One Of My Mistakes In UBA—Tony Elumelu

<h4>One of my mistakes while building United Bank for Africa<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Tony Elumelu&comma; a Nigerian economist&comma; philanthropist and business owner&comma; has revealed a mistake he made while building United Bank for Africa&comma; a leading commercial bank in Nigeria&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The 58 years old chairman of UBA and founder of Heirs Holdings&comma; made the revelation  during an interactive session with women&comma; drawn from different countries&comma; as part of the activities to celebrate 2022 International Women’s Day&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In a Facebook narrative titled&colon; What a way to celebrate <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">&num;IWD22&excl;<&sol;a> Elumelu stated that in retrospect&comma; he wouldn’t have been publicity shy when starting up as a banker and business owner&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He admonished the women to embrace publicity and learn how to tell their own stories adding that there could be consequences if a third party tells their stories with corresponding twists and errors&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Elumelu wrote&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>On March 8th&comma; I marked &num;IWD2022 by mentoring a group of over 80 audacious and dynamic African women&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>What united us was our commitment to driving change in Africa&period; I spoke with businesswomen&comma; founders of NGOs&comma; young professionals with fiery ambitions – and from across Africa&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>I was so inspired by the achievements&comma; plans and energy of these women &&num;8211&semi; The future is certainly female&excl; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>Our conversations are ones I will remember for a long time&period; I was asked about building a strong business and I spoke from my experience of building UBA Group to the global bank it is now – The importance of a clear vision&comma; that can inspire a team – setting clear&comma; tough&comma; but achievable milestones along the journey to your goal&period; Hitting those milestones gives you the motivation you need to keep going&period; I also highlighted what is important to me &&num;8211&semi; assembling the right team&comma; imbibing the right culture&comma; handwork&comma; resilience and governance&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>I particularly loved a question on a mistake I made starting out – for me&comma; it was being publicity-shy and not telling our story ourselves&period; If you don’t tell your own stories – others will do&period; Misconceptions&comma; once made&comma; take time to correct&period; As businesses owners and career persons you have to tell your own story – and get it right&excl; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>I also got a pleasant surprise &&num;8211&semi; my wife &&num;8211&semi; an entrepreneur in her own right &&num;8211&semi; and daughter joined me on stage as I rounded up our conversation and one thing Mrs TOE said as she addressed the audience stuck – Succeeding in whatever you do as a woman&comma; opens doors for other women&period; We don’t yet all have the access but do right in your own space and other women will be inspired to do better&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>I appreciate all the women who came from far and wide to join the session with me physically or virtually… we will do this again soon&excl;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;