This is a question that lingered in my mind as I was doing my last semester in campus. I was nervous if I was really ready for the job market and also afraid of what's to come. I’m sure that this are some of the things that some graduates and also those who are about to graduate ask themselves often as now their parents expect them to be independent and build themselves from there onwards.
With this in mind I started to look for ways to be more competitive in the job market. That is how ended up in a program of leadership with Lapid Leaders Africa, I have been in the program in the last 8 months and now I am sure I’m not the same as I was beginning the program.
Lapid leaders has exposed me to resources that have built me for the past 8 months from mentors to coaches to peers who have the same vision of growth in all aspects of life and also the community. I have been able to step into my fears head on and not let them rule on how I make decisions. I have now been able to step into my fear of starting a business, having the entrepreneurship lessons I learnt from one of the mentors, I believe if I continue building it with patience and also having the zeal and determination it will be a success story but for now, I continue to work towards it. I have also changed the way I perceive jobs and money, before I thought a job was just a way to satisfy the employer and get paid at the end of the day but now as I look to work, I look forward to growing in my skills and also expand my knowledge so that at the end of the day both the employer and I are gaining.
Through all the classes I have learnt a lot but the one that has helped me most is authentic leadership, being true to self which is one of the things that I felt I struggled with most, I have been working on this ever since I learnt of its value. I have also learnt the importance of emotional awareness; I am now keener to know how I am feeling and not burying my feelings since the actions one does are just the tip of the iceberg. I am now not suppressing what I’m feeling rather I deal with it, with more awareness and also being intentional. This are just but the few take outs that I am practicing in my day-to-day life.
I’m so thankful to Lapid Leaders Africa for this opportunities that it has given me to be able to meet people through all the activities that it has planned such as community service, from this I have learnt that as you are serving its important that you also come up with solutions so that as you leave you have left it better than you found it, not just a short term solution. Lapid has ensured as it trains its students, they also empower them to ensure that they are growing, and I have benefited from this as they have been my customers in my business which is now helping me pay for my second level.
All this is just a snippet of what has been happening to me since I signed up, I feel it is the best decision I made this year, that it is during corona pandemic I’ve been able to grow a lot more, I am more sure as I make decisions and also I weigh those decisions more consciously, If you were like me asking yourself where you would like to be after you graduate like I was then I urge you sign up, the Lead Self level has really helped me so far which I graduated from early July.
I am now doing the Lead Market Place level and what I am learning is just phenomenal and very practical to the current job markets. So go ahead and sign up its a decision you will not regret at all.
