The Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana, Victor Yaw Asante, has indicated that the career of Azumah Nelson – the former WBC Super-Featherweight champion and Professor of Boxing – holds very useful lessons, life skills and themes for success which everyone, in all fields of endeavour, will find useful and would do well to adopt.
Mr. Asante was speaking at FBNBank’s 2021 Staff Engagement event, which had the retired boxing legend as its guest speaker.
According to Victor Yaw Asante: “The career of Professor Azumah Nelson is literally filled with lots of lessons, life skills and themes which everyone who intends to be successful in his or her career, business or life generally should adopt. Not many people can travel through the various phases of his life and rise to the top of his division, and most importantly stay there for about 10 years.
“Azumah’s life offers key lessons for all of us today, and brings to the fore the realisation that mere ambition cannot get us to the top. What is obvious after listening to his story is that what is most important is being able to stay at the top for a decent stretch of time, not just being able to get there. One can pick up themes like ‘focus’, ‘discipline’, ‘overcoming adversity’, ‘resilience’ and ‘teamwork’. There are a thousand and one stories of people from humble beginnings climbing to the top. However, what makes us pay attention are those few stories of those who are able to stay at the top long enough to make a difference – and we at FBNBank are happy and humble enough to learn from the story of this home-grown talent who rose to be a world-beater and receive global recognition for his resilience, humility and durability.”
The FBNBank Staff Engagement event is a platform for management and staff to evaluate performance and discuss measures to deliver on the bank’s brand promise to all stakeholders even as they strive to achieve business expectations. It is also a team-building platform that largely fosters unity and teamwork, aiming to do away with working in silos and any slack in service quality.
Speaking to the bank’s staff, Azumah Nelson shared his life-story, highlighting key areas which brought out his main themes. According to the Professor of Boxing: “In life you need focus, determination, discipline and teamwork in all that you do. No matter what you do for a living, you cannot do without these – most importantly, teamwork. As a boxer I went into the ring alone; but my team, those you used to see in my corner, all have very serious things they do for me to win.
“If my cut-man, for example, fails to do his work well when I get a cut, the referee could stop the fight and we would all go home empty-handed. If I do not listen to my trainer’s instructions during the break, and also in our preparations for the fight, it would surely not go well with us; so, you see everyone is important.
“Focus, determination and discipline are also important. I remember when I was a kid. I saw a young boy about my age who was a boxer and I concluded that I could whip him, so I threw a challenge at his gym and his trainer allowed us to fight. Even though he gave me a good beating, I never gave up. I went there three more times to fight him, each time working on my tactics until I won a fight against him. You need to learn to pick yourself up anytime you fall, and you should not be afraid of falling.”
In all, close to 250 employees of the bank, representing all levels of staff drawn from across the bank’s network in Ghana, took part in the session. The event was held at the Ga Mashie Hall of the Trust Sports Emporium was very successful, with all participants committed to ending FBNBank’s year on a high note – both in terms of their personal effectiveness and service delivery.
FBNBank Ghana is a member of the First Bank of Nigeria Limited Group, which is renowned for its great customer service and general stakeholder engagement garnered over its 127 years of operation. FBNBank Ghana has since 1996 supported SMEs in several sectors including manufacturing, export and import.
This it has sought to do through the rich value and excellence of what the bank contributes to relationships with its clients. FBNBank Ghana has 20 branches and two agencies across the country, with over 400 staff. FBNBank offers universal banking services to individuals and businesses in Ghana.
