 20-year journey and there is no better time than now. To get there, we’ll need to be different and learn to do things differently. We need to re-define ourselves, re-focus, re-plan and re-train. Our products need to be standardized, no cutting corners. We need to deliver world-class services that are reliable and predictable. This is where coaching shines best

As a Nigerian living in the UK and working in both continents, what are some of the shortcomings of Nigerians as regards business and career?

For me, the biggest shortcoming I see is our lack of vision and short-sightedness. We just don’t do anything long term. Look at UK companies and how long many have been in business. Some have been there for hundreds of years and the quality hasn’t dropped.  I was invited to speak at a conference here in Lagos in 2013 where I asked if any company seated had a 20-year plan.

The room went quiet. I went down to 10, and there were maybe 2-3 hands up.

The sad part is some companies didn’t even have a defined 1-year plan. We want immediate gratification in everything. We won’t invest in a business that won’t break-even in a year. This is the primary reason there is no solid infrastructure in Nigeria.  I grew up in Nigeria with big corporate names such Leventis, Chellerams, Kingsway, Concord, Dunlop Tyres, Volkswagen Nigeria, Berec Batteries etc.   Many of the large companies that existed barely 25 years ago, are now nowhere to be found. If we want to see a better Nigeria, we need to start changing our focus to long-term.

Let’s assume that Nigeria is a business and the leaders are the business owners, and they come to you for business coaching to get the country out of this downtime. How will you coach the President and his team?

The first place we’ll start is what I call Destination Mastery. This is where we will define the vision, the goals and the plans for a “new” Nigeria. Let’s get it straight, development cannot happen in 4-8 years. A President needs to think beyond his term of office. No one ever built a great city or great nation in 8 years. But we need to have a blueprint of what we want to create. We all want a better Nigeria but what does that really mean? I don’t think I’ve heard or seen anyone present a detailed vision for the country or any state. We are a pay as you go society. Each administration comes up with a 4-year plan and only invests in things they can commission and complete within their tenure

As a coach to the President, I’ll ask that each state, each ministry and each parastatal draw up their 20-year vision, goals, and plans in detail. Once those are established, we will then begin the process of alignment. We all know talk is cheap and sometimes so is planning. We, humans, are often good planners and talkers but poor doers. An alignment ensures your actions are lined up with the vision and goals you have defined.