damiOluwatoyinbo.com

I have nothing against college degrees.

I am privileged to have one in Chemical Engineering.

However, it is necessary for us to constantly remind ourselves that what we achieve in life has a lot more to do with education than it has to do with degrees.

It is important that we observe that the people who become the most successful (at least by natural definition are those who follow their passion and not necessarily highly esteemed professions or careers.

The most successful people are those who make their calling their careers

and their purpose their profession.

What you have been given by God has tremendous power to produce significant results inspite of anything you do not currently possess.

I am pleased to present to you a list of globally respected CEO’s who never got college degrees yet went on to build businesses that are changing the world.

Some of them dropped out for some reason.Others never stepped on the soil of a college campus but they all made it against all odds.Today, some of these CEO’s employ PhD holders….hmmmm….food for thought.

Read on and be inspired.

1. Dennis Albaugh

Chairman, Albaugh
Type of Business: Pesticides
Education: Associate’s degree from Des Moines Area Community College
Fun fact: He has a collection of more than 100 classic Chevrolets

2. Paul Allen

Founder and chairman, Vulcan
Type of Business: Media, telecommunications
Education: Dropped out of Washington State College after two years
Fun fact: He persuaded Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard. They later founded Microsoft (MSFT) together.

3. Richard Branson

CEO, Virgin Group
Type of Business: Travel, radio, TV, music, venture capital
Education: No college degree
Fun fact: He became an entrepreneur at age 16 with the creation of Student magazine.

4. Maverick Carter

CEO, LRMR Innovative Marketing & Branding
Type of Business: Marketing
Education: 3.5 years of college at Western Michigan University and University of Akron combined
Quote: “Don’t be afraid if you see an opportunity to go and give it shot. You can finish school later; it’s always there.”

5. John Paul DeJoria

CEO, John Paul Mitchell Systems
Type of Business: Hair-care products
Education: No college
Fun fact: He started out selling greeting cards at age 9.

6. Michael Dell

Founder, chairman, and CEO Dell (DELL)
Type of Business: Computers
Education: Attended University of Texas, Austin; did not finish.
Quote: “When I started our company, it was very much an idea outside of the conventional wisdom, and if there were people telling me that it wasn’t going to work, I wasn’t really listening to them.”

7. Felix Dennis

Founder and chairman, Alpha Media Group, formerly Dennis Publishing
Type of Business: Publishing (Maxim, The Week)
Education: No college degree
Fun fact: He wrote a biography and published a magazine about Bruce Lee; sales surged when the martial arts star died suddenly in 1973.

8. Barry Diller

Chairman and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)
Type of Business: Media
Education: Dropped out of UCLA after three weeks
Fun fact: He started his career working in the mail room of the William Morris Agency.

9. Bill Gates

Co-chair and Trustee, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Chairman, Microsoft (MSFT)
Type of Business: Philanthropy. Software.
Education: Dropped out of Harvard
Fun fact: As a schoolboy, he created a program that allowed people to play tic-tac-toe on the computer.

If you haven’t read the first part, you can do that here.

Let me give you the other points Dr. Maduka shared.

• Accept that EVERY ENTERPRISE NEEDS PROFFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT.

His words :”When we started, I and my wife made all the decisions but we later realized that we needed to hire professionals to expand our business…”

• Forge a TEAM OF EMPLOYEES.

His words :”Don’t just get a group of people.Get able and willing people who understand your vision and help you to accomplish it.“

• Come up with a STRATEGY FOR WINNING in an unpredictable environment.

His words : “You know the government policies change almost every six months in this our country…we have to always study and come up with ways to win no matter what tthe challenges and policies are.”

• RESIST THE TEMPTATION to show that “you  have arrived.”

His words :”…Even after I had made a lot of money, nobody knew.I kept on living a normal life.I was driving the same car, wearing the same clothes…living in the same house I was living in when I was still struggling…Avoid the social pressure to look successful…this shoe I’m wearing, I have had it for fifteen years.Isn’t it still looking good?”

When he said that, everyone erupted in laughter.

• KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE ACTIVITIES of your organisation.

His words :” Don’t just spend without having proper records.Have the details of everything that goes out and everything that comes in.

• GET YOUR PRODUCT into the market.

His words:” Know your customers and keep in touch with them…”

• ANTICIPATE CHALLENGES

His words :”Problems always show up.You must prepare for them to win”

If you ask me, that’s a lot to think about.So I’d let you do just that.

Think about it.Remember, WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU BRING ABOUT.

Meanwhile, scroll down and leave your comment in the box.

If you haven’t downloaded you copy of just do it…DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE BOOK HERE.

P.S. Dr. and Mrs. Cosmas Maduka have a book titled “From Trials To Triumph”

You can get copies from bookstores nationwide.

Enjoy your day.

Isn’t it amazing that we seem to enjoy waiting for everything to fall in place before we do what we know we ought to do?

We wait to feel better before we accept that we are healed.

We wait for goose pimples before we admit that we believe.

We  wait to feel better before we encourage others.

We wait to make more money before we give.

We wait to be appreciated before we celebrate others.

We wait to be motivated before we reach for our dreams.

We wait to have the contacts and connections before we start the business.

We wait to be fired before we release the enterpreneurs in us.

We wait for  financial crises before we take responsibility for our finances.

We wait for the doctor’s diagnosis before we take care of our health.

We wait for birthdays and christmas before we celebrate and celebrate with people.

We wait for the government to fix the Nation.

We wait for our spouses to provide what we should also contribute towards.

We wait for our kids to be better before we become better parents.

We wait for the pastor to preach until his nose bleeds before we obey God,

We wait for…

Ok.Seems I’ve been talking to much.Tell me.What are you waiting for?

On a serious note, I really want to know.

Yesterday, the world witnessed one of the most historic events ever-the Inauguration of America’s first Black President, Barack Obama! This epoch-making event was watched by hundreds of millions of people all over the world.

In the midst of the glitz and glamour, I was struck by a question?
It’s the same question I am asking you now-”When is your inauguration?”

Before you answer that question, I consider it important to define the word “inauguration”

it is “the act of starting a new operation or practice”

OR

“the ceremonial induction into a position”

I’d keep this post in the context of the first definition.
When are you going to start that new operation or practice?

When are you going to take that new turn?

When are you going to finally do what you have always wanted to do to positively influence your generation?

We are not all going to enjoy the applause of millions of people like Barack Obama did yesterday but may be if we take the right steps and make the right moves now, one “day”, the angels in their trillions (or is it quadrillions) will stand at attention on the pearly shores of heaven to salute our exploits as God says “welcome, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”

I was privileged to speak to a group of passionate youths yesterday and the day before.

It was a camp meeting and to say the atmosphere was supercharged would be an understatement.

I want to share a part of what I spoke about with you.

You can call them keys to transformation.I pitched my presentation against the backdrop of the inspiring story of David’s victory over Goliath and the Philistine army.

1. Tools

You need the right tools to fulfill your purpose in life.

A doctor has no need of screw drivers.

A capenter needs no stethoscopes.

A barber needs to syringes.

David understood that he needed stones and a sling to defeat goliath so he took a station break by the brook to pick up five smooth stones.

David knew he didn’t need Saul’s armour to defeat goliath.

He knew he had the right tools.

Your tool might be your voice, your imagination, your intelligence or passion.

Find it and begin to use it.

2.Training

No matter how good your tools are, if you don’t have the right training, you’d still be ineffective.

Imagine a tractor-driver in the cockpit of a boeing 737.

Imagine a chef trying to operate on a patient in a medical theatre.Even if he has the best tools, he’ll leave the patient in a worse state.

David had been trained in the backside of the desert.

You have to train in obscurity so that you can be effective when you get your opportunity.

Whenever God lays a demand on you, remember He is training you not draining you.

3.Test

Every test is an opportunity for you to become your best.

You can never be the best if you stay in your nest.If you will be the best, you have to pass the test.

David told Saul that he couldn’t use Saul’s armour because David hadn’t tested it.God tests you before He uses you.Every test reveals your strengths and weaknesses.David had defeated the lion and the bear before so when He faced Goliath, he had the confidence to speak against him and defeat him.

The next time you face a test, don’t run away, pass it.

4.Timing

If you want to be effective in life, you can’t just do anything at any time.Y ou must understand timing.David couldn’t have defeated Goliath if he had released the stone at just any time.He had to release it at the right time for it to hit the exact spot on Goliath’s forehead.

5.Teamwork

I can spend a whole day writing about teamwork and I will definitely put up several posts on teamwork on this blog as time goes on but let me put in a few words now.

John Maxwell says “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Great things are birthed through agreement.No matter how potent a man is, he can’t have a baby alone.He needs a woman to taem up with.David did not find any body to team up with, so he teamed up with God and got the victory.I know David didn’t win all by himself because when he released the stone into Goliath’s forehead, Goliath should have fallen on his back but he didn’t.He fell on his face.Someone must have pushed him from the back or what do you think?