My first real shot at entrepreneurship began with bread. I baked and sold bread to fend for myself and my younger siblings. I stepped into fatherhood far earlier than I ever imagined — just as I was preparing to enter the University of Ghana. My capital was eight Olonka (2kg) of flour, a few ingredients, and the little cash I had saved from my job as an Accounts Assistant (the “cashier”) at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
I believed I had my mother’s recipe written down correctly. But my little cousin, who had worked more closely with her, remembered a different version — one the community actually loved. I insisted on my written recipe, confident in what I thought I knew. My first attempt, using four Olonka, was a disaster. With only four Olonka left, I reluctantly agreed to try my cousin’s unrecorded version. It was a tense moment — we had no more flour to experiment with.
Voila! It came out perfectly. That near failure became the turning point. From those last four Olonka, the business grew until we were baking almost a 50kg bag of flour a day.
That experience taught me something I carry into every part of my entrepreneurial and leadership journey: never take too much pride in being right; focus instead on getting it right. Talk as much as you want, but create space for candour. Be honestly open-minded and flexible. Sometimes, wisdom comes from the rarest of places. I do not need to cling to my views when a superior perspective emerges. Otherwise, you risk paying the price, sometimes literally, for being arrogant about your ignorance.
In public advocacy, however, I have observed a very different culture. It often feels more about being right than getting it right. After all, the cost of getting it wrong is borne by the taxpayer, not by the politicians or policy advocates. The debates can be so fierce and ego-driven that one wonders who the advocacy is truly for.
Public advocacy, like politics, is a calling. The influence it has on policy affects lives we may never meet, and that alone should humble us. It demands a commitment to getting things right, not simply defending one’s position. For greatness is shared, wisdom is communal.
Advocacy must be rooted in honest service, regardless of personal interest. Have your agenda if you must, but be just with the people. Adjust your thinking when better information emerges. Admit it when you are wrong and ask when you do not know. Be modest about what you are unsure of, educate about what you do know, be fair in your judgment, seek truth and don’t defend pride.
Ultimately, it is all about service. Service is humility in motion. And humility begins with this: You are not the brightest in the room every day.
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