Sam Shivute is the Director of the Banking Services Department at Bank of Namibia, the Chairman of the National Housing Enterprise Board, a professional speaker and motivational speaker as well as a transformational coach. A dynamic and inspirational Namibian, Sam shares here, his learning and lessons from 2016 as well as his advice for 2017.
Lessons from 2016 by Sam Shivute
Sharing the insights I’ve gained this year is quite a daunting task, because my life is all about learning, unlearning and relearning the various notions and ideologies of life. I am a proponent of continuous personal and professional development. As the end of each year approaches, I am always filled with excitement about the learning opportunities the New Year presents. While one can never be completely certain as to what a new year will bring, I am absolutely sure that I will learn something new.
In 2016, I unlearned and relearned a number of ideas that proved beneficial to both the personal and professional dimensions of my life. I relearnt that it’s neither sufficient nor safe to have just one set of skills. Possessing a variety of skills is crucial in order for you to remain relevant and increase your earning potential. It also became clearer to me that one must not be defined by a title, position or qualification. Rather, it is better to strive to be defined by the service that you render to society. We must be of service to humanity and try to be givers instead of receivers. When we give, we must do so wholeheartedly without expectation of anything in return.
Whilst reflecting on what I learnt in 2016, it came to my attention that in some European countries, students cannot graduate without demonstrating knowledge of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals for 2030). Given this information, I would like to advise my fellow citizens -the Namibian youth in particular- that we must always have personal and professional goals; and we must ensure that we thoroughly understand our country’s short and long-term goals. Expanding on that, we need to understand Africa’s Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals, as demonstrated in the example of our European counterparts. Furthermore, we must strive by all means to familiarise ourselves with (and where necessary acquire) the top skills needed to thrive in this day and age, as well as the skills needed to survive in 2020 and beyond. We absolutely must be prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These necessary skills can be found on the World Economic Forum’s website.
It is my conviction that a strong sense of self, setting of personal goals, and an awareness of worldwide developments and trends, will better position us to be active participants and contributors of solutions to society- not just in Namibia, but in the global space.
Namibian youth, equip yourselves today because in a few years’ time, you will be the ones in charge of our beautiful country. It will be a disaster if your time comes and you are not ready. Renowned motivational speaker Les Brown says that it is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than getting an opportunity you are not prepared for. Get ready now. Do it yourself: don’t delegate your personal or professional development to anybody. It will always be your own responsibility. Whilst engaging in the process of working on your goals and making yourself relevant, do not forget to take care of your Health.
In terms of my personal development, this year I resolved to add another skill to my profile. I decided to undergo a professional training programme in Transformational Coaching at the Animas Centre for Coaching in the UK. This new journey has been exciting so far, and has equipped me with fresh perspectives and insights to become an exceptional transformational coach. The combination of this newfound knowledge, my diverse professional skills, and more than 20 years’ working experience means I am in a better position to coach those who want to move from where they are now, to another level.
I would like to end with an important quote I learnt from Lester Levenson 16 years ago in his Sedona Method: “We are unlimited beings, limited only by the concept of limitation that we place in our minds.”
Be UNLIMITED and prepare yourself for a promising and productive 2017.