“Speak to yourself like the leader of a victorious army would return to his battalion, and you will see yourself succeed” Bukola Ewediaro Group Head Corporate Services Abbey Mortgage
Bukola is a Human Resource Professional, Certified Trainer, Brand and Perception Professional with over 19 years of work experience across Human Resource Consulting, Employees Learning & Development, Customer Service Management, Brand Management, Quality Control, and Internal Audit Management. She started her career at Marina International Bank (Now Access Bank Plc) as the lead Customer Service Team.
She proceeded to the Internal Audit function of the Bank, ensuring 100% compliance with regulatory, statutory reports. Her career progression led her to XL Management Services as the Lead of the Quality Control Team. It was also drafted into a strategic committee that defined the Brand’s quality vision. She moved to First City Monument Bank as Team Lead Service Management, managing over 20 branches by facilitating training on excellent service, monitoring customer experience at the various branches, and was the key person responsible for the design of the first Service Level Agreement(SLA) policies of the bank then veered into the Brand Management of the Bank in various roles but majorly as the Internal Communications key officer responsible for information dissemination with the creative expression of the bank’s vision, mission & Strategic Objectives, Championing Culture Transformation Road Shows with the management to all the regions (North, South, East & West) of the bank.
As a firm believer in Social Responsibility, this made her adopt a Girl’s Secondary School to help them navigate into adulthood with the appropriate decision-making tools & workshops. She is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria(ICAN) with a Training Certification from the University of Central Missouri USA, A Certified Life Coach from NCFE UK, and has facilitated over 30 trainings.
In this interview with Lehle Balde, she tells us a little more about what it took to become the woman she is today.
In what ways have you broken the bias in your career?
I know there are biases in women in Leadership; however, I forge ahead because I am fully aware of my strengths and skills and, as we commonly say, “what I bring to the table.” So, I drown the noise and show up for my assignments; I lead with conviction, I believe I am firm but fair, and I hope posterity will indeed be kind.
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Who inspires you?
I get inspiration from the values I perceive from different people. These values are: authenticity, humility, boldness, gracefulness, and graciousness are some of the traits I admire and have seen in both notable people and the not so obvious so that I won’t narrow my admiration to one person, but if I must mention names, Michelle Obama for her gracefulness as the First Lady of USA, Mrs. Bukola Smith, MD of FSDH for her humility, Chimamanda Adiche for her authenticity, Ceracerni a young muralist who tells her mural journey so beautifully with the courage she takes on challenges, the list is endless,
What has been the most challenging aspect of your career, and how have you overcome it?
Overcoming imposter syndrome whenever I take on a new phase in my career journey or even embark on personal business. Imposter syndrome is genuine, and many people experience it.
What have you learned about leading an organization to success as a corporate service professional?
You have the courage of conviction whenever you must navigate a decision, believing in the gifts and talents. You also have to drive the vision passionately. Similarly, it means you must know that there will never be a perfect scenario with perfect cases, so you must keep striving and keep finetuning the process as you go along.
Why is it essential to invest in young girls?
Facts have revealed that having women in leadership positions positively affects the balance sheet. Also, the pandemic showed that countries led by women had fewer fatalities because the women in leadership reacted faster to the pandemic than their male counterparts. Perhaps our psychological makeup accounts for this; with these facts, it’s essential to invest in women to attain the highest office to take on the challenge to improve the economic and social lives of the populace.
What advice do you have for your women looking to work in corporate services?
You should do It! It would help if you did an assessment that assessed your personality scientifically to determine your strengths and areas of improvement, then open yourself to opportunities along the path, horn your skills with continuous education both formally and informally.
If you could tell your 16-year-old self-something, what would you say?
Be very intentional about what you say to yourself. Speak to yourself like the leader of a victorious army would return to his battalion, and you will see yourself succeed. Also, open yourself to new opportunities and take on challenges, i.e., have a growth mindset that is willing to try things, learn, travel, invest, cry if you must, be human, and most importantly, we are all trying to figure out the journey.
