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Life after university is continuous learning, adapting to circumstances and new context of life opportunities that may be unforeseen, developing skills to continuously make oneself employable. This learning was shared with students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife at the 50th Anniversary of the Faculty
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Presentation to Students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
50TH Anniversary Celebration of the Training of Graduate Pharmacists
Life after School: Learning, Adaptation
and Employability
Olu Akanmu
Senior Vice President/ Divisional Head
Retail Banking, First City Monument Bank Plc
February, 2014
Thank you to our wonderful teachers for
the seeds they sowed …….
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Learning from my personal odyssey
What you study in school may not necessarily be what you will do in life
Life opportunities may not necessarily present itself the way you expect
Life is a journey of continuous learning
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
We will be discussing today
Continuous life learning
Adaptation to life opportunities
Life skills
Employability
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
You don’t have a choice than to be in the school
You can however decide to learn, pass and do well in the school of life or otherwise
You have always been in the school of life unconsciously
Become a conscious learner of life lessons as you follow your own Odyssey
Life is a Continuous School even after
School
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
You are a unique individual, a special creation of GOD
You have some special gift or talents that defines who
you are and makes you unique
Life will chart a special course for you, a unique
experience that will define who you are
Discover your Life Purpose
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Discover your life Purpose
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Who you are (intrinsically by your talent and
extrinsically by life experience) defines the unique
assignment and purpose that you are meant to fulfill
You can only understand yourself by connecting the
dots of life backwards (Steve Jobs)
Everyone has a unique chart or pattern of life dots
on his/her life graph
As you begin to make a sense of the life’s dots, you should begin
to make choices that supports your life’s calling, your purpose
As you graduate and you journey through life, pay attention to
the things you do effortlessly compared to others, the things you
love to do, the things you get angry about if they are not
right, the problems people bring to you to solve.
Life success is about discovering yourself, your life purpose and
making choices that supports the fulfillment of that purpose in
life
Discover your Life Purpose
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
To succeed in life, you must constantly develop yourself
Life is a journey of mountains, valleys, straight and sometimes
crooked roads
Learn and get better with every life challenge
Your life learning is the asset and the weapon that will help in
your next challenge
David fought a lion as a Shepherd boy before he fought
Goliath
Develop Personal Mastery in subject of your calling
Continuous Learning
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Knowledge and meta knowledge
Know what you know
Real knowledge is however knowing what you don’t know
And taking action to find and learn what you don’t know
If you don’t know, what you don’t know, you will not grow
in learning
You will never have Personal Mastery
An outsider in an unfamiliar environment My Public Health, Telecommunications and Banking Experience
Continuous Learning
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Life Learning, Self and Environment
Awareness
To continue to learn, you must know yourself
Self awareness is critical. What do you know and how
is it relevant to your environment?
Do you understand your environment, what is
happening, how it is changing?
What is your level of self and environmental awareness?
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Life Learning, Self and Environmental
Awareness
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Are you cocooned, living in your own world? In your
own fantasy?
Your ability to maximize and exploit the life
opportunities in your environment is a function of
your combined self and environmental awareness
The Cocooned Pharmacy Student and
the Cocooned Pharmacist
The Pharmacy student is cocooned to the Faculty of Pharmacy from 8am to 6pm
Relative to other students, his connection with the wider environment in the University tend to decline with the intensity of his professional training
He is brilliant but he is more self aware of pharmacy than the wider learning opportunities in the University.
His learning is essentially cocooned
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
The Cocooned Pharmacy Student and
the Cocooned Pharmacist contd.
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
He graduates and continues to practice pharmacy in that
cocooned rhythm
Very low environmental awareness
Very low awareness of his strong intellectual depth relative to others
in the wider society
His horizon of life is defined from Glaxo to Pfizer
His friends are pharmacists, his enemies are pharmacists or doctors
He does not have an abundant view of life opportunities. If the
doctor takes it, then the pharmacist lose it
His teachers frown at his opportunities to connect to the broader
environment as unserious, untypical of the pharmacy student
Correlation between environmental
awareness and connecting to broader
life opportunities
Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi
Sam Ndah Isaiah ( Publisher of Leadership Newspaper)
Victor Gbolagade Osibodu ( Vigeo- Banking, Shipping, Power)
Bunmi Olaopa/ Jimi Agbaje
Francis Ekeng/ Calixthus Okoruwa
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
How big or wide is your horizon?
Define a wider horizon of life opportunities for yourself
Abraham’s Canaan was defined by how far he could see?
You cannot be bigger than your industry. You cannot be
bigger than the space you have defined for yourself.
Break down boundaries, expand to new frontiers
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
How big or wide is your life horizon?
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
The pharmaceutical industry shrunk in the early 1990s when Western pharmaceutical companies sold their interests because Nigeria market due to massive devaluation of the naira, massively shrunk
Careers also shrunk with the shrinking of the pharmaceutical industry.
Some pharmacists broke out as the opportunities became smaller. They found new avenues to use their training and experience in the pharmaceutical industry Breaking into bigger spaces
Adaptation
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Why did the Dinosaur die?
Life dynamics are constantly changing? The successful
woman is she, who can adapt to these changes and even
use them to fulfill her life objective
Life opportunities may not present themselves to you in
the way you expect it. You will have to adapt to exploit
them
Adaptation and Environmental
Awareness
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Adaptation and Environmental
Awareness
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Adaptation skills will make you succeed in life and in
business
Change will be a constant, shape it if you can, adapt to
it and leverage it to fulfill our life purpose
Adaptations that are possible
Take an MBAPursue wider opportunities in business
Learn Marketing
Take a Masters in Public Health Big opportunities in not-for profit sectorsAlex Ogundipe ( Director of Policy. National Agency for
the Control of AIDS)
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Adaptations that are possible
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Take a Masters in Public Admin or Public Policy Pursue wider opportunities in public service and civil society
Dr Dere Awosika ( Civil Service)
Why should the farthest horizon of the pharmacist be a Chief Pharmacist or Director of
Pharmaceutical Service in the Civil Service rather than a Head of Service ( the horizon of a liberal
arts graduate)
Dr Otive Igbuzor- ex PANS Activist ( Civil Society)
Clinical Pharmacy
Be ready to evolve. If you environment is changing, how will you change will it
Other professionals or courses with far less academic rigor have thrived in public health and
civil service while the pharmacist remains cocooned to the hospital
A seeming perpetually opened gap between
pharmacy training and post graduate life
One of the first articles I read in the Pharmanews in
1982 in my Part 2 pharmacy was an essay titled
“The Gap between Pharmacy practice and training”
Three decades after, the gap seem not to have closed but
far much wider…
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Whether you choose to practice pharmacy or not, there are significant gaps between the reality of practice and the training of pharmacist
Most pharmacists will end up in Community practice
They may end up using less than 70% of what they learnt in school… stereochemistry, trichomes
Pharmacy practice and or pharmacy business
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Curriculum issues for Employability in
Pharmacy training
The need for strong entrepreneurial training in pharmacy. Most pharmacists will run a retail pharmacy business
Pharmacy Management curriculum needs to be made more robust to include accounting, marketing, retailing, sales management, entrepreneurship, supply chain management (importing and exporting)
Prepare the pharmacist better for the reality of his post graduate life. The mismatch between pharmacy courses and post school practice relevance needs to be corrected.
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Life Skills and Employability
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
The need for Problem Based Learning
Method in Pharmacy training
Significant memorising tendency in the pharmacy pedagogy that may not necessarily correlate to more valuable problem-solving ability post-graduation
Problem based learning method will breed pharmacists with
Sharper critical thinking rather than memorizing and regurgitating
Ability to define problem and search for solutions ( Self directed learning)
Communication , Collaboration and Team work..very valuable life skills
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Need for more Problem Based
Learning Method in Pharmacy Training
Use of Case Studies that bring the reality of post graduate life closer to academic training Business Schools, Law and Medicine have fully embraced Problem Based Learning Methods
The critical thinking benefit and life employability advantages of those courses based on their PBL training methods is obvious in post graduate life
Problem case writing in pharmacy will compel the pharmacy academia to get closer to the reality of pharmacy practice helping to bridge the gap between pharmacy training and practice.
Case writing and Problem based Learning will also foster interdisciplinary approach to pharmacy training , making the pharmacy graduate more employable
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Develop problem solving skills Employers value people who can solve problems
To solve problems, you have to learn critical thinking as a skill
There is a method on how to think, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, logic.
Even if you are not being thought, Google it, learn, apply it, master it.
Critical thinking courses in Philosophy department needs to made more accessible to all students
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Organizing and Leadership skills There are few things that you will have to achieve on your own
In life, work and family, you will need to organize
things, programs to achieve an objective
While you may never be thought this in your pharmacy
course, you can learn this by volunteering, given your time for the
causes you believe
Fashion, religion, culture, politics, PANS
Employers value those who have shown and learn leadership and
organizing in the extra-curricular life
Expand your network beyond pharmacy and pharmacists, expand
your eventual horizon of life opportunities
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Quantitative, Numeracy and Analytics
Skills
Life issues and many business problems can be expressed in numbers
Numeracy skills is extremely valued by employers
Use of numbers to solve business or social problems, description of problem to communicate value, relationships and proffer solutions
Numeric skills will allow you to be relevant at work and make you go very far, see and articulate more clearly life opportunities and challenges
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Integrity is critical to sustainable life success
Lack of Integrity, cutting corners or cheating can only give you success in the short term
It catches up sooner or later, and the short term gains are eroded in addition to heavy life sanctions
Integrity is the basis of trust, if you cannot be trusted, you will never develop enduring relationships that matter in business and personal life
Know the meaning of “honour”. What does “as men/ women of honour, we join hands mean?”
The worst way to describe an individual is to say that “there is no person in his body !”
Integrity and Character
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Personal Confidence/ Your inner strength- everyone has
one..find yours
Everybody is a sales man in life, you are always selling
something, an idea, a product or your skill, talent etc
With low self esteem, you tell the world, you do not believe
in yourself, your product or your idea. Who will then buy
from you?
With low self esteem, it will be difficult to get a good job or
get promoted or get a business contract
Build your Self Esteem
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Critical to continuous learning and development of personal
mastery
Give a proud man a little time, you will see him crashing
down heavily
You cannot know it all..
Humility will bring you help, it will let others who know
more than you show you the way
Humility will let others tell you when you are going into a
ditch
Humility
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
There will be times when things don’t go your way or
the way you expect
Would you give up?
You will sometimes need to be tough to succeed (Inner
toughnesss)
If Obama was not courageous, he could not have become
US President
Watch the new movie “12 years a slave”
Things that are worthy are rarely easy to get..
Courage, Resilience and Persistence
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Communications skill will make and average man look very
competent and a competent man look very average when he
doesn’t have it
If you can’t communicate your idea, then you don’t have it !
Writing (memos etc) and speaking skills are critical to
success
Speak to the bush to develop public speaking confidence
Read literature, poetry and prose, articles to learn writing
It is never too late to learn
Develop Good Communication Skills
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
The skill of understanding people, their sensitivities and their
sensibilities and dealing with them as such
Emotional intelligence will help you to connect with people
to get the job done.
You are not likely to work alone. You will be part of a team at
work. Your relationship skills, your interpersonal skills will
determine if you will fit into the team or you will be thrown
out
Emotional Intelligence/ Interpersonal
skills
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Criticisms are learning opportunities to improve yourself
Successful people learn to tolerate criticism even if they are
not palatable
You should however be a constructive critique
Balanced feedback
What I like about your views is xxxx but I am concerned that it
does not address yyyy
Good for building interpersonal skills necessary to work with
others
Tolerate Criticisms
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
How have you disciplined yourself to study, to stay focused
on your mission as a student?
Could you have done better or get a better grade if you
disciplined yourself better?
People without discipline loose focus, diffuse their resources
and make costly mistakes
Successful athletes are very disciplined with their
training, their diet
Would you be a successful life athlete?
Self Discipline and Control
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Life opportunities may not necessarily be about where you are but your network can connect you to opportunities outside your personal space
To receive, you have to give
Networking is as much of the value you add to others as the value you receive from them
Do you have any value to add? Have you developed yourself? What assets can you share with your network?
Networking Skills
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Understand basic economics and
politics
It is difficult to be economically illiterate and succeed in business.
You will be practicing pharmacy within the context of an
economy?
How is wealth created and distributed in society? How will it
impact on your business or practice? (Economics)
Who are the actors holding the knife and cutting the cake? That is
politics? Who influences them? How can we change them? What is
my interest? What is his interest? How will he cut the yam given
his interest ( Political Economy)
What is the economics of your community? Who are the wealthy
with money to spend? Why would they patronize my business?
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
The world is now truly integrated and a global village.
You will be competing for jobs with Nigerians and non-Nigerians
who schooled abroad
You might have schooled in Nigeria, nevertheless ask yourself if I
schooled in Harvard, what would I have been thought, how
would I have been thought it?
Build friendship with those who expand your horizon. Don’t
become a local champion.
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Don’t let your environment determine your standards
What can I do to cover the gaps? Search the internet- a lot of
free knowledge is on the net, new
books, journals, association with those who have schooled
abroad, find out what they learnt
Keep learning and if possible, go overseas for a Masters
Even if you don’t, develop yourself and a positive self esteem
based on your continuous learning
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Do not let your environment determine
your standards contd.
Wherever life locates you, would you be a spectator
or a player?
Learn and have concerns for what goes on around
you?
How could it be better? What should be different?
Be the difference that you seek working with others
Be the difference
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Success is incomplete unless you also make a success of your family
Nobody on their death bed have ever said, I wish I spent more time at work, they always say I wish I had more time for my family
Live a balance of work and life
Recreation and rejuvenation
The importance of the family
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
A farmer may plant but there may not be rain
Grace is the water that blesses our labour
Those who do not know it call it luck
You need to find your luck, to be in the right place at the
right time
There is a divine ordering of path that leads you to your
destiny and purpose fulfillment
You need to know your GOD to find your luck, to lead you
on your life journey
Faith -Know your GOD
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com
Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride! Make the best
of it !
Thank you
Olu Akanmu, Presentation to Faculty of
Pharmacy, Ife, February
2014, http://olusfile.blogspot.com