The Bamboo That Bends Is Stronger Than The Oak That Resists.

Be ready to change and pivot. If this is not working, don't wait until you are drained before you pivot. However, many of us do not want to deal with change because it scares us. Truthfully, it scares me too. From my experience over the years, change is an opportunity. We need to be open to learn, relearn and unlearn.

As change has always found its way into my life, I am always faced with two choices:

1. hide from the change; or
2. embrace it as an opportunity to continue to develop

As I ran my consulting business focused on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), it was soon apparent that I was out of my element. I always sounded way above the heads of the entrepreneurs. Coming from KPMG that served large and complex organisations .... I had to unlearn some of the skills I gained to be effectively able to serve MSMEs, especially our technical vocabulary ?? .

How did I do this?

In 2009, I was pregnant with and had my twin girls. I also took a six (6) month maternity time-out and this gave me a lot of time to take a critical look at my firm.

I love the Chinese proverb, “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” During this time in 2009, the business grew very slowly, but I was happy I was not standing still. In this time, my bank Branch Manager informed me of the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative offered by Diamond Bank called Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) which was implemented by Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-Atlantic University In 2010, I was selected as one of the sponsored 50 entrepreneurs from the nationwide competition.

I was able to interact with 49 other top entrepreneurs from across Nigeria to appreciate their consulting needs from the MSME perspective. Class and lunch periods were like focus group discussions that helped me re-shape my thinking. There were all amazing as it was a really hard time for me as a young mother of twins. My classmates can attest to how tired I always was in class. Caring for 6 month old twins and running that rigorous physical program was tough.... but I pushed through.

The outcome form my business was an in-depth understanding of the needs of MSMEs which then shaped the next 5-year strategy of the Firm. It was after this, I began to significantly experience real growth in my business.

This Japanese proverb: The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists?helped as struggled with my KPMG skills, knowledge and experience. No doubt, I learnt a lot and gained world-class experience, but I had to bend according to the situation. If I wanted to serve MSMEs, something needed to change. And because creating more impact in this world.... make a big difference for people, businesses, communities and economies by supporting MSMEs was the real reason I quit my dream job with KPMG, I had to make sure I succeeded. Read more about the reason I quit my dream job here .

It is important to understand that bamboo is stronger even though it bends down. Bending down does not necessarily mean that you are lagging. The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists, says do not hold a rigid character all the time. It’s not necessary to keep ego all the time sometimes according to time and situations a person has to keep his ego aside and bend in front of others. When you bend down, you simply do it because you thought that to be the right decision as per the circumstances around you.

Some people thought that bending affects their self-respect but it’s a misconception sometimes a person should bend to save a relationship or to stop the argument because the “ego” is just a small three-letter word but it can destroy twelve letters long word?“relationship”. Quite a number of my friends and colleagues found my new approach to consulting demeaning, coming from my KPMG experience.

There’s no point holding on to your ego and rigidity for just nothing. You should be wise enough to decide what’s right based on the situation that is placed right before you. It is a misconception that is prevalent among most of us that bending down means that we have lowered our self-esteem but that’s not the scenario. When you bend down, you simply do it because you thought that to be the right decision as per the circumstances around you.

The oak may resist, but even if it seems strong, it could prove weak only because it didn’t know to bend down when the situation was unfavourable. If you have to bend according to circumstances, do not mind doing so because that will give you a higher return later on......... and that is my story.

Play the game by being in the game. I had to make changes, I had to bend like the bamboo to play in the MSME Consulting game... With this mindset, the Firm was able to further pivot in the coming years.

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#embracechange #pivoting #enterprisedevelopment #corporatesocialresponsibility #csrinitiative #csr #entrepreneurialjourney #entrepreneurialmindset #entrepreneurialspirit Peter Bamkole, PhD Dr. Nneka Okekearu Nnenna Ugwu Olawale Anifowose, DBA