Yesterday, I looked through my linkedin profile and I noticed somewhere down there I indicated blogging as being one of my interests. It suddenly occurred to me it’s been ages I posted anything at all and made me question my blogging interest. Was it just a convenient way to fill up the interest field or do I really love blogging?
That brings me to the question of passion and interest and how they influence our career choices and decisions. I will turn to no one except myself as a scapegoat. If someone told me three years ago that I’d be working in the agricultural sector, I would have thought the person was on some cheap drugs. I loved the hi-tech industry and probably had some ideas of my own which would probably have made me the next ‘Lagos Valley’ billionaire – at least we all dream of such! However, after business school, I got a job with an agricultural firm, though I also got with an hi-tech company based in the country. I will leave the reasons for my choice to a later date.
Now, I look back and ask myself if I made a right decision or not. I will readily answer that I have no regrets and I have loved every second of it! But I might hear some people say I would probably have loved the hi-tech more since it was my passion. But how do I know that when I was never there? Is it possible I could also have hated it? But then it was my passion and not agriculture!
Is this not the same confusion we find ourselves in most times, second guessing our decisions and choices. Which is why I respect a man bold enough to make a decision, even if wrong, than those who sit on the fence, hoping situations will take care of themselves. One philosophy I have in life is this – whatever your hands find to do, do it well. Maybe that job you have now might turn out to be your dream job if you put in some decent effort!!!
I am the author of Scaling for Success: Empowering African SMEs. I am a Partner at Sahel Capital, a food and agriculture-focused private investment firm in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sahel Capital manages the Fund for Agriculture Financing in Nigeria (FAFIN) and the Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
I co-lead SEFAA, an impact-first fund investing in agribusinesses that provide direct or indirect benefits to smallholder farmers across 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. I also lead investments and portfolio management for SEFAA and manage FAFIN portfolios, two of which were recently exited. I am a director on the board of one of the portfolio companies and serve in advisory roles for several startups and SMEs.