The Y Leaderboard Series on Ghana’s number one urban station, YFM, has featured another prominent leader, John Awuah of the Ghana Bankers Association in the third session of its second edition.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Bankers Association had a gripping conversation with host Rev. Erskine spanning from his childhood, education, career, family life and life mantras.
Speaking on his childhood, the banker revealed that he grew up in an underprivileged household where he was the first person to attend Senior High School and go to the university. He noted that his love for numbers and challenges was what propelled him to get to the pinnacle in his career regardless of never having a professional to look up to and guide him growing up.
“Every now and then, a teacher would become my inspiration but I didn’t have any professional or big man to look up to. It was more of survival and not a professional to look up to per say,” he said.
Commenting on his education, he disclosed that he withdrew from the University of Ghana (Legon) after being at the school for about six weeks. According to him, he has never regretted leaving Legon for the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and believes it was a defining decision of his life.
The banker, who took this decision without the knowledge of his parents, indicated that he was not worried at the time for taking such a bold step and would repeat it. “None of my family members knew I was leaving Legon. I left after spending a month and a half at Legon and went to Cape Coast. I left Legon which was at that time regarded as the most prestigious school in Ghana and I was not worried taking that decision,” he said.
Today, John Awuah serves as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Bankers Association and the young banker is expected to take over from the current Chief Executive Officer, preparing to retire later in 2020.
In his submission, the astute banker advised that people who want to measure their success in life can only have the right perspective of their success if they avoid comparing their feats with others. “Don’t live your life for others. Live it for yourself. Once you have that at the top of your mind, you are almost always happy because you are thinking about yourself, not what others are thinking about you.
You cannot control people’s views about you. You can only make sure that you are being true to yourself and hope that people will see you for who you are. What people think about you is none of your business. It is about the kind of value that you see. If it means your children are in that school, it should not be because someone’s children are in that school. It is because you can afford it and you think it is good for the children.”
He furthered on, by speaking about Ghana’s development and why it seems the professionals with the know-how have been sidelined in the national discourse of development.
“Elsewhere in developed economies, it is people like us who get the visibility and the voice to express views on national agenda and the national discourse. Unfortunately, in Ghana, it is the reverse.
In Ghana, it is people who have the time, less work to do and who can move from station to station and do not care about credibility who have the leverage. Also what the politicians have made politics to be is such that they have made it more unattractive to get involved in the national discourse. We are so polarized that you cannot express opinions without someone else painting you in a certain colour. So if it is party A that is in government, you are supposed to support that party,” he told Rev.Erskine.
Programmes Manager for YFM, Eddy Blay speaking on the interview with John Awuah commented: “It was a great session with John. I believe may youths will identify with him. He took us through the tough journey of his life, the life-changing experience as a result of his perseverance and the mantras he holds so dearly. He was very generous in sharing with the youth the tips to succeed in life.”
