According to Ambassador Edward Boateng; Ghana’s Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China, the key to success is to follow ones’ passion, focus and commit to the daily steps that lead to the ultimate goal without being deterred by obstacles that come along the journey. He made this statement when speaking to Ghanaian students in Beijing as the maiden speaker of the Union’s “Power Series” thought leadership seminar.
Hosted by the Beijing Chapter of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in China, the Power Series initiative is a capacity and leadership building initiative aimed at developing the minds and attitudes of Ghanaian students in Beijing with the aim of creating global giants in industry, governance, entrepreneurship, diplomacy and other critical facets of Ghana’s development. Designed in a traditional town hall format with no stage or barrier between the speaker and audience, the organizers believe the format is a strategy to create a connection between speakers and participants. In addition, the ratio of a speaker’s presentation to interaction with participants is 30/70 to allow participants time to ask questions that they deem fit for their development or that they may have been lingering over.
Speaking on the theme “Living and taking advantage of the moment- Lessons from the Life of an Achiever”, Ambassador Boateng narrated his journey from a humble beginning in Kumasi’s Prempeh College through to Coca Cola in Atlanta; USA to CNN as the Head of Turner Broadcasting’s Africa business drive and eventually establishing his businesses and creating change in Africa predominantly through media. He shared how he switched jobs for less pay in order to follow his passion and create change. He said, “your passion if identified well with the right preparations and commitment to follow it will definitely bring the needed financial gains in the long term. It may be blur today but it certainly becomes bright and pays off in the long term.”
On the topic of success, he advised participants on the need to identify their operational definition of success because the term success is subjective. He said, “to one man, success is touching and impacting lives positively and to another, success is having a peaceful and sustainable family. Asked whether excess wealth was equal to success, he emphasized on the need not to obfuscate success with wealth and the fact that success is subjective and depends on what one purpose in his/her heart to achieve. He referred participants to the many reported international and local suicide cases and mentioned that barring other conditions, some of the victims were wealthy individuals who never found their purpose, never overcame their challenges or never defined what they wanted in life.
In an interview with Ms. Lardi Bukari Aduko; the General Secretary of NUGS in Beijing, she expressed the union’s gratitude to Ambassador Boateng for sharing his personal journey with an open heart and said “we have been motivated to do more because the road to success is not for the timid. We have benefitted from this session because Ambassador did not hold back as many diplomats do. He was open and shared with a genuine heart. The union will definitely hold subsequent sessions in the next months”.
Other personalities present were Ghana’s Deputy Ambassador to China, Dr. Charles Dwamena, the Head of the Consular Section of Ghana’s Embassy in China, Mr. Mr. Sylvester Acherekoh, Mr. Alfred Nii Hammond; an official of the Embassy and Timothy Kwakye Karikari; President of the Beijing Chapter of the National Union of Ghana Students – China.
Source: NUGS Beijing Media Team